• Bluebird Cafe receives “Night Club of the Year” Award from the Academy of Country Music.• The Bluebird Cafe Scrapbook, chronicling important Bluebird events and the people involved in them, is published.• The duo of John Rich & Kenny Alphin performs officially as “Big and Rich” in an acoustic set at The Bluebird.

Dierks Bentley passes his Bluebird audition.

Turner South network begins broadcasting a program called “Live from the Bluebird Cafe” which features songwriters performing many well-known original works. The show runs for five years, although is never broadcast in Nashville.

Nashville’s First Amendment Center begins an annual “Freedom Sings” show, a celebration of freedom of expression through music.

Carolyn Dawn Johnson passes her Bluebird audition.

• Mike Henderson starts a weekly performance with The Kingsnakes (shortened to The Snakes after being signed to Curb Records), with Kenny Greenberg, Wally Wilson, Glenn Worf, John Gardner & Bill Swartz (later replaced by James Stroud).• A second incarnation, The Bluebloods, replaces the Snakes in 1986. Originally a trio featuring Henderson, John Gardner, & Glenn Worf, the addition of keyboards to the ‘Bloods brought such luminaries to the band over time including Al Kooper, Greg Wetzel, Reese Wynans and later, John Jarvis.• Currently on Monday nights, The Bluebird hosts The Mike Henderson Band with Henderson, Willie Domann and Kevin McKendree.

Radney Foster’s first show.

The Sweethearts of the Rodeo appear for the first time with Don Schlitz. They get a record deal on Columbia Records. The Bluebird gets mentioned in The New York Times.

Although he’s played at The Bluebird many times before on Writers’ Nnights, this was Kix Brooks’ first appearance here with a band.

The Cowboy Junkies come through on their first tour.