ACM Awards 2014

Somehow the timing all worked out for me to meet up

with Haggard and Frank in Vegas to kill the proverbial

two birds with one stone and also see Merle on his BD

and hang out at the Academy of Country Music Awards

ACM AWARDS

HOSTED BY

BLAKE SHELTON & LUKE BRYAN

We're there with Merle Haggard and got some fun shots

here and there to give you a backstage look at

THE 49TH ACM AWARDS 2014 LAS VEGAS

Kix Brooks, Luke Bryan, and Blake Shelton

I had a couple of meetings before the show and sure wanted to try and find Miranda to say HI. Chuck Banner, a long time friend and producer pal and one of his partners wanted to talk with Frank about a TV project they wanted to do with Merle. Because of the project and it being involved with the late great sausage king Jimmie Dean, and his historic Jimmie Dean television show, Frank and I thought that Merle might like the project. On top of that there was some good money involved and I was making the arrangements for it all to be shot out at Merle's Happy Fish Ranch. On the top of the list was to get some private time with Merle to talk to him about the project we had been working on behind the scenes, now we needed to get Merle's nod to study the idea of building a Merle Haggard Music Complex tied to a big Indian Casino in Oklahoma. We already had a meeting with Dan “Sasu Weh” Jones, a long time friend of mine and he had been the Chief of the Ponca Nation in Oklahoma for many years and Dan and I had dreamed up this idea after I gave him a call talking about Merle wanting me to look for some land in Paso Robles that might have a hot springs on it. More detail on this project is in this book.

Jesse James and Buffalo Benford

Terri Clark wants some Jesse James

Host Luke Bryan

Vegas was all Country with huge outdoor concerts with

the likes of Keith Urban, Chris Young, Joe Nichols, Lee

Brice, and a gang of other acts. Blake Shelton and Luke

Bryan are hosting the 60^th annual show and Miranda

Lambert and Blake Shelton are confirmed to sing a duet,

and the Eli Young Band and Rascal Flatts have also

been added to the event at the MGM Grand. They join previously-announced performers Dierks Bentley, Lee

Brice, Luke Bryan, Hunter Hayes, Toby Keith, Tim

McGraw, Kellie Pickler, George Strait, Carrie Under-

wood, Merle Haggar, Keith Urban, Florida Georgia

Line, Lady Antebellum and The Band Perry. I was

excited to hear that Stevie Nicks was going to join

Lady Antebellum for “Golden.” Lady Antebellum had

already released th song and their sound for sure was

perfect with the grand lady of the rock band Fleetwood

Mac.

Blake Shelton

Before long the limo pulled up to the artist entrance into the MGM Grand Garden Arena and Merle and I got out and continued talking with Merle and

started walking towards an area we were being led to by staff. The curtain opened and Merle said come on. We walked out on the stage and at the mic

was George Strait. He saw Merle and with big smile on his face walked away from the mic towards us. I am about to faint, I am walking tall with the one

and only Merle Haggard and here come the one and only King George. My knees are getting week and my mouth is watering. Merle and George have a

hand shake and a small man hug and Merle looks at me and said, “George this is Benford he is my video guy and we are doing a documentary on Jimmie

Rodgers.” I am in a time warp...I blinked my eyes and I thought about how lucky I was to be on the journey that I was on. The two cowboy went up to

the mic for sound-check and I walk back through the curtains so I could go around and watch from the seats. I then went looking for Miranda...

At these big events there is usually a big room where a bunch of radio

stations from Nashville and other big city country stations set up their

area with a table and mics and usually couple of DJ's from the stations

are there for interviews. Usually the artist just walk around doing short

interviews with the stations and most have their PR people with them

setting up the interviews. I just used the event to get good pictures

of the likes of Blake Shelton, Kix Brooks, Big and Rich, Luke Bryan,

Terri Clark, Sheryl Crow, Joe Nichols, Martina McBride, Thompson

Square, Eli Young Band and others. And low and behold in walked

Miranda Lambert. She saw me and we started walking towards each

other and right when we hugged she said, “Why I haven't seen you

since forever.” I walked around with her for awhile while she did radio

interviews, then you could see her people were around and was

getting time to leave the area for next phase of SHOW TIME...

We hugged by and that was last time saw her in person.

Garth Brooks, Miranda Lambert and George Strait give

MERLE HAGGARD THE CRYSTAL MILESTONE AWARD

Working Man's Poet: A Tribute to Merle Haggard to be released on Broken Bow

Records Telecast to air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas

The Award Commemorates Haggard's prolific 50 years in country music.

Merle Haggard became the ACM's first Entertainer of the Year when the award was presented for 1970. That win marked the Academy's first Triple Crown achievement

as Haggard had already accepted the Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year

award for 1965 and the first of the six Male Vocalist of the Year awards the following

year. A winner of the ACM Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award and Poet's Award, Haggard

joined the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994. In 2014, he will celebrate the

milestone of 50 years in country music.