Country Pop Bites: Chet Atkins – June 25

Did you know that on this day in Country Music History on 1997 On Chet Atkins Day in Nashville, more than 70 artists and musicians paid tribute to the guitarist at a Ryman Auditorium concert?

It’s true!  Among his admirers: Steve Wariner, Ray Stevens, Ronnie McDowell, Mark Knopfler, Marty Stuart, Bobby Bare and Hank Williams III.

Check out this Chet Atkins video.

Here are 5 interesting facts about Chet Atkins.

• He was born June 20, 1924, in Luttrell, TN.
• His real name was Chester Burton Atkins.
• He played the guitar as a child and as a teen performed professionally as a fiddler.
• By the late 1940s he had become a sought-after session guitarist.
• He was an influential American country-and-western guitarist and record company executive who was often credited with developing the Nashville Sound.