Merle Haggard
was the surprise participant during a Wednesday (April 11) discussion
involving the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's new exhibit,
The Bakersfield Sound: Buck
Owens, Merle Haggard and California Country. It followed another surprise appearance the night before at the We're
All for the Hall fundraising concert in Nashville. Haggard, who is in Nashville for a Wednesday night performance at the Ryman
Auditorium, was added to the interview, "My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers: A Conversation With Norm Hamlet, Don Markham,
and Fuzzy Owen," conducted by museum editor Michael Gray. Steel guitarist Hamlet and saxophonist-trumpeter Markham are longtime
members of Haggard's band, the Strangers. Owen produced and played steel on Haggard's early records and became a permanent
member of the singer's business organization. Haggard was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1994. ... In related news, Haggard
joined Twitter on Tuesday (April 10) and is already following country stars
Miranda Lambert,
Martina McBride,
Blake Shelton,
Keith
Urban and others. He has accrued more than 8,000 followers.
