Saturday afternoon, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s acclaimed Nashville Cats series returns with a program saluting multi-instrumentalist John Jorgenson and hosted by museum writer-editor Jon Freeman. “He’s got an interesting story,” Freeman says of Jorgenson. “He can play any kind of music, and he’s had a slightly different journey than a dedicated Nashville session player, which we do feature in this series as well.” Best known for his prowess on guitar, Jorgenson first stepped into the national spotlight when he co-founded the country-rock group The Desert Rose Band with Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen in 1985. The group scored eight Top 10 country hits between 1987 and 1990. In the early ’90s, Jorgenson founded the instrumental guitar trio The Hellecasters and spent the mid- to latter part of the decade recording and touring as a member of Elton John’s band. In 2004, he formed the gypsy jazz group the John Jorgenson Quintet, which continues to perform to this day. Jorgenson also is still active in the John Jorgenson Bluegrass Band (J2B2), which he co-founded in 2014 with former Desert Rose bandmate Pedersen. Saturday’s program will feature Jorgenson in conversation with Freeman about his storied career, accompanied by music and video clips. At the close of the program, Jorgenson will give a short live performance.
2:30 p.m. at the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Ford Theater
222 Rep. John Lewis Way S.
