NASHVILLE, TN. (Top40 Charts/ Lotos Nile Media) - Riders In The Sky will be awarded an honorary membership by the Society for American
Music in San Antonio during a performance with the San Antonio Symphony on Friday, February 29, 2008 during its annual conference.
For thirty years, Riders In The Sky have been keepers of the flame passed on by the Sons of the Pioneers,
Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, reviving and revitalizing Western music. And while remaining true to the integrity of the genre, they have themselves become modern-day icons by branding it with their own legendary wacky humor and way-out Western wit, and all along encouraging buckaroos and buckarettes to live life 'The Cowboy Way!'
Riders In The Sky are stars of the stage, screen, the Grand Ole Opry, National Public Radio, XM Satellite Radio, Saturday morning TV, and are the only exclusively Western artist to have won a Grammy Award. They truly are "America's Favorite Cowboys!"
The Society for American Music presents an honorary membership each year to a well-known, prominent figure who has made important contributions to the field of American music. John Graziano, President of the Society for American Music, comments:
"For the past thirty years, Riders in the Sky have concertized and recorded, presenting the traditional songs of the American west. That their success has continued for three decades is proof of the joy their performances of these songs and ballads bring to American audiences. For me, their excellent recordings provide a welcome continuity of the songs I learned and sang growing up."
Dale Cockrell, Professor of Musicology and American and Southern Studies at Vanderbilt University, and author of Happy Land: Musical Tributes to Laura Ingalls Wilder, notes that
"Riders In The Sky have kept fresh and vivid America's love of the Western frontier and of the music that came from it. As a result, few musicians of our time have been so warmly embraced for so long. We honor them for first honoring us."
Riders In The Sky will be on hand on Friday, February 29 at a special session from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the organization's annual conference, held this year at the Historic Menger Hotel.
The Society for American Music was founded in 1975 to promote the study and performance of American music. Originally named the Sonneck Society, in honor of Oscar G. T. Sonneck (1873-1928), the first critical scholar and bibliographer of American music, and the second chief of the Music Division of the Library of Congress, the Society changed its name in 2000. Since its inception, the Society has named 29 honorary members who reflect the diversity of American music, including Howard Hanson, Gilbert Chase, Lou Harrison, Gerard Schwartz, Bill Monroe, Frederick Fennell, John Cage, Leonard Slatkin, Oscar Peterson, and Thomas Hampson. Honorary members are recognized at the annual conference and receive the regular publications of the Society for life. More information about the Society may be found at www.american-music.org.
