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Bobby Bare will be honored with the Frances Williams Preston Mentor Award at the upcoming Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala on Wednesday, October 11, it was announced today by Mark Ford, Executive Director of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (NaSHOF).
“Throughout his storied career, Bobby Bare has changed the lives of countless songwriters,” says Ford. “He has befriended numerous NaSHOF legends, including Shel Silverstein, Tom T. Hall, Billy Joe Shaver, Bob McDill, Harlan Howard and Kris Kristofferson. He discovered Waylon Jennings and helped him sign with RCA Records in the mid-1960s. He featured many songwriters on his TNN TV show, Bobby Bare and Friends, from 1983-1988. Bobby has made a tremendous impact upon our music, and we are proud to salute him in this way.”
Ford added that, as a recording artist, Bare has had a powerful influence upon NaSHOF for decades. During his 60-year career, Bare has recorded more than 300 songs – including 35 Top-40 singles – written or co-written by 76 NaSHOF songwriters – roughly 30 percent of the Hall’s entire membership.
Bare is a 2013 inductee into the Country Music Hall Of Fame and has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry from 1970-1973 and again since 2018. He becomes the first recording artist to receive the award named for Frances Williams Preston, who influenced and nurtured the careers of thousands of songwriters, performers and publishers in all genres during her five-decade career at BMI.
Previous recipients are music publisher Bob Beckham (2008), music publisher Bill Hall (2009), Preston (2010), music publisher David Conrad (2011), music publisher Donna Hilley (2012), Bluebird Café founder Amy Kurland (2013), music publisher Pat Higdon (2014), music publisher Bill Lowery (2016) and songwriter advocate Ralph Murphy (2019).
