Local News
Murrah honored by Country Music Hall of Fame Museum
NASHVILLE —
Athens native, songwriter and music publisher Roger Murrah will be honored March 6 as part of the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum’s quarterly programming series “Poets and Prophets: Legendary Country Songwriters.”
The 1:30 p.m. program, which will be held in the Museum’s Ford Theater, is included with museum admission and free to museum members. The program will also be streamed live at www.countrymusichalloffame.org.
Murrah was born in 1946 and raised on a family farm in Athens. After his father traded an old pickup truck for a piano, Murrah and his five siblings, among whom is local singer and songwriter Tina Swindell, taught themselves to play by ear, and he was composing songs by age 13.
Although Murrah initially eyed a singing career, his songwriting began to flourish. In 1968, while still in the Army, he became a staff writer for music publisher and FAME Studios owner Rick Hall in Muscle Shoals.
After getting out of the service, Murrah opened his own recording studio in Huntsville, where he met songwriter and recording artist Bobby Bare. In 1972, Murrah relocated to Nashville to work for Bare’s publishing company, Return Music, earning just $50 a week. Murrah wrote his first nationally charted song, Wynn Stewart’s “It’s Raining in Seattle,” in 1973.
However, Murrah’s steady stream of songwriting success didn’t begin to flow until 1980, when he scored his first No. 1 Billboard country hit with Mel Tillis’ “Southern Rains.” The following year, Murrah co-wrote Jarreau’s international hit “We’re in This Love Together,” which cracked Billboard’s Top-20 pop and R&B charts and went on to earn a BMI award for 3 million performances.
A multitude of hits followed, as top country artists including Lee Greenwood, Patty Loveless, Barbara Mandrell, Ronnie Milsap, Kenny Rogers and Clay Walker, among others, began cutting Murrah’s songs.
Additionally, Murrah’s close collaboration with Waylon Jennings on his 1987 autobiographical album, “A Man Called Hoss,” produced one of Jennings’ last Top-10 hits, “Rough and Rowdy Days.”
In addition to his successful music-publishing career, Roger Murrah ranks among country music’s most prolific songwriters, with hit songs spanning more than four decades. In 1990, Murrah started his own publishing company, Murrah Music Corporation, placing emphasis on nurturing songwriters and helping them develop their talents. The company’s roster of songwriters, including Murrah, has delivered a number of hits for contemporary country artists Luke Bryan, Tracy Byrd, Kenny Chesney, Billy Currington, Reba McEntire, and more. In 2009, Bug Music acquired a portion of Murrah Music Corporation and named Murrah its senior vice president, Nashville.
Murrah was elected to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005. He also served two consecutive terms as president of the Nashville Songwriters Association International, and is currently serving his fifth term as chairman of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation.
The Poets and Prophets series honors songwriters who have made significant contributions to country music history. The program is sponsored by Ford Motor Company Fund, and, in part, by grants from the Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission and by an agreement between the Tennessee Arts Commission and National Endowment for the Arts.
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Local woman dies in Friday fire
A woman who was badly burned when she was discovered in her unit at Elmwood Apartments by police and firefighters late Friday night died not long before midnight, authorities said.
Vickie Strasser, 52, was taken by ambulance at about 10:40 p.m. to Athens-Limestone Hospital with second- and third-degree burns over 95 percent of her body. MedFlight was called to rush her to Huntsville Hospital at about 11:30 p.m., but she died before the helicopter arrived. -
Athens Police make 14 arrests in Friday night drug roundup
Friday night was a busy one for Athens Police officers. While several investigators were conducting a roundup that resulted in 14 arrests, other officers responded to a fire call at Elmwood apartments (see story on today’s front page).
Lt. Trevor Harris said officers conducted search warrants at two homes — one at 1210 Plato Jones St. and another at 903 Brownsferry St.
Madison Police Department provided two additional officers and dogs from the K-9 unit to assist. -
Family displaced by fire seeking residence to rent
One family displaced by last Sunday’s fire at Athens Village Apartments is desperately looking for a home or apartment to rent in the area.
Scott Robertson and his wife, Amanda, and four children, daughter Jordan, 16; son Matthew, 14; son Dallas, 9; and daughter Lily, 5, lost everything they owned on Aug. 29 when an early morning fire — sparked by a cigarette thrown on a patio chair outside another apartment — destroyed all eight units in Building D of the apartment complex at 1711 W. Elm St. in Athens. -
TVA ranks in Top 10 for economic development
For the fifth year in a row, the Tennessee Valley Authority has been named by Site Selection magazine as one of the top 10 North American utilities for economic development achievement. -
Bank robbers remain at large in city, county
Athens Police are still searching for a white man who robbed TVA Credit Union on East Hobbs Street in Athens on July 9.
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Woman burned in fire at Elmwood Apartments
A woman who was burned over 95 percent of her body after a fire in her unit at Elmwood Apartments was taken to Athens-Limestone Hospital by ambulance at around 10:45 p.m.
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Trinity reunion parade will be at 10 a.m. Saturday
The Trinity High School Grand Reunion parade will be at 10 a.m. Saturday in Athens.
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Keeping the bees
Limestone County Beekeepers Association received a grant from the Alabama Mountains, Rivers and Valleys district of the RC&D Council.
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Trinity High School had many distinguished graduates
Local resident Lt. Col. James L. Walker gathered biographies of some of these graduates as the school celebrates its annual Grand Reunion today and Saturday in Athens.
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Part of Clinton Street in Athens to be closed at least 2 more weeks
Clinton Street in Athens, between Lee and Forrest streets, will be closed for at least two more weeks while Athens Utilities replaces sewer lines that are up to 75 years old, an official said.
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