Nashville singer and songwriter Jerry Salley is set to be inducted tomorrow into the Ohio Country Music Hall of Fame.
With a 40 year career that’s seen almost 600 of his songs recorded by other artists in bluegrass, country, and gospel music, the honor seems completely justified for this Chillicothe, Ohio native. Salley is also an artist himself, whose most recent album, The Songwriter, consists entirely of songs he has written on his own.
Of course Jerry is not opposed to co-writing, something he does on a regular basis with a team of others around Nashville, but it does bear mentioning that he had enough solo material to fill a 12-track project.
Songs he has written or co-written have been recorded by top bluegrass artists like The Steeldrivers, Del McCoury, The Osborne Brothers, Doyle Lawson, Rhonda Vincent, Lonesome River Band, Balsam Range, Seldom Scene, Flatt Lonesome, IIIrd Tyme Out, Joe Mullins, Larry Stevenson, Dave Adkins, Donna Ulisse, and Irene Kelley, with more being added every month.
In the country realm, he’s had cuts with Reba McEntire, John Anderson, Chris Stapleton, Toby Keith, Sara Evans, Patty Loveless, Joe Nichols, Darryl Worley, Travis Tritt, Tracy Lawrence, Neal McCoy, Mark Chesnutt, and a great many more.
On top of singing and songwriting, he has also served as Creative/A&R Director for Billy Blue Records, a successful bluegrass record label that is affiliated with Daywind Music Group. Salley also frequently serves as producer for new Billy Blue recordings, with notable artists like Authentic Unlimited, Darin & Brooke Aldridge, Appalachian Road Show, Donna Ulisse, Dave Adkins, Carson Peters, Kristy Cox, Joe Mullins, and several others on the label.
Given these many achievements in music, HOF Director Jackie Thomas says of Salley…
“The Ohio Country Music Hall of Fame remains true to its commitment of honoring Ohio natives who have excelled in maintaining the genre of traditional country music with the induction of songwriter-singer Jerry Salley. Jerry is a proud native and a true ambassador to the great state of Ohio, and he truly honors the Ohio Country Music Hall of Fame’s mission to ‘preserve the past in order to ensure the future’ for generations to come.”
Previous inductees have included legends like Roy Rogers, Shelley West, Connie Smith, Bobby Bare, Johnny Paycheck, and fellow Nashville songwriter Scott Sexton, who nominated Jerry for this honor.
The ceremony will take place tomorrow, August 10, at the Keepin’ It Country Farm in Waynesville, OH as part of a 7:00 p.m. concert featuring John Berry and Richard Lynch. Tickets are available online.
Many congratulations to Jerry Salley for this milestone honor, one well and truly deserved for his contributions to bluegrass and country music. We hope to get some photos from the induction which we can share next week.
