The Texas Country Music Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and concert was held Saturday, August 13 at the Carthage Civic Center. Comments were heard such as, "What a weekend! It was the best show we've been to! It was my first one coming to and it was great. I will be back!"  The 25th annual Classic Country Music Festival saw a full weekend of celebrations starting with local musician Chase Dawson winning the John Ritter Tribute Showcase on Friday evening. On Saturday morning, the KGAS Tex Ritter Roundup selected Abby Nabors from Calera, Oklahoma for the $1000 first place prize money. 

Starting off the show as emcee, Tracy Pitcox filled in for Dallas Wayne who was unable to attend due to sickness.  Entertainment for the Saturday night crowd began with a Buddy Holly tribute performed by John Mueller who sang many of Holly's greatest hits including "That'll Be the Day" and "Peggy Sue". Next were performances by previous  John Ritter Tribute Showcase Winners Zac Clifton (2021) and Bailey Ray (2019) and the current winner and Carthage native Chase Dawson.

Entertainers for the evening:

• Randy C. Moore who sang his newest hit "Luckenbach" and also a tribute to former inductee Kenny Rogers who died this year. He sang the popular song, "Lady." 
• Leona Williams and Ron Williams
• Marty Haggard who sang several of his father, Merle Haggards songs.
• Linda Davis, Lang Scott and Bobby Tomberlin each sang a Mickey Gilley song to pay tribute to the Hall of Fame inductee who also passed away this past year. 
• Tess Frizzell sang with David Frizell the #1 hit "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma" which he made famous with Shelly West. 

And to conclude the festivities, David Frizzell, Buddy Holly and The Texas Tenors were inducted as the  newest members of the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame. David Frizzell put on a great performance singing his hit songs "I'm Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home" and "There's a Reason God Made Oklahoma", singing with Tess Frizell. He told stories of his brother, Lefty Frizell and also sang, "Lefty, Merle, and Me" in which he called Marty Haggard back on stage to perform with him. The Texas Trio lit up the stage with their performance and had the audience on their feet for several songs, particularly "I'm Proud to be An American" which is a song they performed when competing on the America's Got Talent competition.  Their tenor voices resonated with songs ranging from country to opera which delighted the audience. The very personable group received a standing ovation at the completion of their set. 

Visit the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame website for more details.