Posted on 10/19/2024 1:49:56 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The children of Oklahoma icon Merle Haggard are set to honor their father with a tribute concert that will include a statue unveiling in Muskogee.
According to event organizers, Haggard’s children Ben and Noel’s tribute concert alongside many other artists will take place where it all began at the Civic Center on October 10, 2024. Country music mega-star Merle Haggard. known for many hits including a ‘Okie From Muskogee’ will be honored with a commemorative landmark in the City of Muskogee.
Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame set to honor Merle Haggard with bronze statue
The Merle Haggard statue advisory board says, the statue is being created by world-renowned bronze artist Benjamin Victor. In carving pieces of art all over the world, artist Benjamin Victor says, everything about the artwork of Merle is meant to be meticulously to scale and he has been created in such a way that visitors can sit next to him on a stool for pictures that will reveal “Old Glory Waving Down at The Courthouse” (as in the song lyrics) in the background, only a half-block away.
“I am profoundly moved and humbled to have received the commission to create the sculpture of Merle Haggard. The “Okie from Muskogee.” I was raised in a lower middle-class family in Bakersfield, Ca, just a stones throw away from where Merle was born and raised. In fact, I was born in the same hospital. From the Buck Owens Crystal Palace, which my oldest brother helped build, to the songs that my dad played on guitar for us as kids, we all had a great appreciation and certainly a reverence for Merle Haggard.”
World-renowned bronze artist Benjamin Victor
The concert tribute with Ben and Noel Haggard is expected to headline the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame (OMHOF) fund-raising with fans and artists alike after the unveiling. Folks in attendance can expect to hear a host of well-known hits by their legendary father alongside local favorite recording artists, former contestants on NBC’s “The Voice” and The Swon Brothers who all consider it an honor to pay tribute to Haggard in inspiring their musical career journeys.
“This has to be one of the most exciting things that has happened for Muskogee in quite a while. To have these guys, these voices playing the songs that their father made famous going to be pretty special.”
Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame Executive Director Tony Corbell
“Join the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024 for the unveiling of the statue, by world renowned sculptor Benjamin Victor and followed by a benefit concert for the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame that will honor Merle in the grand way he deserves. Merle inspired and encouraged many of us on the musical path we have been on and now we have an opportunity to celebrate him in the town he put on the map, Muskogee, Oklahoma USA.”
Date: October 10, 2024.
Tickets on-sale: *to be announced soon
Statue unveiling event: *free to the public and will precede the tribute concert
For more information go to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame at omhof.com.
Had the pleasure of seeing him perform onstage (twice) with Loretta at Lake Tahoe in 1985...
It was sad that he died at such an early age...
THIS ‘EVENT scheduled for 10-10-2024 is being posted on 10-19-24.
DOES SOMEONE HAVE A CALENDAR THAT RUNS BACKWARDS???
This will be huge. When the funeral was coming up, I heard that the family wanted to do more but didn’t have time to put it all together. Marty Stuart (Merle’s lead guitarist for years) and band will be there along with many, many others. Willy and the Boys, the newbies and the Gals.
He was damn near 80, and lived some hard years.
Yep... Hard living...
At my age, someone who is in their late 70s is a youngster with lots of living yet to do...😎
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