Jimmie Rodgers - The Father of Country Music

• Jimmie Rodger's 114th Birthday

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Celebrate the birthday of Meridian's most famous native son, The Father of Country Music, Jimmie Rodgers by visiting the Jimmie Rodgers Museum on Thursday September 8, 2011. In recognition of Jimmie's 114th birthday, admission is FREE during regular business hours of 10-4. For more information, please call 601-485-1808. Click here for directions to the museum.

• Jimmie Rodgers Festival 2011

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May 12th
George Jones at The MSU Riley Center

May 20th
Robert Earl Keen at The MSU Riley Center

May 21st, 5-11 p.m.
Jimmie’s Jam at Singing Brakeman Park, Downtown Meridian
Admission is free!
Food, Fun, cold beer and live music featuring Big Swig, Bo & The Show, Southern Drive and No Request.

May 25th, 6:30 p.m.
Contemporary Gospel Concert featuring Shane & Shane at Singing Brakeman Park, Downtown Meridian. Ticket on sale now at itickets

May 26th, 10:30 a.m.
Unveiling of Country Music Trail Marker, Country Music Comes of Age, in honor of the first Jimmie Rodgers Festival held on May 26, 1953.
Dumont Plaza, Downtown Meridian.

Wreath Laying Ceremony, Jimmie Rodgers gravesite in Oak Grove Cemetary, 12 noon.

Click here for more details

The Jimmie Rodgers Memorial Festival has become a showcase of talent for some very well-known artists over the past six decades. Artists and groups such as Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, Merle Haggard, Alabama, Alan Jackson, Loretta Lynn, Tanya Tucker and Charley Pride have paid tribute to the man who started it all. Each year, visitors from all over the world attend the festival in celebration of the rich heritage of country music. The festival is held during May to honor the anniversary of Rodger’s death. The first festival was held on May 26, 1953.

For more information contact:

Betty Lou Jones, President
e-mail: bebestuartjones@comcast.net
Phone: (601) 917-4344

• Jimmie Rodgers Pageant

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The 2011 pageant will be held on Sunday, May 15, at 1:00 p.m., at Holiday Inn in Meridian, Mississippi (100 North Frontage Road).

Click here to download the pageant registration form

• Jimmie Rodgers Country and Gospel Talent Competition

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The 28th Annual Jimmie Rodgers Talent Contest was held at the Temple Theatre in Meridian, Mississippi on Saturday, April 2. Hundreds of spectators watched 68 contestants try to win trophies and $1500 in prize money. Contestants were from cities in several southern states Louisville, Jackson, Brandon, Madison, Macon, Quitman, Laurel, Preston, Morton, Butler, Alabama, Pelahatchie, Clinton, Union, Enterprise, Coke, Alabama, Noxapater, Toxey Alabama, Thomasville, Alabama, New Orleans, Louisiana, Raymond, Waynesboro, Yazoo City, Vicksburg and Meridian, Ms.

Winners in the Gospel Competition were:
Youth:
1.       Holly Brand, Meridian, Ms.
2.       Jared Vardaman, Meridian, Ms.
3.       Anna Lea Stewart, Macon, Ms.

Adult:
1.       Cindy Nichols, Meridian, Ms.
2.       Beyond Religion, Laurel, Ms.
3.       Krissy Winstead, Union, Ms.

Winners in the Country Competition were:
Youth:
1.       Joy Kate Lawson, Madison, Ms.
2.       Chandler Wells, Noxapater, Ms.
3.       Abby and Chandler Wells, Noxapater, Ms.

Adult:
1.       Krissy Winstead, Union, Ms.
2.       Nicole Covington, Meridian, Ms.
3.       Lindsey Garrard, Vicksburg, Ms.

• Jimmie Rodgers Country Music Trail Marker

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This marker, the first marker in the newly established Mississippi Country Music Trail, honors Meridian’s native son Jimmie Rodgers, The Father of Country Music. For more information, please call The Jimmie Rodgers Museum at (601) 485-1808 or (601) 917-4344. The marker is at Oak Grove Cemetery, 801 Oak Grove Drive, Meridian, Mississippi.