Country Music Hall of Fame

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said.

This year’s 33rd Midwest Salute to the Arts takes place from Friday, Aug. 27, through Sunday, Aug. 29, at Moody Park, on Longacre Drive, in Fairview Heights.

“The city is so supportive. We couldn’t put on this event without them,” Kassing said.

During the fair and festival, Everette Moody Park becomes the weekend home for award-winning artists, musicians, culinary artists and nonprofits.

Midwest Salute to the Arts will host some 50 artists from Friday through Sunday, along with guest demonstrators, including the Artisan Guild of Southern Illinois; Midwest Woodcarvers; Gateway East Artist Guild; and, a host of artists, sponsored by GESSO magazine, which also is sponsoring music on the GESSO stage.

The festival started 30-plus years ago when a former alderman, Gene Ellerbusch, visited the Mystic, Connecticut, Outdoor Art Festival and realized that Fairview Heights might be able to present a similar outdoor event. The city council appointed a committee chair, Mrs. Billy McLemore, to explore the possibility, and the concept for Midwest Salute to the Arts was born.

The committee revisited Mystic and contacted other art fairs, including the renowned Festival of the Masters in Orlando , Florida. The committee realized that Fairview Heights indeed had the resources to present such an event and established the Midwest Salute to the Masters. The goal of “Salute’s” Masters program was to combine the community involvement of Mystic with the high standards of the Orlando “Masters” show. The first Midwest Salute to the Masters, held in October of 1988, received both critical and popular acclaim. Today, the show is known as the Midwest Salute to the Arts.

If you go:

What: Midwest Salute to the Arts When: 6 - 9 p.m., Friday, Aug. 27; 10 a.m. - 7 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 28; 11 a.m.- 5 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 29 Where: Moody Park, Longacre Drive, Fairview Heights, Illinois Info: Midwest Salute to The Arts is a 501(c)(3) organization; midwestsalute.com.

Midwest Salute to the Arts Entertainment

• Friday Night Entertainment

Aug. 27, Gesso Stage *Rogers & Nienhaus, 6 - 9 p.m.

Rogers & Nienhaus is made up of two exceptional musicians with a lifelong career of performance on the world stage. With pristine harmony and searing instrumentation, they are truly a “not to be missed” act, whether performing as a duo or with The Rogers & Nienhaus Band. Terry Jones Rogers and Scott Nienhaus have been performing together since meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1993, when Terry invited Scott to join a newly formed group, The Byrds Celebration, along with Byrds alumni Skip Battin and Gene Parsons. Both Terry and Scott had storied pasts when they began their long career working together; Terry’s Macon, Georgia, roots, recording at famed Capricorn Records Studio with The Pound & Rogers Band and touring the world fronting The Byrds with Michael Clarke; and, Scott’s St. Louis, Missouri, roots with his band, Acousticity, a Blueberry Hill Records recording artists, and touring the world with The Nicolette Larson Band. Now based out of the St. Louis Metro area, Rogers & Nienhaus have become local favorites with their fiery performances and flawless harmonies, as well as performing national and international engagements. — — • Saturday Entertainment

Aug. 28 • Gesso Stage 10 - 11:45 a.m., J. Michael Hildreth 12:15 - 2 p.m., Carrie Tunes 2:15 - 2:30 p.m., Don McCown 4 - 5 p.m., Shades of Blue Jazz Ensemble BoMA 5:15 - 6:45 p.m., Dave Mendoza — — • Sunday Entertainment

Aug. 25 • GESSO Stage 11 a.m. – 12:45 p.m., Lexy Schlemer 1:15 - 3 p.m., Teya King 3:30 - 5 p.m., Mark Biehl — — — — • Children’s Entertainment

Saturday, Aug. 28 & Sunday, Aug. 29 11 a.m. - 12 p.m., Bubble Bus 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Saturday, Randall Spriggs 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday, Dooley the Clown 12 - 1 p.m., Saturday, Marilyn Kinsella

Ray Charles, The Judds to join Country Music Hall of Fame

By KRISTIN M. HALL AP Entertainment Writer

NASHVILLE, Ten.. (AP) — R&B legend Ray Charles, who helped redefine country music in the Civil Rights era, and Grammy-winning duo The Judds will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

The Country Music Association on Monday announced the new class of Hall of Fame members, who will be formally inducted in a ceremony in 2022.

Charles, who died in 2004, showed the commercial potential of country music when he released “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music” in 1962, a genre-defying personal project to the Georgia-born singer and piano player.

Charles grew up listening to the Grand Ole Opy and his record, which was considered a risk at the time, became one of the best selling country albums of the era. His version of “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” spent five weeks on top of the Billboard 100 chart and remains one of his most popular songs.

He later recorded a duets album featuring country legends like Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash. Nelson in particular has lauded Charles’ impact on the genre and they had a 1985 No. 1 duet together called “Seven Spanish Angels.”

“Needless to say, Ray Charles loved country music,” said Valerie Ervin, president of the Ray Charles Foundation, in a statement. “As a matter of fact, he risked a lot in 1962 when he decided to record ‘Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music.’ I cannot express enough how happy and honored Ray Charles would be at this moment in time, as I am for him. Congratulations to all the fellow inductees and as Ray Charles would say, ‘That is so nice.’”

Over the years, Charles’ impact on country music has been more widely recognized, with a major museum exhibition on Charles at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and a 2019 Opry television special dedicated to him.

Naomi Judd and her daughter, Wynonna, were the most successful duo in country music in the 1980s, with more than a dozen No. 1 hits, including “Mama, He’s Crazy,” “Love Can Build a Bridge” and “Grandpa (Tell Me ’bout the Good Old Days).”

“We had a such a stamp of originality on what we were trying to do,” Naomi said in an interview after the announcement.

Originally from Kentucky, Naomi was working as a nurse in the Nashville area when she and Wynonna started singing together professionally. Their unique harmonies, together with elements of acoustic music, bluegrass and blues, made them stand out in the genre at the time.

The Judds released six studio albums and an EP between 1984 and 1991 and won nine CMA Awards and seven from the Academy of Country Music. They earned a total of five Grammy Awards together on hits like “Why Not Me” and “Give A Little Love.”

In 1990, Naomi Judd announced her retirement from performing due to chronic hepatitis. Wynonna has continued her solo career and they have occasionally reunited for special performances.

The Hall of Fame also announced a tie this year for the category of recording musician between Eddie Bayers and Pete Drake.

Bayers, a drummer in Nashville for decades who worked on 300 platinum records, is a member of the Grand Ole Opry band. He regularly played on records for The Judds, Ricky Skaggs, George Strait, Alan Jackson and Kenny Chesney. Bayers is the first drummer to be inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Drake, a pedal steel guitar player and a member of Nashville’s A-team of skilled session musicians, played on hits like “Stand By Your Man” by Tammy Wynette and “He Stopped Loving Her Today” by George Jones. Drake, who died in 1988, is the first pedal steel guitar player to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Drake’s widow, Rose Drake, said that her husband’s work with George Harrison and Peter Frampton introduced a whole new audience to the sound of the steel guitar.