Merle Haggard concert & statue unveiling announced Oct. 10

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (KFOR) – The children of Oklahoma icon Merle Haggard are set to honor their father with a tribute concert that will include a statue unveiling in Muskogee.

According to event organizers, Haggard’s children Ben and Noel’s tribute concert alongside many other artists will take place where it all began at the Civic Center on October 10, 2024. Country music mega-star Merle Haggard. known for many hits including a ‘Okie From Muskogee’ will be honored with a commemorative landmark in the City of Muskogee.

The Merle Haggard statue advisory board says, the statue is being created by world-renowned bronze artist Benjamin Victor. In carving pieces of art all over the world, artist Benjamin Victor says, everything about the artwork of Merle is meant to be meticulously to scale and he has been created in such a way that visitors can sit next to him on a stool for pictures that will reveal “Old Glory Waving Down at The Courthouse” (as in the song lyrics) in the background, only a half-block away.

“I am profoundly moved and humbled to have received the commission to create the sculpture of Merle Haggard. The “Okie from Muskogee.” I was raised in a lower middle-class family in Bakersfield, Ca, just a stones throw away from where Merle was born and raised. In fact, I was born in the same hospital. From the Buck Owens Crystal Palace, which my oldest brother helped build, to the songs that my dad played on guitar for us as kids, we all had a great appreciation and certainly a reverence for Merle Haggard.”

World-renowned bronze artist Benjamin Victor

The concert tribute with Ben and Noel Haggard is expected to headline the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame (OMHOF) fund-raising with fans and artists alike after the unveiling. Folks in attendance can expect to hear a host of well-known hits by their legendary father alongside local favorite recording artists, former contestants on NBC’s “The Voice” and The Swon Brothers who all consider it an honor to pay tribute to Haggard in inspiring their musical career journeys.

“This has to be one of the most exciting things that has happened for Muskogee in quite a while. To have these guys, these voices playing the songs that their father made famous going to be pretty special.”

Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame Executive Director Tony Corbell

“Join the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024 for the unveiling of the statue, by world renowned sculptor Benjamin Victor and followed by a benefit concert for the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame that will honor Merle in the grand way he deserves. Merle inspired and encouraged many of us on the musical path we have been on and now we have an opportunity to celebrate him in the town he put on the map, Muskogee, Oklahoma USA.”

From Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame Inductee, Mr. Vince Gill

DETAILS:

Date: October 10, 2024.
Tickets on-sale: *to be announced soon
Statue unveiling event: *free to the public and will precede the tribute concert

For more information go to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame at omhof.com .

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