Music Icon Bobby Bare will be honored with the Frances Williams Preston Mentor Award at the upcoming Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala on Wednesday, October 11, it was announced today by Mark Ford, Executive Director of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (NaSHOF).
“Throughout his storied career, Bobby Bare has changed the lives of countless songwriters,” says Ford. “He has befriended numerous NaSHOF legends, including Shel Silverstein, Tom T. Hall, Billy Joe Shaver, Bob McDill, Harlan Howard and Kris Kristofferson. He discovered Waylon Jennings and helped him sign with RCA Records in the mid-1960s. He featured many songwriters on his TNN TV show, Bobby Bare and Friends, from 1983-1988. Bobby has made a tremendous impact upon our music, and we are proud to salute him in this way.”
Ford added that, as a recording artist, Bare has had a powerful influence upon NaSHOF for decades. During his 60-year career, Bare has recorded more than 300 songs – including 35 Top-40 singles – written or co-written by 76 NaSHOF songwriters – roughly 30 percent of the Hall’s entire membership.
Bare is a 2013 inductee into the Country Music Hall Of Fame and has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry from 1970-1973 and again since 2018. He becomes the first recording artist to receive the award named for Frances Williams Preston, who influenced and nurtured the careers of thousands of songwriters, performers and publishers in all genres during her five-decade career at BMI.
Previous recipients are music publisher Bob Beckham (2008), music publisher Bill Hall (2009), Preston (2010), music publisher David Conrad (2011), music publisher Donna Hilley (2012), Bluebird Café founder Amy Kurland (2013), music publisher Pat Higdon (2014), music publisher Bill Lowery (2016) and songwriter advocate Ralph Murphy (2019).
About Bobby Bare:
Born in Ohio, Country Music Hall of Fame and Grand Ole Opry member Bobby Bare is one of the most iconic country artists of our time with chart-topping songs like “Detroit City,” “500 Miles,” “Marie Laveau” and many more. From country legends like Little Jimmy Dickens and Hank Williams to big band acts like Phil Harris and the Dominoes, Bare’s style was molded and led him to nearly five dozen Top 40 hits from 1962 to 1983. The original “Outlaw” of country music, Bare has been honored with many awards and accolades, multiple GRAMMY nominations and wins and an induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. In 2017, Rolling Stone named him in the top 50 of the “100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time” and Pitchfork identifies him as an integral part of the Outlaw Country movement in the 1970’s. 2017 and 2018 marked his 60th anniversary in the music business and the release of his studio album, Things Change, and two new music videos. A pinnacle moment in his life occurred in 2018 as he was welcomed back home as a member of the Grand Ole Opry by Garth Brooks. In 2020 Bobby Bare celebrated his 85th birthday and release an album of Shel Silverstein songs recorded in the late ‘70s but never-before released titled Great American Saturday Night. In 2022, Bare was inducted into the Music City Walk of Fame in Nashville, Tenn. For more information, visit www.bobbybare.com.
About the NaSHOF Gala:
The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala is one of the music industry’s premier annual events. The star-studded evening honors each inductee through humorous, heartfelt tributes and unplugged performances by surprise guest artists. In recent years artists such as John Anderson, Clint Black, Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan, Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney, The Del McCoury Band, Brooks & Dunn, Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Emmylou Harris, Jason Isbell, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Little Big Town, Tim McGraw, Olivia Newton-John, Thomas Rhett, John Rich, Blake Shelton, Marty Stuart, Taylor Swift, The Isaacs, The Oak Ridge Boys, Josh Turner, Carrie Underwood and Trisha Yearwood have participated in the event. The Hall of Fame Gala is a fundraiser benefitting the nonprofit Nashville Songwriters Foundation.
About the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame:
Induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame is one of the nation’s most highly prized songwriting honors. Since 1970, the Hall has enshrined 235 of the greatest writers from all genres of music ever to put words to music in Music City, including such luminaries as Bill Anderson, Bobby Braddock, Garth Brooks, Felice & Boudleaux Bryant, Johnny Cash, Don & Phil Everly, Harlan Howard, Kris Kristofferson, Loretta Lynn, Bob McDill, Bill Monroe, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Dottie Rambo, Jimmie Rodgers, Fred Rose, Don Schlitz, Cindy Walker and Hank Williams. Operated by the non-profit Nashville Songwriters Foundation, the Hall of Fame is dedicated to honoring Nashville’s rich legacy of songwriting excellence through preservation, celebration and education. More information is available at http://www.