Source: Webster PR Press Release
Guy Gilchrist, Famed Illustrator & Writer of NANCY Comic Strip Honors GRAMMY, CMA, and ACM Award-Winner Steve Wariner & Grand Ole Opry’s 88th Birthday Celebration
| Nashville, TN (August 22, 2013) – GRAMMY, CMA, and ACM Award-winning Opry member Steve Wariner and the Grand Ole Opry will receive a one-of-a-kind recognition for their contributions to Country Music in the daily comic strip NANCY. The strip is syndicated internationally in 80 countries (approximately 400 newspapers), and viewed by 57 million readers around the world. Guy Gilchrist, famed illustrator and writer of NANCY, will sometimes slip his favorite music icons within the frames of his work (most often with their names emblazoned on characters’ tee-shirts or in storefront signage). On rare occasions, Gilchrist will pay tribute to these artists, and make them a centerpiece of the strip. Such was the case in the Sunday, August 25 edition of NANCY. Gilchrist will personally present the strip to Steve Wariner and the Grand Ole Opry on Sat., Oct. 6 during a 3:00 p.m. Wariner concert at the Opry House, part of the Opry’s Birthday Bash Weekend.
“Over the years, Steve Wariner and I have become good friends. I’ve always admired his work and he mine, so when I heard he had a new album coming out, I wanted to do something for him,” explains Gilchrist. “That’s when I found out he was the featured act during the Opry’s 88th Birthday Bash afternoon concert on Oct. 6 and I knew that I just had to do a full feature strip that focused on him and paid tribute to one of the cornerstones of Country Music, the Grand Ole Opry.” “I think being in the ‘Nancy’ comic strip is one of the coolest things that has happened in my career,” said Wariner. “I was thrilled to learn that the super talented Guy Gilchrist included me in the strip that honors the 88th birthday of the Grand Ole Opry, which happens to be one of my favorite places to perform.” Gilchrist, who resides in the Nashville area, has embedded his love for music within the strip, honoring artists such as Elvis, The Beatles, Charlie Daniels, Taylor Swift, Patti Page, George Jones, Don McLean, and many more. A collection of these music-related strips were donated to the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum. They are currently on display as part of the larger, ongoing exhibit, “Nancy Loves Nashville,” at the Nashville International Airport which will run through 2015. For more information on NANCY, please visit www.nancyandsluggo.com. Country music legend Steve Wariner will release It Ain’t All Bad, his first non-instrumental album in more than eight years, on Sept. 10. The acclaimed singer/songwriter/guitar virtuoso has received four GRAMMY Awards, four CMA Awards and one ACM Award, among other honors, and has been a member of the Grand OIe Opry since 1996. Wariner has achieved 14 No. 1 hits, including “Holes in the Floor of Heaven,” “The Weekend,” “I Got Dreams,” “Lynda,” “Tips of My Fingers,” “Life’s Highway,” “Some Fools Never Learn,” “The Domino Theory,” and more. He is also well known for songs such as “I’m Already Taken,” “Two Teardrops,” “Leave Him Out of This,” “Kansas City Lights,” and more. In addition to writing many of his own songs, Wariner has written hits for other artists including “Longneck Bottle” (Garth Brooks), “Where the Blacktop Ends” (Keith Urban), and “Nothin’ But the Taillights” (Clint Black). For more information, visit www.SteveWariner.com. About Guy Gilchrist: Gilchrist’s work is currently on exhibit at the Nashville International Airport, museums around the world, the Walt Disney Museum in Marceline, Mo., as well as permanently enshrined in the Smithsonian Institution. For more information on NANCY or Guy Gilchrist, please visit www.nancyandsluggo.com. |
