2021 Country Music Hall of Fame Induction Predictions
Discussing potential Modern Era inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame Class of 2021.
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Show Notes
Welcome to the podcast! I'm your host, Amanda, and today we are talking about the 2021 Country Music Hall of Fame inductee announcement. On Monday, August 16, hall of fame member Reba will host a livestream with the official announcement of who is going into the hall this year. You can check it all out on the CMA YouTube channel. Before diving into who I hope and predict will be inducted, here’s a bit of a background on how the Country Music Hall of Fame is structured.
Each year, one member is selected for the following categories:
Veterans Category - This goes to someone forty years after they achieve national prominence.
Modern Category - Twenty years after they achieve national prominence, an artist can be eligible.
There's also a rotating category. One year, it'll be a recording or studio musician, songwriter, or a non-performer.
You can easily say that there's a backlog of artists that deserve membership and with only three inductees, there are so many long overdue artists awaiting that opportunity. It should be noted that someone cannot be nominated immediately following their death. This avoids any type of sympathy boats. On this episode, I'm going to focus on the modern category.
It’s going to someone who within the last twenty years has achieved national prominence. I have a toss-up for my number one pick. For me, there's no denying that they both deserve this honor. But if I had to place money on it, one of these names will be announced Monday.
I'll start with Keith Whitley.
Some argue that his mainstream career, since it was very short, it doesn't deem hall of fame worthy. He doesn't have the stats when it comes to singles and albums that his contemporaries have. However, Keith Whitley began playing bluegrass music in his home state of Kentucky at a very early age. That's when he met Ricky Skaggs on the festival circuit and they both spent their teenage years out on the road with Ralph Stanley. His contemporary career that is lauded in historical accounts today, it's comprised of several landmark albums that help build that traditional eighties country revitalization.
You have people like Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves in the hall of fame. Unfortunately, very brief careers, but an everlasting impact on country music. The same thing can be said for Keith Whitley. The amount of artists that cite him as their influence is endless. You don't hear Keith Whitley's voice and not be affected or moved.
In 2019, the Country Music Hall of Fame had a fantastic exhibit that spotlighted Keith Whitley, and that's always a good indication that there’s strong interest in a potential artist maybe going into the hall of fame.
When people talk about Keith Whitley, it often revolves around tragedy. And it includes discussion of what could have been. Membership to the hall of fame would give his music a well-deserved focus. Because of such frequent emphasis on the dark ending of his short life, this induction would reacquaint music fans to his bluegrass beginnings and neo-traditional impact on country music. His music deserves to be honored. But, also, his family, supportive fan base, and Keith Whitley himself finally deserve this lasting tribute.
My second top pick is none other than Dwight Yocum. To me, he is the most unique artist in any format of music. His sound and style broke barriers.
His music videos were picked up by MTV because of his undeniable cool factor. He made country music cool during a time of not-so-great music, honestly. Country music was in this transition of kind of regurgitated watered-down pop sounds but then you have artists who are known for kind of basically saving those traditional sounds. Randy Travis, George Strait, Ricky Skaggs, they're all members of the hall of fame and they are definitely responsible for helping create a more traditional sound during that time period.
When I put together this list, I'm thinking about the superstars of country music. The artist that people who may not typically listen to country music would know. Dwight Yoakam's visibility is still huge to this day. The music is one thing, but he's also got a radio show. He's a very successful actor, and it was common to see him on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” or in People Magazine. You have to remember that in the nineties, that kind of coverage wasn't guaranteed. He paved another way for country music to be featured in those Hollywood outlets.
But on the music side of things, Dwight has sold a lot of albums. And those albums are masterpieces and those songs, everything from “Wild Ride” to “Things Change,” to “The Back of Your Hand,” are perfection. The music that he's continuing to make today is phenomenal.
People get that notion that if you're not on the radio, you're not making music. And if you haven't listened to Dwight's latest material, check it out. Despite never winning a CMA award, Dwight is often spotlighted on the show. A few years ago, he was part of the 50th anniversary opening, and he also performed an amazing rendition of “Seven Spanish Angels” with Chris Stapleton. He's also performed at the annual CMA fest over the years and just last month he was a special guest on CMA Summer Jam, which will air this September, and he's singing with Carrie Underwood on the show.
But Dwight Yoakam and Keith Whitley, those are the two on my list that I have my fingers crossed for. And before we get too far with this list, I want say that Tanya Tucker is definitely a favorite that I'm hoping gets in. I'm just predicting that it might be in the Veteran Category as opposed to Modern.
Continuing with my list, I've got the Judds up next. I haven't actually properly dug into their catalog like I need to, but their music was such a staple of my radio listening when I was young.
You've got Harlan Howard classics like “Why Not Me”, which was a very traditional, simple, guitar-driven song. And those harmonies! They paved a way for females in a big way, scoring so many accolades over the years and they still are the only female duo to ever be nominated for entertainer of the year. They're a part of American culture. Their music and personalities all played a huge role in that.
During that time frame, if you had a pay-per-view concert, that was big time - and they did with their final concert. I remember the video for “Love Can Build a Bridge, “there was a 3D version that you had to have special glasses for. They were made-for-TV movies created about their lives and books written about them. Their family story was so intriguing, and people got swept into every aspect of their life.
They pulled big numbers when it came to touring and album sales. Then you have Wynonna’s solo career, which is hall of fame worthy in its own rights. So definitely, The Judds deserve to be in the hall of fame.
My next spots go to Travis Trit and Clint Black, and I'm going to talk about them both here because they are part of the class of 1989. Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson, also members of the famed class 1989 have all recently been inducted into the hall of fame. Now it's time to get the remaining two guys from that era in there as well.
I've talked a lot about the resurgence that people like The Judds, Keith Whitley, and Dwight Yoakam a hand in creating. They helped set up the eventual dominance of the class of 1989. These guys brought in a new generation of fans to country music. They were young and creating music that packed so much personality and creativity. Clint Black was the first one to hit it big in 1989 with the release of his first single “Better Man,” which was from his debut record Killin’ Time that took the ACM Album of the Year, and he basically swept every single award show - ACMs, CMAs, AMAs - all of them.
“Country Club” from Travis Tritt followed around that time and every single record that these guys released shot straight to the top. And when I say they took country music places that had never been before, I'm talking things like the Super Bowl. In 1994, the first-ever country music performance took place during halftime with Clint, Travis, The Judds, and Tanya Tucker.
Both Clint Black and Travis Tritt are incredible songwriters and musicians. Clint's Merle Haggard influences definitely were detected in those records and Travis showcased his Southern Rock inside. If you go back and watch the 1990 CMA awards, which were hosted by Clint, it's a very safe, nothing to out of the line show with your mix of ballads and radio singles. Then Travis Tritt comes out on stage. He plays “Put Some Drive In Your Country” - if you know that song, you know it's a jam. And that was the moment when it hit me how impactful Travis Trit is. You didn't hear something so hard rocking on country radio and especially not on the CMAs. And that song only made it to twenty-eight on the charts. Now it would probably be considered classic country compared to what you hear today. He put everything into that performance, a true entertainer.
What I admire most about the both of them is their musical integrity The music business is just that, a business. Both Clint and Travis are masterful musicians. Every detail on every album is carefully executed. Their knowledge, respect, and desire to create music. It's incredible. Plus, they both just released new albums within the last year, so go check out Clint's Black’s Out of Sane and Travis Tritt’s Set In Stone.