Ray Stevens: Voices in the Hall...

Hello once more...a podcast featuring Ray Stevens became available yesterday and it's part of a series called Voices in the Hall. I had seen the title of this series mentioned a couple of times on-line but without reading too much about it I thought it was a program that focused on members of the Country Music Hall of Fame. So, once I came across the podcast of the series with Ray as a guest I erroneously thought it was going to be an interview with Ray on being elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame as well as it being a look back on his career. Ray's interview is Episode Eight in the recently launched series.

Anyway, having not read much about the series, I listened to Ray's interview and also read the manuscript version. It never dawned on me that Ray's interview had taken place weeks or probably months before the March 18th announcement of his election to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

It's a great interview and Ray gets the opportunity to talk about his experiences in the recording studios over the last several decades and his successes with video material (collectively VHS, DVD, and On-line releases) in addition to his years in Branson, Missouri and the recent opening of the CabaRay showroom. The host asks him several questions about several of his recordings and he tells of their origin. "Gitarzan", for example, as well as "The Streak" and "Everything is Beautiful" among others. It really isn't until near the end of the interview that we (the listeners) realize that the conversation took place prior to Ray's election to the Hall of Fame based on some parting words from the host.

It turns out that the title of the series, Voices in the Hall, is meant to be taken literally. It's a conversation/interview series which takes place inside the Hall of Fame facility...it doesn't mean the artists being interviewed happen to be members of the Hall of Fame (which is what I initially thought the series would be about). The irony, of course, is Ray's interview for this series was uploaded weeks after the March 18th announcement that he would be one of the newly elected Country Music Hall of Fame members...but episodes for Voices in the Hall had been recorded weeks prior to that announcement...and so it's eerie to hear the interviewer, Peter Cooper, mention that he hopes Ray will become a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame one day. Once I heard him say that to Ray it dawned on me that the interview had taken place at some point prior to March 18th of this year.

It's a great interview, as I mentioned, regardless of it taking place before the Hall of Fame announcement. Over on the podcast website I commented that I hope a further interview takes place in which Ray can reflect on his career from his newly acquired status as a Hall of Fame member. The medallion ceremony later this year marks the official induction where the members receive their plaque and medallion which is why in the months leading up to the medallion ceremony the newly elected members are sometimes referred as member-elect, much like in a Presidential election. Once a candidate wins the election he's referred as the President-elect until the official Oath of Office takes place. Ray and the other newly elected Hall of Fame members go through a similar process. It's only after the medallion ceremony takes place (equivalent to Inauguration Day for a President) that the newly elected become official inductees.

As of this writing Ray hasn't given any interviews, well, any lengthy remarks about the Hall of Fame election beyond the speech he gave on March 18th which is embedded below the podcast link.

You can listen to the Voices in the Hall podcast by clicking HERE.

His speech at the Hall of Fame from March 18, 2019...