Gateway to Country Music

Nina Ricci is a folk music artist based out of Nashville, Tennessee who travels year-round to perform at theme parks, festivals, and small venues from the Southeast to the Midwest and as far off as Ireland. She holds a degree in Professional Music from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and she has a minor in American Roots Music. Nina writes her own songs and covers traditional songs of American, English, Irish, and Scottish origins.

For this humanities residency, Nina will present “Gateway to Country Music,” a show in which she performs songs from the landmark album Will the Circle Be Unbroken, bringing forth the history of the songs and of the artists who popularized them. Nina has an affection for the music of the Carter Family, who is in large part responsible for the emergence and popularity of “hillbilly music,” the rudimental music which gave rise to what we now refer to as “Classic Country Music” of the 1940’s and 50’s.

The catalyst for Nina’s interest in presenting “Gateway to Country Music” is her recent performance alongside the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s founding member, John McEuen, June 18th, 2023. In this concert which took place at the Franklin Theatre just outside of Nashville, she was a special guest representing the music of Mother Maybelle Carter. The concert was a celebration of the landmark album ‘Will the Circle Be Unbroken,’ an album that was recorded in Nashville in 1971 featuring the iconic songs of country and bluegrass music stars who, since their heyday, had seen a downturn in popularity due to the rise of rock and roll. The album served to memorialize their contribution to the world of music. It was deemed “culturally and historically” significant by the Library of Congress when it was archived in 2005 and it was certified platinum in 1997. This album represents an era of Country Music largely unfamiliar to the current generation, and it is a gateway to understanding the roots of a genre that has reflected Southern Culture in all its forms for more than a century.