It will take place on October 9, at 3rd and Lindsley in Nashville, Tennessee, where Seely will serve as host. “The show line-up is awesome this year,” she hinted. “Everybody on the show has something to do with the person being honored: in Bill Anderson’s case, he has touched everybody’s career, and everybody wants to be there if they possibly can.”
Seely shared that they will get all of their special musical guests to sing “Happy Birthday to Dottie.” “We wanted to name this fundraiser after Dottie because she loved musicians as I do. We could not do what we do live and what we create in the studio without them,” she said.
Most impressive about this event is that it helps the Nashville Musicians Emergency Relief Fund. “The musicians are so important. They are the unsung heroes. This fund needs some extra help since they get very little outside funding,” she said.
She also expressed her love for Dottie West’s Grammy award-winning song “Here Comes my Baby.” “Dottie and I used to swap songs quite often, where she would do ‘Don’t Touch Me,’ and I would sing ‘Here Comes My Baby.’ We had such fun doing that. I sure miss her and I wonder what our rapport would have been at this age,” she said.
Seely also opened up about “Like I Could,” where she collaborates with bluegrass star Rhonda Vincent. “Rhonda knocked me out with the arrangement she’s done. It was just great. It was No. 4 this past week on the bluegrass charts. We are hoping the song gets more country airplay because it is traditional country,” she said.
“Like I Could” was co-penned by Seely, Erin Enderlin, Bobby Tomberlin.
This past June, as Digital Journal reported, Seely was honored with the “Standing Ovation Award” at the Inaugural Influencing Women Awards GALA at the Grand Ole Opry.
Speaking of the hallowed Grand Ole Opry, next month Seely will be celebrating her 52nd anniversary as a member of the Grand Ole Opry. “That is totally awesome,” she said. “I am in the same position, where all of my heroes are in. I am trying to get used to being a senior Opry member now. It is wonderful and I am honored to be where I am and to be respected as a senior member.”
On being a country artist in this digital age, Seely said, “I am learning. It is pretty amazing. We are actually so fortunate: we live in an era where we can find anything we want to hear in any hour of the day or night. Now you get to play your favorite songs whenever you want to. I think that’s a very positive thing.”
Seely is also very happy with the recent passage of the Music Modernization Act (MMA), which protects songwriters and creators in this digital age for their work. “I am very happy about it since it was way overdue,” she said. “The music laws were way behind so I am happy about that. I wrote letters about it.”
She also spoke about her friendship with modern country songstress Carly Pearce. “I just love Carly and Michael Ray. I spotted Carly back in her Dollywood days. Michael knows every traditional country song you can think of. I am so happy for the two of them,” she said.
To learn more about Jeannie Seely and her music, check out her official Facebook page.
