Garth Brooks & Trisha Yearwood in Conversation with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden

[Music] [Music] I'm Jon Meacham my name is Bill Gates my name is becky albertalli I'm Tony Bennett I love books I want libraries the Library of Congress is a library for me everybody Garth Brooks here so thankful to say the Library of Congress [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] good evening everyone I'm Cheri worm director of learning literacy and engagement at the Library of Congress I'd like to welcome all of you tonight to tonight's conversation and give a special welcome to members of Congress and their staff I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet Garth Brooks and Tricia Yearwood last fall at their studio in Nashville after the announcement that Garth was selected to receive the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for popular song and to plan for his time here in DC it was a very cool experience for me before we get started with the program I'd like to take a moment to share with you some activities you may want to mark on your calendar notably our 20th National Book Festival on August 29th at the Washington Convention Center I also have some exciting news on April 2nd we will be launching a new initiative live at the library every Thursday evening the library and its exhibitions will be open until 8 p.m. and we will be offering many types of programs to connect you to our collections like book and author programs concerts film screenings poetry readings trivia events and more check loc.gov for more information I want to thank the generosity of our donors the corporation of public broadcasting PBS WETA AARP United Airlines the leonor s Gershwin trust for the benefit of the Library of Congress trust fund board Michael Stransky trustee I got through that one the IRA and Leonor Gershwin fund and many other generous donors if it weren't for them this what this event would not be possible okay so finally I imagine that many of you here tonight are big fans of Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood I understand that there are even people here who flew in from California and drove here from Florida welcome this Wednesday evening Garth Brooks will be receiving his prize at an award ceremony and tribute concert it so happens that we have a select number of tickets that were giving away tonight for this awards ceremony and concert this is my Oprah moment I'm gonna savor it okay everyone if you can please take a look at your seating assignment ticket if you are one of the lucky few your ticket will have a thank you stamp with a smiley face if you have one of these tickets please stand up now [Applause] after the program you'll be able to redeem that stamp ticket at the information tab in the lobby for a pair of tickets to the concert congratulations to all of you for the rest of us wishing to see the library honor Garth Brooks the concert will air on PBS on Sunday March 29th and throughout the month of April moving along please silence your cell phones I am now very pleased to introduce you to my wonderful colleague Susan Vita chief of the library's music division please welcome Susan Vita good evening everyone Thank You Sheree and like you I'm also thrilled to be here tonight the library's music division and its staff are among the crown jewels of the extraordinary institution that we're in tonight the music division holds more than 600 named special collections like for example the bernstein collection with close to 25 million items in the collection and it includes classified music book collections jazz manuscripts microphone you name it it includes it and including many fantastic musical instruments including six Stradivari stringed instruments and we are fortunate to have a staff of musical experts who can interpret these materials and make them come alive for our for our users of course I need to make mention of one of the most prized of these collections the and the inspiration and guiding light for the Gershwin Prize that is the collection of IRA and George Gershwin that contains such classics as Rhapsody in Blue and musical manuscripts from Gershwin stage and screen songs short shows and the library's Gershwin room which is right across the hall here in the Jefferson building bears a look so if you're back please check in it features George's piano and desk and iris table and typing table and typewriter our collections are open to all and invite you to come and take advantage of them either in person or online at loc.gov so tonight you are all here to hear a conversation between the librarian of Congress dr. Carla Hayden and Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks now I could do the traditional introduction and start telling you about all their awards and achievements but I only have a limited amount of time probably eat up all that time so I thought instead I would you might prefer hearing a little bit of the back story of this evenings production as you know one of the library's missions is to preserve the nation's cultural history and therefore we do conversations like this one tonight oral histories of important people in the music industry and we record and preserve them for posterity in our archives so consequently when we heard that Garth Brooks had accepted the Gershwin Prize for popular song we rubbed our hands together and said wouldn't it be great to interview Trisha Yearwood I know you didn't think I was going to say that but she is a huge country star a cooking and culinary icon and a fantastic storyteller it would be wonderful to have her story and so we began by envisioning this evening as Trish's interview but when we were describing the week's events to Garth he being such an advocate for female country artists and songwriters and feeling so passionately that they've been undervalued and that they deserve to be supported has a lot to say on this he said I want to be part of that conversation well would you have turned down that offer so the plans for this evening morphed and consequently tonight we get them both and now I have the delightful task of introducing the woman who leads our amazing library the 14th librarian of Congress Carla Hayden along with Trisha Yearwood and her husband Garth Brooks [Applause] [Music] draw a good cop Wow I already like them and the goal was this from the last gig before god I'm starving would you like a they make it very fun to be I knew it was already fun being with you guys but we get refreshments none of the hi the rows at the top of the stadium they hurt and you know you know about the crew this year from Texas from Florida from Ohio when I and I've got a chance to be with them a little bit ahead of time they said we just want to come and support you guys that's so many people are doing this and and I have to tell you there's been so much enthusiasm about you receiving the Gershwin Prize and it's a do always a for duel George and Ira Gershwin and to have both of you here legends is really an honor for us so thank you we were talking earlier any time you do question answer whatever you're gonna get you're gonna get one opinion but what we found is husband and wife but especially what we found as male and female is the female answer I don't know how it is in everybody else's business but in this business the female has to work a thousand times harder to get it tenth as much so it's great to hear the female answer to the same question because sometimes they'll be very very different so I just I'm a huge fan of just how females think female songwriters stuff like that so it's it's neat for me to get to cheer her stuff and I have found on these this is the only place really in our relationship where she actually listens to what I say oh that's that's really wonderful work thanks guys see it well as you know country music runs deep in this country and Ken Burns did a wonderful documentary when he featured you and we thanked PBS and Ken Burns for letting us show a clip we have a clip we'd like to show from the documentary you so with that how does it feel getting the Gershwin Prize for popular song and it's country it's very sweet on and I'm proud that a country artist we're getting to fly the country flag this week in DC there are a million people that deserve to be in the seat more than I do but it's represent the songwriters that's what I look and the songwriters are the seeds to everything so the next time you find a song that you love you played at your wedding or it means everything to you do me a favor go a little bit past the artists find out who the writer is then my thought always is your luck you'll find that writer and you'll find that other artists have covered some of their stuff and what you're gonna find is there's something about that writer that's touching you even more than the artist is and I think that's the cool thing about songwriting for me well I was just I would say as far as the Gershwin Prize goes you know I know I'm married to him so I can't be impartial but for someone who is a is a great songwriter himself and who is also such a champion for the songwriter it's it's just so fitting and I agree with everything about that you know I was drawn to country music as a young girl because of the stories it told and it was you can find yourself if you look hard enough you can find us on that is about you and and that's what we all want is something we can relate to so I'm proud that it's for country music but the most humble guy who won't say it I'm just really you know to be a great songwriter but also to be a champion of great songwriters one of the songs that have been been playing it everybody loves it here friends and low places and in Washington and in Washington DC we're like oh now and George Street who was one of your main influences and for some asking about your main influences too how did that all come about you made a demo tape and everything yeah and that's what what you do is a songwriter will make demos to pitch to labels so if they want to go to Reba McEntire they'll find a young girl from Georgia that just moved there that sings her own harmonies kind of things and then they'll have Trisha seeing the song and then they'll pitch it to Reba McEntire to do I was the voice they chose to pitch friends in low places to George Strait so I got to be there from the very first downbeat and the last thing I told him was hey I'm on the verge of getting a record deal myself I didn't get finished the door closed that was that so but it uh it worked out it the song kind of hung around for about a year and a half in town and then when they heard I got my record of they said hey do you remember this song and I said I've been singing it every day since I said would you think about cutting it I said yeah we're just done with the first record but we're kind of cutting the first two records together so we went in and cut friends in low places in a room about the size of this stage and then we crammed 50 75 people in there for the sing-along at the end and it was great it was all the people that you loved they're still on board today you know we're kind of one of those ships that still have the same players and stuff so we're very lucky to have those people so that was a I can't imagine my career without friends in low places that's Earl Bud Lee and Dwayne Blackwell and there are different kind of songwriters in this world Dwayne Blackwell is what we call a purist the rhymes have to be exact so the next time you're sober and hear friends and I want you to take two seconds and realize there is no word like dime and line that's not a pure ride for me it is for us lazy songwriters it is but dime can only rhyme with rhyme anything that has that M on it so watch what happens in the drunk anthem of our lifetime pure rhyme right into everything it's pretty cool and juicy you were a demo singer too OS yeah I did I moved to town around the same time that Garth did and I was doing demos for publishers and songwriters I was not really aggressive but I worked cheap and I could sing on pitch and so I got called to sing on demos and doom on harmonies and it was great because I had been singing to the radio I was a huge my biggest influences Linda Ronstadt so I yes so I kind of went down the Linda Ronstadt Carole King Emmylou route and I was singing with the radio and imitating I'm an imitator so I demos gave me a chance to really figure out cuz you're hearing you're having to sing a song you've never heard before to create my own style so I was like I don't know how would well how would I sing that and what happened was that you know I'm shy but record labels were not you know publishers are not they're trying to get their songs recorded and so finally somebody said well who's this girl singing all these songs and then I got to make my own record Wow and you also were a tour guide I wasn't - yeah Museum I was at organ at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and minimum wage I had to wear khaki and we had a we had a book that was about this thick with all the stuff you were supposed to learn and say but I always told the stories that were like the folklore stories and there was a RCA Studio B which is not attached to the museum was where Elvis recorded a lot of records Chet Atkins Dolly Parton and you know you'd walk in them and Michael Elvis played Unchained Melody on that piano and those were the stories I'd love to tell so people could really you want to touch and feel the things that your heroes touched you know so I love that job it was it was a good job other than the khaki to make you do that now Garth I heard that when you went to Nashville for the first time you're gonna start your career and it says you stayed only 24 hours yes ma'am and then you went back to Oklahoma yes ma'am it's it's it's a lie of state 23 so what happened I think it's what didn't happen okay I think what what we all do and you know I would love to blame it on my age but the truth is I think we're all dreamers that do this and I don't know about you but I thought oh hell once I get there all I got to do is sing something someone's gonna say hey here's a million bucks go buy your folks the house you wanted to buy them come back make a record will everything will be fine and rained all 23 hours and just you could tell the soon as you got there that everything was suit and ties which is not what music was to me at that point and I realized if it was going to be these people invest their lives in it these people move there to feed their families with it it's a business and you better treat it that way so I knew I wasn't I wasn't at that level yet so went back got with a band started man and we all moved back about two years later band broke up but by that time you kind of understood you know this is business as a serious you better take care of there's a lot of things in this this world where people think if you take care of business that means you're not an artist I just want to remind people that if you truly care about the music you will take care of it after it's created as well and you will make sure that everybody gets a chance to hear it the best that they can because there's something in those songs if you're Garth Brooks listening to James Taylor as a kid there's something in those songs it's going to save your life you know and then if you're Garth Brooks listen to George Strait there's something those songs that's gonna go that's what I want to do with the rest of my so music is so much more important than I think even today we look at it as its it's got it's got so much importance to it and it's so important for all of us to caress and love and take that music and deep we got three daughters which I'm not sure I've ever heard more than 15 seconds of any song in their life it's just how they listened they started with the iPods they would play it 15 seconds I'd just be getting into the groove boom go the next one yep Oh next one it's like how do you ever you know but as they get older you start to see they're there listening also they've discovered vinyl now so they think they're cool that's bad I think I've been to a number child or two musicians my mom Colleen yes hear my mom calling I wish in herself my dad did you just well there's the librarian that should tell you all you need to know but you mention your daughters and what's it like having because we all agree when I was 12 no talent it's okay but how do you with the pressure of having parents that are in the music business well you can't say it'll never work you know you can't see yeah I think for I think it's always been the way our parents raised us which was we want you to be happy we want you to find your path whatever that is and our youngest is the one who has a she's an incredibly talented singer and songwriter it's a blessing and a curse you know I think that when she walks into a room there is that Garth Brooks is your dad and then there is that well now we expect something from you that you know it's it's a blessing and a curse for her but she's really doing her own thing and I just we just want to be didn't be happy or other two daughters do not want to be in the music industry we just want to be happy also men watching what a woman goes through in the music industry is still tough so you know my dad tried to talk me out of music so bad but he didn't do one-tenth the job I tried to talk her youngest Alec man I got all of a sudden I'm my dad you don't want to do that go get your college degree I thought that would do it day she got her college degree she walked right up and it means because I'm done next thing she was on tour she there's a guitar going out but at least she has her degree now so she she and degrees I don't know many people that are using the degree that they got in my world but I think what the degree brings you is that sense of oh yeah oh my gosh I mean you know I'm the first Brooks to graduate high school in my teenage years this was big it was good now you mentioned in and Tricia your latest album every girl and this is Women's History Month laughter I like what this is most of the songs are almost entirely written by women and you mentioned the challenges that women have in the country business well I mean I think we're talking about the challenges women have you just put the period there in every business it's been interesting for me when I started in the 90s there are a lot of females in in country music and it felt like I mean I was mentored by people like Reba McEntire who basically just showed that she works harder than anybody man or woman and so I always kind of followed Reba's rule of not saying oh it's not it's it's harder for women than men she just worked and so that's kind of the way I always kind of looked at it was not to go well let's talk about what's not equal let's just work harder but what I'm seeing now as I'm 55 this past year and I'm watching these girls who are or the age I was when I started they're in their 20s and they're really struggling to get into the top 20 on country radio I was just talking to and I kind of feel I like kind of the cool part about getting older is to feel like you're in a position to kind of been there done that with these girls and to kind of be a big sister to them I know I'm old enough to be their mother but I'm saying big sister and just to see them to just encourage them to not let that stop them you know there's a I have some songwriter friends who are female who are like I stopped writing songs for women because they're not getting played on the radio and I'm like you can't do that you have to you have to still be an artist you have to still be creative you have to still keep pushing I just did a had on the every girl tour or we thought we can't have a tour and I have all the girls be the openers be girls cuz we're every girl and I had some of these young girls open and a girl named Kaylee hammock she's in her 20s she had a song that was just barreling up the charts and it stopped at 25 and it was done and she said she just had to do country to a seminar and everybody was talking about your stars rising you're doing so well and she said inside I was just thinking my record just died and I said you have to just keep doing what you do you know and we're making some strides there just recently one of the heads of CMT which is where we show our videos they made the edict that 50% of their videos would be played that would be female and that doesn't sound like a big deal but it's a big deal because there's a lot of there's a lot of conversation happening but not a lot of doing happening so that was one of the first things that I thought somebody did something so but I'm always I'm just a positive person I just believe you just got to keep doing what you do and you just got to keep pushing and keep getting it out there Frank Sinatra song I just did I did yeah I had been we did this almost four year tour together and in between tour days I was doing this little cooking show that I have and thank you very much which is really fun I really enjoy it but I had not made a new record in a while and music is what feeds my soul I have to do that and so I I made two albums last year one was the country record and one was a an album called let's be frank I'd always wanted to make an album of standards and Garth went with me I was nervous about doing the record and we went to LA went to Capitol where Frank recorded used his microphone and for four days we cut the whole album in four days and with a 55 piece Orchestra live and it was it that was so cool for me to get to do it but to get do that together we're not usually in the studio holding each other's hand when we were recording but I really wanted him there for that and it was that made it so much more special that's beautiful it's neat to witness and another song gar that you have that people talk about rope in the album roping the wind yes man the river and that is a special song so many people say that's a special song for them so what have you heard fans tell you about it because we know it's it's it's kind of odd because it's not a it's not a you know what I call a Viking song it's not a take out your sword and your shield and you you go but it's lays in such a beautifully loving way and you know I was lucky enough we had this foundation I'm going to be a part of called teammates and we played baseball and these kids that are you know we're half my age when we started now third my age and we started come up to you and just go hey man it's got to tell you about one song and I'm I look at her I go I already know what it's gonna be it's the river and they listen to it all the way in I mean if I'm going into practice I'm listening to you know something that's and they're listening to the river and what makes what kills me about that is they're listening to what it's saying is what they're doing you know what it's saying is a menu you know we all have our dreams can you imagine this country without dreams can you imagine this country without dreamers so what I love about this country is where we're really heading which I really love is we're heading to thank God we have those people like my father I just met a couple of them back here the defenders of this country thank God we have the defenders because they create that pocket for the dreamers that are free to go chase their dreams my kids lay down their head every night say their prayers and chase their dreams because there's some man or woman out in some other country making sure that our freedom to chase those dreams stays alive and that's a beautiful thing and you mentioned that you saw quite a few the Capitol Police and a lot of them right here with you they were making sure talk about your friends employs yes well at the end of your and you you have a saying and I asked you what you were saying about love at the end of your your shows and things you said it together just love yeah I think I mean girl can probably speak more of this than me but I started saying it at the end of my set when I would come out and say in the middle of your show on tour because it's like we're it's no secret that we're just so divided you know and we're all looking for things to to divide us almost and in when you think about the one thing that we're supposed to be down here to do is to love and if you look at everything and though it sounds that sounds so whatever but if you if you really try to look at everything through the eyes of love love one another the other day I was driving home I told him I was in traffic and Nashville traffic has gotten to be where you don't really love one another and I am the first person to have lots of conversations with people they can't hear me in their cars and but I was I had gotten into traffic next to a car with a friend of mine she was in her car and she was driving and so I was sort of watching her on the road to make sure that you know we I was just kind of and I thought all my way home today I'm going to pretend that everybody in this car is somebody that I know and I was so I was I was just I bet you my blood pressure was down like 10 points I was just instead of expecting the worst treating everybody expecting the best and maybe you're cutting me off at 90 miles an hour because you need to get off this exit because there's something important going on in your day you know just trying to really but but that speaks to just just love just just take a breath and just love one another you know where you get a lot of love as your fans we talked about the crew here and just the fact and the fans mean so much to both of you I'm they're super loyal when you talk a little bit more rather than because you really connect with your friends well that's why any artist gets to be an artist because what you guys don't maybe get is when you hear that holy cow that many people have your album you don't think wow I'm pretty cool immediately you think there's someone out there that believes in me my biggest fan is my mom always has been my biggest fan and she's my she's my gal and she's right here with me we lost her in 99 and we've been together every day since then but what you do understand is there's only one of her now granted when when she passed away and we cleaned up the house we found about 1.2 million Garth Brooks record okay but that's that's who you are to an artist you're that reassurance that you're supposed to be doing this right it feels great and you know these guys know these guys know about love we're shooting the second video for we shall be free for an anniversary and I'm behind the camera and force Whitaker what do you want me to say I said we're just talking about talking about being kind to people we shall be free you know let's trust one another and this is during the whole trying to find the weapons of mass destruction thing going on and I look down the camera he looks right in he says the most powerful weapon man will never know I popped out and it's watching set is love it will change the world without ever firing a shot so that love is everything and your kids and the thing with love man here's that here's the crazy thing a love is but the hardest and best part about love is the exact opposite its intolerance it's the piece it's the forgiveness you know we were talking about this on a said Studio G we're watching miss Sherwood we'll get on these things and now if there's a series of 10 of them we got to watch them all you know end up what's called binge watching yes [Applause] binge watching I've been pronouncing it wrong [Laughter] [Applause] so watch this thing called McMillion I don't know if anybody's so watching big millions right now but in mcmillian z-- there's this guy from the Federal Bureau of Investigation looks right in the camera and he says these are all real people that crossed a bridge in a moment he said there is not a human alive that would not look in the mirror and there will be one thing at least in their life they wish they would have never done or could take back understanding that that's tolerance that's love it kills me today where we were kids you know the generations change well we were kids if there was a list of 10 things and you didn't agree on 7 of them it still my buddy you're a but you're still my buddy right oh yeah you like that right yeah I'm sorry yes yes there sorry sorry I know and I wasn't calling you that but the thing is now if we don't line up on ten out of ten things we can't be friends people there is a thing called like-mindedness which I'm all for love one another protect one another like - but if you want to surround yourself with people that only think like you do we are in deep trouble okay sorry I don't mean to go off just let's let's look at it this way okay let's I've said as long as I can sorry okay so what is it now he wanted to know thank you you just you just can't cuss this is a well he did already I'm sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry it's okay it's um it's the apocalypse right and there's a room with ten people that survived it I pray to God for the sake of those other nine people I'm not one of those ten all right cuz people I don't know you think about electricity I don't anything about motors generators if you need that verse to take off into that chorus I'm your guy right they don't think that's gonna save the world at that point so that's why I'm saying yes stand up for what you believe but at the same time man turn these on listen listen digest then spew if you have to but don't try to out scream one another especially on social media take it in take that deep breath hear what they're saying then let them have it just just give them give that sense oh that's that's why I I think that like-mindedness is good a common goal to love one another to get somewhere but how we're gonna get there is going to take all of our opinions in all of our efforts and you showed a little tolerance just to switch gears a little bit right before we came in we had a wonderful display for Tricia of historic cookbooks yes man that's cool and you said we're gonna talk about cowboys and music here I'm sure they'll be suffering yes thank you [Applause] but do you Patricia you did decide to have cooking become a significant part of your career I mean there are people who I mean there your show is really it I'm a home cook I think that's why I mean I'm a cook because my mom and my dad were both good cooks I'm not a chef I would love to go to culinary school my spare time someday someday because I just know what I know and I think that if the show has been successful and the books I think it's because it's just real it's what I it's what I know and I think I couldn't like most people do I didn't intend I didn't think when I was a little girl that I was going to have a cooking show I just I like to cook and in the book the first book was a chance for me to get the recipes of my my mom my dad and my grandparents all together you know most of us have those family cookbooks and if you don't have one I encourage you to do it because when those folks are and those things aren't written down you're gonna wish you had them that was really the goal for the first book never did I dream it would turn into this but because it comes out of something that I really enjoy and I get to have those people my sister my best buddies on the show I get to I get to keep my folks alive and I get to make those recipes and tell those stories and it's it's been really a joy it's something I'd really didn't even know I wanted to do that I've really enjoyed doing you know how do you and it says what's the how do you stay creative in the kitchen now you doing so much in the music world well it's it's the balance part comes when when one thing is up here the other thing suffers a little so when that when I'm making an album there's not as many home-cooked meals but but I'm always experimenting this one of the things that I learned really from Garth actually I was always the like follow the recipe to the letter and he was always the what if you throw tortellini in there how would that tortellinis a thing for him and so but it really did it really did kind of get me to stop being so rigid on the on the and so even just just yeah I wasn't I was making making up a recipe in the kitchen so it's fun to take something that kind of is basically that you know and then throw in some tortellini and see what happens and another thing that we talked about before we came it was your work with President Jimmy Carter and Habitat for Humanity and the gentleman the gentleman was here and he said that there was some scary moments like being up on the roof without there's always scary moments in construction that's yeah I mean if you're if you've raised in Oklahoma you're born with a hammer and you try anything so it's fun what I love to see is I love to see a certain someone dressed up in car hearts or another work boots hard hat they call her nail we have we've had the honor of being on 11 or 12 of those bills and working alongside the Carters and we last year was in Nashville which was great to get a chance to be in our own community building homes we've been all over the world the rooftop the scariest rooftop that I saw him on was in Haiti on a metal roof 100 degrees the scaffolding was not quite to code but but it's been it's really of all the things that I've done in any kind of giving back or any kind of charity work habitat as a hand up not a handout so the people who are building you're building a house with or working right alongside you and you get to see them working really hard in their own home and they're earning their home it's it's a pretty amazing program their rate of loans all that it's it's a low mortgage loan they don't have failures they don't have foreclosures they it's a really great program and we're volunteers we're not affiliated another way other than being volunteers but we we love habitat so speaking of home though when you're at home and people wonder do you ever like sing together or have a song or any of that sure we decide when song well look we have this thing like okay here's the artist Michael McDonald now you have to sing a song like Michael McDonald it gets ugly [Applause] but there's no song you know Michael McDonald but do you know that voice transfers to any song out there our household is excited we also change lyrics we can do those in the library no library card and we also have written together there's a song on the let's be frank album that was a song that we wrote together and you know Garth's the one who's in all the Hall of Fame's and I write very rarely but I came in one day and I said I have a title and I don't have a song for it but I have a this title in my head for the first time I'm in love for the last time and he started singing this melody that sounded like it was from another era and we wrote that song together over the course of a few weeks so we would and he's always writing it's really cool to live in the house with him and hear a song start with a melody or an idea and just over the course of time that hearing the repeat and here we get you know end up to be a song I get excited you know and now I get a chance to hear these things before they are ever recorded and I can't wait for him to get recorded but that song that we did together just kind of took its own course and over that you know just kept kind of hammering those lyrics and finally got it written and just for the sake of writing the song we weren't really sure it was I didn't intend to put it on an album it just kind of happen those things are beautiful when you write for no reason other than because you have to and when an idea hits you and I'm sit at the kitchen she says here's the idea for the first time I'm in love for the last time mm-hmm and this quick man is something and she was talking about what it got me was it made me think about the old black-and-white movies and right immediately came one of the most lines I'm probably most proud of as a writer with you is um I never thought forever ever be for me and my only guess was that happiness wasn't meant to be but now both are mine for the first time I'm in love for the last that's what it's like in your house that's like I come in second on every race it's so sometimes there's just music in the house always music oh yeah yeah either Alexa or whatever there's always oh we just got it going yeah now who and of course inquiring minds want to know who were you all listening to heard some of the up-and-coming artists that you think we should keep an eye on any particular artists a lot of them there's a lot of good ones in Nashville there's a young lady named Ashley McBride it's just got some okay and Ashley very much like I don't know how many people in here know their country music but you saw Haggard up on the screen Haggard came out of Bakersfield came out of California so he didn't have the Nashville sound but also his players didn't have the Nashville sound either so without being disrespectful he just pretty much said I'm gonna do Haggard music that was the only way you can define it and now however many decades later this young lady goes hey look man I appreciate the chance to play in this world at the same time I'm gonna do Ashley McBride stuff so whether it fits country music or not musically what it does fit as it fits the country music audience because she is speaking for every one of us out there so it's it's pretty cool and as a guy hearing a female sing lyrics that I'd be proud to see that's that's that's pretty cool I was trying to think of Miss Sharon Vaughan she was Sharon rice but when she came to town but but this is the woman that just went into the songwriting Hall of Fame now Sharon Vaughan of course is a female and you would have never guessed that my heroes always been cowboy written Byers I mean that's a female that's that's that's laying down lines that a man would love to say I was man enough to write if that makes any sense so I think I think Ashley would be my pick right now yeah we we heard of Ashley through our daughter actually our youngest talked about her a couple years ago and then she's starting to really get the recognition she deserves we were listening to Chris Stapleton as a demo singer in Nashville long before he got a record deal so happy for him because we just knew we get a demo that Chris sang on need me like oh you just wanted even if you didn't want to record the song you just want to hear Chris sing well you didn't want to record it cuz well I wouldn't go to sound like that you know that was but yeah it's uh I mean I've been really following some of the younger girls because I feel like you know we've kind of all there's there's this really cool thing happening right now in countries with the women of all generations kind of being friends so I've gotten a chance to to to get to know the younger girls like Lauren Alaina and Raylan and and Ashley I'm also big Jason Isbell fan he's more Americana but I love Jason now you mentioned and to Vita everyone got a chance to meet sue yes our music department and she presented you with something and we have a clip of that your mom something else yeah we want our we want to show this I didn't cry I found two items that happens to lead sheets that had been sent in for copyright by Colleen Carroll who was Colleen Carroll's but these are I believe in your mother's hand maybe even you can tell me if that is from 1954 and 1955 she was performing with a laser and his Oklahoma outlaws that was really cool so my mama had three children before she was 20 she sang on the road that was her thing it's how my dad saw her was on a television show he saw her on TV and grandpa had a crush on mom and dad said I'm gonna marry that woman grandpa Yeah right and dad ended up marrying her she had three kids dad already had one so they came together and had two more children so were six of us and we all agreed that mom gave it up so his kids could have a mom there every night and every day and I can't imagine her life without her mom but between Betsy and I we kind of said you know what let's finish this for her and was lucky enough to get to do that so she she traveled with us toured with us stole the show any time he brought her on stage she was a she was a dynamo then I mean well you guys all know you oughta saw her so she was she was the bomb [Applause] and she also but if he if anything you want to share with we're just so glad that you're here with us we're gonna open it up to questions out here please do yes ma'am here let me hold these for you sit in between us if you want me here well I got to turn that down should I take those from no I'm good thank you so in honor the Gershwin Prize which is a metal which is a replica thank you it's a blood-spatter the Congressional Gold Medal which is given for the Gershwin Prize and Garth will get that on Wednesday night but in addition we have made lapel pins and you know from being in Washington DC lapel pins are pretty big important so we have two lapel pins one for each of you and if I were you I'd put them on all right here in DC whatever su says we shall do and I have to share a little something when we talked to investors Garth about the Gershwin Prize and we called and we were all excited and one of the first things you said was and I want her to be part of it because she works just as hard if not harder and everybody in the conference room said oh it was wonderful don't worry so we'll get them there you go well get them thank you but that was one thing cuz the the Gershwin Prizes as we know in honor of I feel like I should have the ring too give that do that too and do it now you are official Washington DC's you can walk all around people will look at your lapel pins and they'll thank you very much thank you very official I feel official no now I have two other things we all know that Trisha is in fantastic culinary and in the music division collection we have a collection of Paganini Paganini was this superstar violinist in his time he was probably more like an Elvis he was so so popular but he had this little notebook that is in our collection and we were looking through the notebook and lo and behold we see something that doesn't look like it would be in a notebook for a musician it's a recipe for ravioli sorry it wasn't portable sorry it wasn't tortellini so this was written in 1840 something this is an Italian and his ravioli recipe and translation for it things that you can leave out his calves brain [Laughter] thank you and then Garth for you we we know everybody probably who in here knows that he's a huge huge baseball fan well the library has two fantastic books on baseball this particular one this first one is about early baseball cards from the Library of Congress it's vintage baseball cards from the library which are absolutely amazingly cool what's that the Library of Congress has the world's largest collection of baseball cards and in the second we have treasures from the Library of Congress baseball americana we are many many many of our divisions have collections of baseball there's a lot of sheet music there's definitely a Brant we have branch Ricky's collection there's lots in the prints and photographs division it you know just all over the place [Applause] and thank falta cacao you're gonna get to see I know you said oh all the cooking but on Thursday you're gonna see a lot of music from the color and I just want to thank you for letting me know that the boots are got in Wyoming [Music] [Laughter] [Applause] [Applause]

Channel: Library of Congress

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Id: vlrHlEdO-Jg

Length: 65min 3sec (3903 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 02 2020