In a festival first, the New Orleans-inspired street concert staged at the Hog’s Breath Saloon featured BMI songwriters Robert Earl Keen and the Jeffrey Steele Band, and attracted hundreds of revelers.

The 13th Annual Hog's Breath Key West Songwriters Festival looms enticingly on the horizon. Presented by Cherry Heart Music and proudly supported by charter sponsor BMI, the event is slated for April 30 through May 4 in Key West, Florida. The festival revolves around five days and nights of more than 20 free shows, staged at an array of the island's most popular drinking holes and hot spots. Informal adaptations of Nashville's signature in-the-round acoustic showcases dominate much of the schedule, while this year, a street concert Saturday, May 3 featuring the Jeffrey Steele Band and Robert Earl Keen adds a Mardis Gras fillip to the mix.

BMI songwriters dominate the diverse lineups. Americana trendsetters including Robert Earl Keen, Raul Malo, Kim Richey and John Oates will perform alongside Nashville's most engaging and prolific hitmakers, including Jeffrey Steele (Rascal Flatts' "What Hurts the Most"), John Scott Sherrill (Steve Wariner's "Some Fools Never Learn"), Wendell Mobley (Rascal Flatts' "Fast Cars & Freedom"), Jamey Johnson (George Strait's "Give It Away"), Scotty Emerick (Toby Keith's "As Good As I Once Was"), David Lee (Tim McGraw's "I Need You," featuring Faith Hill), Keith Follese (Tim McGraw's "Something Like That"), Jim Beavers (Gary Allan's "Watching Airplanes"), Heather Little (Miranda Lambert's "Gunpowder and Lead"), Steve Bogard (Dierks Bentley's "Every Mile A Memory"), Bobby Pinson (Sugarland's "Want To"), Doug Johnson (Randy Travis's "Three Wooden Crosses"), Chas Sandford (John Waite's "Missing You"), Chuck Cannon (Toby Keith's "How Do You Like Me Now"), Max T. Barnes (Diamond Rio's "That's How Your Love Makes Me Feel"), Chuck Jones (Chris LeDoux's "Cadillac Ranch"), Rodney Clawson (Jason Aldean's "Why"), Gary Hannan (Joe Nichols's "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off"), Billy Yates (George Jones's "Choices"), Jerrod Niemann (Garth Brooks' "Good Ride Cowboy") and Dallas Davidson (Trace Adkins's "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk"), with Curb recording artist Lee Brice (Garth Brooks' "More Than A Memory"), singer/songwriters Heather Morgan, Stephanie Chapman and Lauren Lucas and Orange County rock outfit Lit's Jeremy Popoff.

For a complete list of sponsoring hotels, local businesses, schedules and participating songwriters, please visit www.keywestsongwritersfestival.com or call 305.296.4222.

Key West and country music’s thirteen year love affair is anything but secret, and the Hog’s Breath Key West Songwriters Festival, presented by Cherry Heart Music and BMI, serves as the 13th annual spring rendezvous.

Live music bliss and a favorite of Key West locals, the event introduces brimming crowds to the songwriters behind smashes. Diverse lineups deliver rare, “Key West only” moments: Hit makers including Jeffrey Steele (Rascal Flatts’ “What Hurts the Most), Jamey Johnson (George Strait’s “Give It Away”) and Scotty Emerick (Toby Keith’s “As Good As I Once Was”) will perform alongside Americana trendsetters including Robert Earl Keen and Raul Malo. The festival revolves around five days and nights of more than 20 free shows, staged at an array of the island’s most popular drinking holes and hot spots. Informal adaptations of Nashville’s signature in-the-round acoustic showcases dominate much of the schedule, while this year, a street concert Saturday, May 3 featuring the Jeffrey Steele Band and Robert Earl Keen adds an enticing Mardis Gras fillip to the mix.

For a complete list of sponsoring hotels, local businesses and participating songwriters, please visit www.keywestsongwritersfestival.com or call 305.296.4222.

BMI presented a stage featuring Monte Warden, the Ginn Sisters, the Barbwires, the Gougers, Drew Kennedy, Colin Gilmore, Mark McKinney, Blue Mother Tupelo, Jerrod Niemann, Sunny Sweeney and Granger Smith.

Single-day passes for the festival are still available, while three-day passes are only up for grabs through the festival's VIP and travel package options. For more

FRIDAY
11:15 a.m.
CLAIRE SMALL Claire Small was born and raised in Nashville (and still lives there, too), but don't make the mistake of judging her or her music by any prejudices you might have against that town's rep for churning out mainstream country radio fodder. The looser "Americana" tag doesn't really do her justice either, even though Small was running with a hip crowd of anti-country-music-establishment mavericks like Greg Garing and BR549 when she was still in her teens. While there's certainly a rootsy, acoustic singer-songwriter layer to her impressive full-length debut, Ledger, the album also finds her exploring elements of bossa nova, klezmer and gypsy melodies. What it all adds up to is a promising new artist unafraid to color outside genre lines - and talented enough to pull it off.

12:40 p.m.
THE GREYHOUNDS From Tyler, Texas, comes the Lone Star State's latest contribution to the jam band scene, Greyhounds, who can kick out the jams like the best of them and also bring some deep, old-school grooves into the mix from the funk, soul and blues legacy. This three-piece outfit features organ and guitar upfront weaving a melodic spell and paving the groove with ear candy, and their frequent touring has won them rabid fans across the nation through their club and festival appearances. This will be their first appearance at the Austin City Limits Musical Festival.

2:40 p.m.
JOY DAVIS Texas native Joy Davis comes by her dedication to music honestly, having grown up surrounded by the craft. Davis' father, uncle and sister are all performers, so when at 13 Joy decided music was her path, she was met with little resistance and loads of encouragement. The singer-songwriter has supported fellow artists on various studio albums and live shows, but only began work on her own debut album this year. Davis has called upon friend and Vallejo frontman AJ Vallejo to produce her EP, which promises to introduce a delicate songstress now emboldened, ready for the spotlight.

4:40 p.m.
DANIELIA COTTON As one of only seven black children in rural Hopewell, N.J., Danielia Cotton grew up an outsider. So like many an outsider before her - but maybe not so many young black girls - she turned to rock 'n' roll. After she got her guitar and vocal chops together - the former self-taught, the latter no doubt picked up in part from her jazz-singer mother - Cotton moved to New York City, began gigging at intimate rooms like the Bitter End, and released her self-titled debut EP in 2004. But it was the following year's Small White Town album that launched her career in full, with Philadelphia's WXPN picking her as one of its "artists to watch" in 2005 and putting her song "It's Only Life" into heavy rotation. With a powerful, bluesy voice reminiscent of Janis Joplin and Tina Turner, and tunes that carry the "swagger of Let It Bleed-era Rolling Stones" (as the Philadelphia Daily News put it), Cotton is anything but just another "chick singer with a guitar." Which of course means she's still an outsider - and a proud one, too.

6:40 p.m.
TRISH MURPHY Trish Murphy began her music career in her native Houston, performing with her brother Darrin Murphy as the popular duo Darrin & Trish, but she really took off after moving to Austin 10 years ago and launching her solo career with her debut album, Crooked Mile. A sparkling mix of rootsy, singer-songwriter fare and killer pop hooks, the album netted Murphy a major-label deal for her follow-up, 1999's Rubies on the Lawn. But her strongest work was yet to come, after she returned to the D.I.Y. route for 2001's live Captured and 2003's ultra-assertive (and catchy) Girls Get In Free. Live, Murphy comes off like a natural-born rock star, whether she's fronting a rock band on a or playing unplugged. Outside of her solo career, Murphy divides her time between working with GenAustin, a non-profit outreach program that helps middle-school girls develop strong self-esteem, and cranking out the best AM pop tunes of the '70s as part of Austin's rockin' all-star covers band, the K-Tell Hit Machine.

SATURDAY
11:15 a.m.
MELISSA REAVES North Carolina's Melissa Reaves has been delighting audiences throughout the U.S. for more than a decade with her rock, funk and rhythm & blues-based sound. Reaves is a powerful vocalist and guitar player whose style ranges from driving rock 'n' roll to a funk and groove sound that lends itself to a diverse repertoire of originals as well as some occasional choice covers. With four independently released CDs under her belt - including 1999's Sentimental Anthem and the recent Rough Cuts - Reaves has built up a loyal fanbase both nationally and internationally, which she maintains by performing more than 200 shows per year. Whether touring as a solo act or with members of her band, the Willys, the response is invariably the same; as Charlotte, N.C.'s Creative Loafing put it, "Reaves will electrify any audience and send chills down your spine."

12:40 p.m.
TROY CAMPBELL Possessed of arguably one of the finest male vocal instruments in the live music capital of the world (and beyond), Troy Campbell is one of the rare singer-songwriters who can genuinely sing their butts off. He's no slouch of a writer, either, as proven both on his three superb solo albums (Man vs. Beast, American Breakdown and this year's Long in the Sun) and on the trio of albums the Ohio-born, Austin-based artist made with his old band of shoulda-been-a-contender, Loose Diamonds (an outfit that also featured a fledgling guitarist named "Scrappy" Judd Newcomb who grow up to be one another of Austin's finest). Solo acoustic, Campbell casts a helluva spell; backed by a killer band (in his case, a talent-seeking-its-own-level guarantee), he's a revelation - and a riveting reminder of American rock 'n' roll at its finest.

2:40 p.m.
ELI YOUNG BAND With roots firmly planted in the fertile musical soil of Texas, the Eli Young Band is a little bit country and a lot of guitar-driven rock 'n' roll. The band was co-founded by namesake members Mike Eli and James Young (lead vocals and lead guitar, respectively), who met while attending the University of North Texas in Denton and initially performed as a duo before bringing bassist Jon James and drummer Chris Thompson into the fold. After independently releasing their self-titled debut, the band landed a deal with the Nashville-based Carnival Recording Company, which recently issued the band's sophomore effort, Level. Drawing on influences ranging from classic country to the Jayhawks to the Black Crowes to Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Eli Young Band is poised to bust out of the Lone Star State and bring their brand of music to a wider audience.

4:40 p.m.
ELVIS PERKINS Singer-songwriter Elvis Perkins grew up surrounded by celebrity: his father was actor Anthony Perkins (of Psycho fame), his mother was model/photographer/actress Berry Berenson, and his older brother, Oz Perkins, is also an actor. His family has also been marked by tragedy - his father died of AIDS in 1992, and his mother was one of the airplane passengers killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. So it's little wonder that his debut album, Ash Wednesday, is a document of intense mourning and profound beauty - both of which are conveyed live with the help of his band, Dearland.

6:40 p.m.
SOUTH AUSTIN JUG BAND Since appearing at the debut Austin City Limits Music Festival as the latest buzz band from the Live Music Capital of the World, the five-man South Austin Jug Band have gone on to conquer North America and Europe with a sound that San Francisco's East Bay Express describes as "a joyful noise that seems made of pure sunlight and moonshine." With two albums of sly and witty country-folk songs mixed with zesty bluegrass-style breakdowns to their credit, SAJB has won such honors as Best New Band at the 2003 Telluride Bluegrass Festival and Best Bluegrass Band at the 2005 Austin Music Awards. Playing some 200 shows a year, the boys return to their home turf to deliver some of the most charming and eclectic acoustic music to ever emerge from this city.

SUNDAY
11:15 a.m.
PETER DAWSON Though he's still a relatively fresh face on the regional country scene, Dallas-native Peter Dawson has already scored a No. 5 hit on the Texas Music Chart with his debut single, "Willie Nelson for President." He recorded that song and the rest of his first album, Do You Don't or Do You Do, while living in Nashville (where he attended Belmont University), but his burgeoning success on the Texas dancehall scene prompted him to return back to his home state. Now based in Austin, Dawson and his band recently released their second album, Coupland Live - the perfect snapshot of a rising Lone Star caught halfway between promising newcomer and certified next-big-thing.

12:40 p.m.
ROBYN LUDWICK It's almost extraneous to mention that Robyn Ludwick comes from what has become the First Family of Texas music. The sister of Charlie and Bruce Robison and sister-in-law of Dixie Chick Emily Robison and Kelly Willis, Ludwick has proven herself a talent of the same order and made her own name for herself with her debut album of last year, For So Long. Produced by master of anything with strings Danny Barnes, it marks Ludwick as a truly poetic songwriter with a luscious and loamy voice carving out her own brand of Lone Star back road country. Her debut appearance at the Austin City Limits Music Festival will introduce music fans to a talent sure to make her mark in years to come.

2:40 p.m.
RODNEY HAYDEN Rodney Hayden is nothing less than what the title of his 2001 debut CD seemed to boast: The Real Thing. That record, released when Hayden was just 21, made it clear that the young artist wasn't just another rabble-rousing yahoo, but rather an honest-to-God country singer. Country, as in cut from the same classic-country cloth as fellow Texans George Jones and George Strait. Moreover, ratio of originals to covers proved he was already a compelling writer, too - not the kind of tunes typically traded on Music Row, but songs either of the aforementioned legendary Georges could really sink their teeth into if given the chance. Hayden's second album, 2003's Living the Good Life (produced by long-time Robert Earl Keen guitarist Rich Brotherton), proved that his first volley of straight-up honky-tonk perfection was no fluke.

4:40 p.m.
WHITE GHOST SHIVERS Ever wonder what was so great about the Great Depression? Not a damn thing, really, except for maybe the music. You know - campy Vaudeville, hokum blues, hillbilly swing and all that sexy hot jazz? That was fun stuff. Given that the state of the country and world as a whole can be kind of depressing these days, too, don't we deserve some of that good stuff, too? Austin's White Ghost Shivers sure seem to think so, which is why the talented young band has spent the last six years dishing out their wildly inventive take (through both covers and cheeky originals) on the music that rocked their great-grandparents' world. With lead vocal duties split between a 7-foot-tall, banjo-playing beanpole named Shorty Borgasm and the sultry, ukulele-packing Cella Blue (likened by Fort Worth Weekly to "a one-woman burlesque revue"), well, you just know you're in for a good time at a Shivers show.

6:40 p.m.
NEW MONSOON If you thought the Allman Brothers Band and the Grateful Dead, both with a pair of drummers, were lacking in percussion, New Monsoon is your band. The San Francisco-based septet brings the drum and then some with a trio of percussionists who help the band craft its groove-centric, improvisational sound. Founded in 1997 by former Penn State classmates (and guitarists) Bo Carper and Jeff Miller, New Monsoon quickly began to define itself as a band without definition. Using an inclusive jazzy foundation, the group is a multi-cultural extravaganza, incorporating elements of African, Indian, Latin, Australian and other international sounds into a soulful funk groove with nods to blues and bluegrass. New Monsoon has issued a pair of studio albums - 2003's Downstream and last year's The Sound - that capture the tighter aspects of their songcraft, but the group shines brightest live, where the varied sets have become a favorite among fans and tapers in grand jam band tradition.]]> 2006-08-25T05:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/musicworld/entry/234501 Artists, Fuel, Keen, Robert Earl, Orbison, Roy, Williams, Hank, Musical Styles, Country, Singer-Songwriter, Musicworld, Feature Ask those who know legendary Texas troubadour Robert Earl Keen, and they’ll tell you he doesn’t mince words in real life. So it’s just a creative device when he explains himself in the title track of his newest Koch Records release, What I Really Mean .  It’s a postcard travelogue turned love song: “What I really mean,” he sings, “is I wish you were here.”

Robert Earl Keen is definitely present these days — as an artist, writer, and painter of southern aural landscapes — and he’s better than ever. That signature wry, lyrical elegance is in full evidence, as is his notable appreciation for the underbelly of society. On this, his twelfth album, he gives us what is possibly his finest collection of Southern Lit songs. And that’s saying something with critical successes such as 1989’s West Textures, which yielded a first career song, “The Road Goes On Forever,” to 1993’s career-clinching A Bigger Piece of Sky (chock-full of astonishing songs), to 1994’s Gringo Honeymoon, which was essentially rocket Fuel for the fledgling alt-country movement. 

And while his last outing, Farm Fresh Onions, won great acclaim for eclectically showcasing some of his more raucous material, What I Really Mean is a welcome return to the acoustic country side of this revered singer/songwriter. 

With it, he reminds us of his purist path — the clarity of telling tales in song that both evoke emotion and entertain, usually all at once.  Case in point is “The Great Hank,” a dream-story about Hank Williams in drag. It’s not at all disrespectful, but instead showcases Keen’s deft ability to make us chuckle contemplatively. 

This English major is indeed a masterful writer, and has a grand flair at juxtaposing lyric with melody as in “The Wild Ones,” where the lyric exudes a bold, youthful life, while the arrangement is wistful.  Conversely, in “Broken End of Love,” the lyric is sad and prickly while the melody portends hope. And of course, he planned it that way. “That was my intent, to just let it all out, do the primal scream thing, almost. To say it without being nasty.”

And then there’s that ability of his to write cinematically, as in “A Border Tragedy,” a funny, back-alley film clip that ends with Ray Price singing “Streets of Laredo.” This one will become a classic. 

Besides Keen’s delicious writing, part of the joy of this record is the incredible talent he’s drawn to the project, including Danny Barnes, whose blithe banjo rolls melodically throughout, guitarist/producer Rich Brotherton, and mixing engineer Ed Cherney, who made a name with Bob Dylan, the B-52s and Roy Orbison, among others

So what Robert Earl Keen means now, this album might say, is to cement his status for all time as a songwriter and artist of impeccable quality and creativity.

(Front) Big & Rich's John Rich and Big Kenny, (back) Chevrolet's Phil Caruso, T. J. Martell Foundation Board member Greg Oswald, Gretchen Wilson, CITR founder Frances Preston and Nashville Martell Foundation Executive Director Roxanne Johnson

Former BMI President & CEO Frances Preston, who serves as president of the Foundation's board and as a Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center board member, hosted the event she founded 11 years ago. Proceeds support innovative research at the VICC's Frances Williams Preston Laboratories.

Preston Labs Director Dr. Hal Moses, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Director Dr. Ray DuBois, Kevin and Linda Martin, Frances Preston, and Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Board chair Orrin Ingram

Musical highlights included concerts in the Club Med Theater by Charlie Daniels, Kenny Loggins, Kathy Mattea, 2004 BMI Country Songwriter of the Year Casey Beathard, Jamie O'Neal, and MuzikMafia members Gretchen Wilson, Big & Rich, James Otto, Jon Nicholson, Cowboy Troy and Rachel Kice. Other writers and artists who performed were Deborah Allen, Aaron Barker, Suzy Bogguss, Chuck Cannon, Gary Chapman, Doug Crider, Dean Dillon, Bob DiPiero, Scotty Emerick, Doug Johnson, Robert Earl Keen, Crosby Loggins, Gary Morris, Frank Myers, Paul Overstreet, Leslie Satcher, Jeffrey Steele, Jon Vezner and Lari White.

CITR participants saw first-hand the impact that cancer has on families ñ and the importance of the research that their generosity supports ñ as they got to know Don and Margaret Darnell and Kevin and Linda Martin, guests of the event. The Darnells' daughter Katie, who died of brain cancer in 2003, gained fame for her song "Rescue Me," recorded by John Rich of Big & Rich and Wynonna Judd. Kevin Martin has advanced colon cancer as the result of an inherited condition called FAP; one of the Martins' five children is known to have inherited the condition.

The week was punctuated by emotional highlights surrounding the Darnell and Martin families. Chevrolet presented Katie Darnell's parents with a new Silverado. The Darnells also joined Big & Rich on stage as part of Performances by Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson Presented by Chevrolet. (To learn more about Katie's story, see the VUMC Reporter's Feb. 9, 2001; April 13, 2001; and June 20, 2003 online issues).

As for the Martins, they embraced all that Country in the Rockies has to offer -- skiing, riding snowmobiles, horseback riding, cocktail social hours, concerts and late-night guitar pulls -- with the same tenacity and enthusiasm with which they are attacking Kevin's cancer. (Click here to read the Martins' first-hand account of their trip).

Since 1993, the Martell Foundation has enabled physicians and scientists of the Frances Williams Preston Laboratories at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center to conduct cutting-edge research and quickly transition promising new findings from laboratory benches to patient bedsides. To date, the Nashville Division has raised $13 million in support of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center's pilot projects. In turn, these contributions have been leveraged to obtain additional funding ñ totaling more than $100 million ñ from public and private sources to further advance ongoing efforts to alleviate suffering from cancer.

Big & Rich	Gretchen Wilson

Known as "The Ultimate Backstage Pass," Country in the Rockies offers guests opportunities to ski and socialize not only with these MuzikMafia standouts, but also with Charlie Daniels, Kenny Loggins and Jamie O'Neal, who will appear in concert at the Club Med Theater. Many of the industry's top artists and songwriters, including Jeffery Steele, Paul Overstreet, Aaron Barker, Chuck Cannon, Robert Earl Keen, Doug Johnson, Casey Beathard, Scotty Emerick, Leslie Satcher, Doug Crider, Harley Allen, Bob DiPiero, Gary Chapman, Deborah Allen, Suzy Bogguss, Lari White, Kathy Mattea and Jon Vezner, are also slated to perform.

Charlie Daniels	Jamie O'Neal	Kenny Loggins

The event has alpine skiing/snowboarding and music at its core, but offers something for everyone. Outdoor activities include snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and horseback riding. Indoors, participants enjoy all-star concerts, late-night fireside "guitar pulls," a celebrity-hosted happy hour in downtown Crested Butte and auctions that feature travel, artwork, jewelry and celebrity memorabilia.

The all-inclusive package provides guests with five days/nights at Club Med Crested Butte, lift tickets, meals and hospitality, as well as transportation on charter flights between Nashville and Gunnison, Colo. Guests also receive a gift bag with Fischer skis or a Nidecker snowboard, ski clothing, CD's and other items. Country in the Rockies is the signature fundraiser of the T.J. Martell Foundation's Nashville Division. Since 1993, the Martell Foundation has enabled physicians and scientists of the Frances Williams Preston Laboratories at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center to conduct cutting-edge research and quickly transition promising new findings from laboratory benches to patient bedsides. To date, the Nashville Division has raised $13 million in support of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center's pilot projects. In turn, these contributions have been leveraged to obtain additional funding - totaling more than $100 million - from public and private sources to further advance ongoing efforts to alleviate suffering from cancer.

The Frances Williams Preston Labs of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center are named for event founder Preston, former President & CEO of performing rights organization BMI. She also serves as president of the board for the Martell Foundation and as a Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center board member. Country in the Rockies XI is sponsored by BMI, Chevrolet and Club Med.

“People always ask me what the difference is being on the big label and all that. Extra packets of peanuts on Southwest Airlines, that’s about all I got going for me,” Green laughs. “Honestly, the biggest difference is the recording budget. Before, when we’d go in the studio to make the record, we had to have the whole thing planned out, had to have the songs written and arranged before we went in the studio. This time, we got to go in there and enjoy the writing process and the arrangement process and spend some extra time and money.”

As his notoriety continues to grow, with Wave on Wave doing quite well on the Billboard country charts and his three most recent Houston shows bringing in 140,000 fans, Green’s integrity and honesty as an artist are ever more important. San Antonio-born, Waco-raised and Austin-based, he has managed to marry Texas music with college rock, fashioning a sort of Robert Earl Keen-meets-Hootie and the Blowfish sound that is fresh and unpretentious. “It’s nothing but our band doing what we do,” Green says. “That’s where so many singer/songwriters and other bands go wrong. Instead of just trying to write what comes out, they try to write for a genre. What we do, we write what we write. If you can make it fit on a radio format, great. If not, we’re still gonna be alright.”

[bottom] Tom Annastas, Frances Preston, Kenny Loggins, Lari White, Suzy Bogguss, [top] Chuck Cannon, Jeffrey Steele, Tom Gross

A record-setting crowd of nearly 400 people gathered for the 10th anniversary of the signature fund-raiser for the T.J. Martell Foundation for Cancer, Leukemia and AIDS Research. The event directly supports the Foundation's Frances Williams Preston Laboratories at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, a facility named for BMI President & CEO Frances Preston.

Tim Rushlow, Trick Pony's Ira Dean, CMT's Lance Smith, Trick Pony's Keith Burns and Heidi Newfield, Bill Johnson

Ski races, outdoor activities like snowshoeing and sleigh rides, all-star concerts, informal late-night guitar pulls, a Celebrity Happy Hour fund- raising competition and much more gave participants entertainment options virtually round-the-clock. However, the cause behind the event was never far from mind.

VICC's Dr. Hal Moses, BMI's Frances Preston, and Tom Gross toast CITR's 10th Anniversary

"One in two of us in this room will face cancer in our lifetimes, so this is really important," Gary Chapman said, coaxing members of the audience to fill a passing pitcher with cash during the Celebrity Happy Hour. During this popular event, teams of singers, songwriters and others work hard to raise the most money in a two-hour period in five watering holes downtown; this year, they brought in more than $200,000 in exchange for singing favorite songs, signing autographs and posing for photos.

Raymond Hicks, Mimi Wallace, BMI's Joyce Rice, Deborah Allen, Vanderbilt's Dr. Wright Pinson

Country in the Rockies (CITR) kicked off Tuesday, Jan. 27 with an opening guitar pull featuring Gary Morris, Chuck Cannon, Lari White, Suzy Bogguss, Mandy Barnett, Jessi Alexander and Jon Randall. The following night, Paul Overstreet, Kathy Mattea, Trick Pony, Mel Tillis and his band The Statesiders continued the music in the Club Med Theater. The all-star finale on Jan. 31 featured Lorrie Morgan, Kenny Loggins, Robert Earl Keen and BMI Country Songwriter of the Year Jeffrey Steele. Other participating artists were Sherrie Austin, Deborah Allen, BlackHawk's Henry Paul, Dave Robbins and Anthony Crawford, Doug Crider, Dean Dillon, Bob DiPiero, Will Rambeaux, Tim Rushlow and western painter Kelly Donovan. Champion freestyle skier Wayne Wong returned to offer expert tips for Saturday's ski race and Tom Gross marked his 10th year as emcee of the week's activities.

VICC's Dr. Hal Moses, Orrin Ingram, Lee Ann Summers, VICC's Dr. Ray DuBois

Earning the nickname "King of Crested Butte," Aaron Barker was back for another year of hosting late-night guitar pulls. Barker also led a large group of artists in taking the music off the mountain and into the historic mining town of Crested Butte, where they performed concerts especially for the locals to thank them for their hospitality. "We look forward to this every year," 24-year Crested Butte resident Joe Snyder said. "The music is fabulous, and we are so grateful for the work that this event supports," he continued, noting that his wife, Brenda, is a two-year survivor of ovarian cancer.

Jessi Alexander, Stan Moress, Mandy Barnett, Jon Randall

In addition to a record-setting total number of participants, the event also drew a record 182 first-time guests. Suzy Bogguss, a veteran of six CITRs, said she was especially pleased to see so many new faces. "The cameraderie of this event and getting to know people from different worlds is what makes this event so special and so unique," she said.

Wayne Wong

Lorrie Morgan and Sammy Kershaw

Among other highlights of CITR X:

-- Barker's wife Theresa organized silent and live auctions of artwork, guitars and other instruments, jewelry, clothing, sports and celebrity memorabilia, and trips. Among the auction tidbits: a special CITR-edition Yamaha guitar was claimed for $4,000 by a Crested Butte resident on the eve of his wedding.

-- Mel Tillis shared funny stories with guests and fellow artists throughout the week, and even took up a new assignment as roving television reporter for Great American County, recording the festivities during Celebrity Happy Hour.

Mel Tillis, Chuck Cannon, BMI's Harry Warner

Carolyn Corlew, Charlie Daniels, Tom Gross

-- Charlie Daniels shared inspirational words about his experience as a cancer survivor and thanked everyone for their support of cancer research. Daniels, who headlined one of the concerts at CITR 7, was diagnosed with prostate cancer the following year and received his treatment at Vanderbilt-Ingram.

-- More than two dozen doctors, scientists and other staff from Vanderbilt were on hand to meet with supporters and share information about how money raised through Country in the Rockies is put to use in Nashville. The Vanderbilt team also presented a video highlighting accomplishments of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center - accomplishments made possible with the support of CITR, the Martell Foundation and others. The video was produced by Jackson/Kent, with Jon Kent as creative director and Vali Forrister as executive producer.

Sherrie Austin and Will Rambeaux

"We are so grateful for the support we receive from everyone who has participated in Country in the Rockies over the years," said Dr. Hal Moses, director of Vanderbilt-Ingram and the Preston Laboratories. "I'm looking forward to all the fun we're going to have and the progress we are going to make together over the next 10 years."

Dean Dillon, Aaron Barker, Gary Chapman

In addition to the ever-expanding list of guests and participating artists, the number of sponsors of the event grows each year as well. This year, sponsors included BMI, Club Med, CMT, Coca-Cola, Ortho-Biotech, the Smith-Free Group, AmSouth, Bank of America, Yamaha, Baldwin, Gibson, Gurley & Co, the Gary Group, American Airlines, Fischer, Leki, Cowboys & Indians, Dasani, Jack Daniel's, Hall Booth Smith & Slover, Travis Television, Icue Productions, Audio Visual Projection Services, and Country Music Across America.

Kelly Donovan with auction winners Paul & Julie Overstreet

Dates for 2005 have already been confirmed as February 1-6 at Club Med Crested Butte.

Photos by Alan Mayor