Country Music Legends Wow Gilley’s Audience

The Sept. 10 All for the Hall Dallas concert featured Clint Black, Robert Earl Keen, Scotty McCreery, and Carly Pearce — the legendary artists performing in an acoustic “guitar pull” format at Gilley’s Dallas.

“I’m gonna ask you to lower your expectations,” joked Black, conveying the concert would be intimate yet informal — just the performers, their guitars and their observations on music and life. After pulling out his harmonica to accompany his 1997 hit, “Something That We Do,” the four artists traded songs with plenty of humor throughout the 75-minute show.

The banter between 68-year-old Keen and 62-year-old Black proved priceless with lyrical anecdotes of wisdom exchanged, which led to a running bit about the age difference between the two country legends and 30-year-old McCreery — who told Black and Keen he grew up listening to them — as Black teased McCreery about his song titled, “No Country for Old Men,” which the younger performer then sang.

“I can’t help but feel like that was directed at me,” Black quipped, then countered, “I’m gonna do a song that I wrote back before you were even alive.”

Pearce, the sole female artist on stage, gave a stunning accompaniment to Black’s 1993 hit, “A Bad Goodbye”.

Other notable moments included Black encouraging the crowd to guess the rhymes in his 2015 song “Better and Worse”, McCreery confirming the crowd’s guess (via applause) of his wife’s favorite line, “When you shut up and listen,” to his song, “It Matters to Her”, Pearce refusing to play her final song until Black sang his classic, “Killin’ Time”, and Keen, despite the holidays being months away, jovially performing, “Merry Christmas from the Family,” — bringing the crowd to its feet.

The event raised more than $375,000 for the nonprofit Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and its education programs, including its Words & Music program. The flagship program, provided within DISD, pairs professional songwriters with students to create original songs. 

Program participant, Elena Vo, opened the concert at Gilley’s Dallas with a performance of her original song, “What You Mean to Me”; the high school senior noted feeling “very accomplished” when she finishes composing a song.

This year’s All for the Hall Dallas leaders included co-chairs Lisa Arpey and Vikram Agrawal, the Stodghills as honorary chairs, and Carri Hyde as a production partner. Annabel Morgan and Emily Hyde served as Troubadour Dallas Ambassadors co-chairs. The event’s inaugural chairs include Katy and Lawrence Bock, Terri and Kurt Johnson, Jonika and Corky Nix, Sunie and Steve Solomon, and Anne and Steve Stodghill.