April 27, 2004

News, Blues, Country

Merle Haggard Holds Court at BMI Nashville

Merle Haggard was the man of the hour during a BMI-hosted reception on April 19 celebrating the release of 40 #1 Hits on Capitol Nashville. Haggard received a Special Citation of Appreciation from BMI in recognition of his 42-year affiliation with the performing rights organization. Among his BMI songwriting honors are two-time Country Songwriter of the Year and more than 50 BMI Pop and Country Awards. In addition to toasting the release of the 2-CD #1 collection, Capitol President & CEO Mike Dungan presented a plaque that commemorated "50 albums in five decades."

BMI's Paul Corbin, band member/co-writer Freddy Powers, Bobby Bare, Merle Haggard, Toby Keith, BMI's Joyce Rice

Merle Haggard, Capitol's Mike Dungan

Haggard is also on tour promoting his critically acclaimed Hag Records debut, Haggard Like Never Before. Its current single is Woody Guthrie's "Reno Blues (Philadelphia Lawyer)," a duet with Willie Nelson.

Liz & Casey Anderson, Hope Powell

Capitol's Larry Willoughby, Leigh Reynolds, Carl Jackson

BMI's Thomas Cain, Sonny Curtis	Billy Deaton, BMI's Nancy Moore

XM Radio's Shannon McCombs, "Country Music Across America" host Storme Warren, Country Music Hall of Fame's Kyle Young

Janine & Ronnie Dunn, Merle Haggard, BMI's Joyce Rice, Lee Roy Parnell, Donna KcKenzie

Trick Pony's Ira Dean, Chuck Howard, Merle Haggard

Tom T. Hall, Merle Haggard, Jeannie Seely, Dixie Hall

Photos by Steve Lowry

In this story: Woody Guthrie, Merle Haggard, Tom T. Hall, Toby Keith, Willie Nelson, Lee Roy Parnell, Leigh Reynolds, Trick Pony

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BMI represents more than 400,000 songwriters, composers, and publishers with more than 6.5 million works.