♪♪ ♪♪ Magelky: When we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame to shoot the "Round" scene with Elizabeth Cook, Guy Clark, Darrell Scott, and Buddy Miller, we realized that we'd stumbled upon something pretty magical.

I think everyone in the crew realized that, when we walked into that building and we saw those artists, we knew we were in for a really big treat.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Edgar: My name is Jacob Edgar.

I'm an explorer, but I don't search for lost cities or ancient ruins.

I'm on the quest for a different kind of treasure -- music.

[ Man singing in French ] ♪♪ As an ethnomusicologist and world music record producer, I travel the globe hunting for the best songs the world has to offer, and I suffer through some of the worst... so you don't have to.

♪♪ I've got a backstage pass to the world's music, and I won't stop until I've heard it all.

♪♪ ♪♪ Edgar: Mae West once said, "Too much of a good thing is wonderful."

And that's how the "Music Voyager" team felt during our visit to Nashville, Tennessee.

They don't call Nashville the "Music City" for nothing, as we discovered when we found ourselves unable to squeeze all the great sounds we heard into one episode.

♪♪ One experience, in particular, deserved extra attention.

So we decided to create this "Music Voyager" special to share it with our viewers.

♪♪ A "round" is an informal musical gathering where people take turns performing their songs, and today on "Music Voyager," we're inviting you to enjoy some of Nashville's top singer-songwriters as they demonstrate this venerable local tradition.

♪♪ Assembled in the intimate Ford Theater at Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is an all-star lineup of revered songwriters.

♪♪ Buddy Miller is one of Nashville's most in-demand guitarists, songwriters, and producers, and he's toured and recorded with Shawn Colvin, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Linda Ronstadt -- and that's just a partial list.

Darrell Scott has written a number of mainstream country hits for the likes of Brad Paisley, Travis Tritt, the Dixie Chicks, and Faith Hill.

Most recently, he and Buddy Miller have been touring with Robert Plant.

You might know him from Led Zeppelin.

Elizabeth Cook was raised in a musical family in Central Florida, and her straight-to-the-bone songs, 300-plus appearances on the Grand Ole Opry stage, and spirited personality have made her one of Nashville's top rising talents.

But even these luminaries speak in hushed reverence about Guy Clark, who's considered by many to be one of America's greatest songwriters.

Clark's best-known songs include "L.A. Freeway" and "Desperadoes Waiting for a Train," and many other songs you didn't know you knew until you heard them.

One by one, the singers in the round took turns, each choosing a song that was important to them personally.

What song did you decide to play today and why?

Um...

It's a song called "I've Got a Wide, Wide River to Cross."

It's a song I wrote with my wife.

I write along with my wife.

Your wife's also a musician and songwriter.

Yeah, she's a great songwriter.

Tell me about this song and where it comes from.

My wife had just lost her brother, and...

I had a short time to do a record.

I think that factored into the song, a bit.

I notice a lot of the songs come from a place of deep introspection.

Is that something that has been an inspiration for all of you or...?

There's joy and happiness in there, too.

I mean -- And part of the deal is to tell the truth and not deny that "heavier" stuff, you know?

I mean, if you're going to be an artist, you're going to tell it like it is.

Otherwise, what are you doing?

♪ There's a sorrow in the wind ♪ ♪ Blowing down the road I've been ♪ ♪ I can hear it cry ♪ ♪ While shadows steal the sun ♪ ♪ But I can not look back now ♪ ♪ I've come too far to turn around ♪ ♪ And there's still a race ahead that I must run ♪ ♪♪ ♪ I'm only halfway home ♪ ♪ I got to journey on ♪ ♪ To where I'll find the things that I have lost ♪ ♪ I've come a long, long road ♪ ♪ But still I've got miles to go ♪ ♪ I've got a wide, wide river to cross ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ I have stumbled, I have strayed ♪ ♪ You can trace the tracks I made ♪ ♪ All along the memories my heart recalls ♪ ♪ But I'm just a refugee ♪ ♪ Won't you say a prayer for me?

♪ ♪ 'Cause sometimes even the strongest soldier falls ♪ ♪ I'm only halfway home ♪ ♪ I got to journey on ♪ ♪ To where I'll find the things I have lost ♪ ♪ I've come a long, long road ♪ ♪ But still I've got miles to go ♪ ♪ And I've got a wide, wide river to cross ♪ ♪ I got a wide, wide river to cross ♪ [ Applause ] You know, one of the things I think that's very special about the Nashville music scene is how important the craft of songwriting is here.

Why do you think that is?

I don't know.

To tell you the truth, I've always wrestled with the idea of craft.

I'm not exactly sure what it means.

The inspiration, that -- I pay attention to that.

I know what that is.

And...

There seems to be a time when you kind of know when it's arrived.

So, what are you going to play today?

I'm going to do a song that, um...

This one came about because I was trying to find out what happened to a great-grandfather of mine in our family.

He did something about a hundred years ago in family history that basically the rest of the family excommunicated him.

And he ran off.

No one knew where he went to.

And basically it was -- the decree was given, we're not to talk about this guy.

So therefore I don't know anything about him.

I went to Kentucky, where I'm from and where my family's from, to see if I could find out something.

Where did he die?

Did he remarry?

Did he buy land?

Anything, 'cause the excommunication was pretty solid.

And I also went through graveyard, areas where the family came from, thinking, am I going to find a gravestone of his or something like that?

I didn't do it to research a song.

I did it to research my family and to understand this grandfather guy, great-grandfather.

But about a week later, the song pretty well came pouring through, with the title that seemed to be the center of it, was, "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive," and that's kind of where it came from.

♪ In the deep, dark hills of Eastern Kentucky ♪ ♪ That's the place where I trace my bloodline ♪ ♪ And it's there I read on a hillside gravestone ♪ ♪ Said, "You will never leave Harlan alive" ♪ ♪ Well, my granddad's dad ♪ ♪ Walked down Katahrin's mountain ♪ ♪ And he asked Tillie Helton to be his bride ♪ ♪ Said, "Won't you walk with me ♪ ♪ Out of the mouth of this holler ♪ ♪ Where we'll never leave Harlan alive?"

♪ ♪ Where the sun comes up ♪ ♪ About ten in the morning ♪ ♪ And the sun goes down about three every day ♪ ♪ And you fill your cup ♪ ♪ With whatever bitter brew you're drinking ♪ ♪ And you spend your life ♪ ♪ Just thinking of how to get away ♪ ♪ No one ever knew there was coal in them mountains ♪ ♪ Till a man from the Northeast arrived ♪ ♪ He was waving some hundred dollar bills and he said ♪ ♪ "I'll pay you for your minerals" ♪ ♪ But he never left Harlan alive ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Well, Granny, she sold out cheap and they moved out west ♪ ♪ To Pineville ♪ ♪ To a farm where big Richland River winds ♪ ♪ Yeah, and I'll bet they danced them a jig ♪ ♪ And they laughed and sang a new song ♪ ♪ "Who said we'd never leave Harlan alive?"

♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ But the times got hard ♪ ♪ And tobacco wasn't selling ♪ ♪ And old granddad knew what he'd do to survive ♪ ♪ Yeah, he went and dug for Harlan coal ♪ ♪ And sent the money back to Granny ♪ ♪ Aw, but he never left Harlan alive ♪ ♪ Where the sun comes up about ten in the morning ♪ ♪ And the sun goes down about three every day ♪ ♪ And you fill your cup ♪ ♪ With whatever bitter brew you're drinking ♪ ♪ And you spend your life digging coal ♪ ♪ From the bottom of your grave ♪ ♪ And the sun comes up about ten in the morning ♪ ♪ And the sun goes down about three every day ♪ ♪ And you fill your cup ♪ ♪ Go on, fill it up ♪ ♪ With whatever bitter brew you're drinking ♪ ♪ And you spend your life digging coal ♪ ♪ From the bottom of your grave ♪ ♪ In the deep, dark hills of Eastern Kentucky ♪ ♪ That's the place where I trace my bloodline ♪ ♪ And it's there I read on a hillside gravestone ♪ ♪ Said, "You will never ♪ ♪ Leave Harlan alive" ♪ [ Applause ] "Mama's Prayer."

How did this song come about?

This song came about because it was Mother's Day in 2006, and I didn't have anything to give my mother that one of my brothers or sisters hadn't already thought of.

The petunia basket.

A pie.

So, um, I sat down and wrote this song for her and printed it out, and I found an old frame in the basement that had another picture in it, ripped that out and put that in and handed it to her, totally scored.

♪ I'm not in the hall of fame ♪ ♪ I'm not on the wall of shame ♪ ♪ I guess you'll find me in-between somewhere ♪ ♪ Things go right and things go wrong ♪ ♪ Sometimes you'll hear me sing this song ♪ ♪ You'll always find me in my mama's prayers ♪ ♪ Sure as the skies will turn dark at the end of the day ♪ ♪ The angels must count on what she's gonna say ♪ ♪ Now I know I'm at least one of five other names ♪ ♪ When I'm down and think nobody cares ♪ ♪ I remember that I'm in my mama's prayers ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Not everybody has a mom, and no one does forever long ♪ ♪ And I used to think, "Well, Lord, that's just not fair" ♪ ♪ But I believe your words are for always ♪ ♪ And they won't end with the days ♪ ♪ I'm grateful to be in my mama's prayers ♪ ♪ Sure as the skies will turn dark at the end of the day ♪ ♪ The angels must count on what she's gonna say ♪ ♪ Now I know I'm at least one of five other names ♪ ♪ And the devil may come seek me on a dare ♪ ♪ But he'll be up against my mama's prayers ♪ ♪ I don't always know what to believe ♪ ♪ And I don't always know everything I need ♪ ♪ But faithfully my name is called each night ♪ ♪ By quilted bedside ♪ ♪ When I'm down and think nobody cares ♪ ♪ I remember that I'm in my mama's prayers ♪ ♪ And the devil may come seek me on a dare ♪ ♪ But he'll be up against my mama's prayers ♪ [ Applause ] I was playing in this little string band in L.A., and we were down in San Diego playing, and we kept going back home at about 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, after a gig.

And...

I had fallen asleep in the back seat and I just kind of sat up and I looked around, and it just popped out of my mouth without thinking about it.

I said, "God, if I can just get off of this L.A. freeway without getting killed or caught."

Edgar: [ Laughs ] Just in a straight line.

And a little light bulb went off.

And I got an old burger sack and my wife's eyebrow pencil and wrote it down.

What do you think it is about this song in particular that's lasted that's had such an impact?

I'm not sure.

You know, I...

It's something that's happened to most people, you know?

Time to pack up and move on... somewhere.

And everybody's gone through that.

And I think that kind of ring of familiarity is something people can associate with, something they can connect with that makes for good songs.

♪ Pack up all your dishes ♪ ♪ Make note of all good wishes ♪ ♪ And say goodbye to the landlord for me ♪ ♪ That son of a bitch has always bored me ♪ ♪ Throw out those L.A. papers ♪ ♪ The moldy box of vanilla wafers ♪ ♪ Adios to all this concrete ♪ ♪ Gonna get me some dirt-road back street ♪ ♪♪ ♪ If I can just get off of this L.A. freeway ♪ ♪ Without getting killed or caught ♪ ♪ Down that road in a cloud of smoke ♪ ♪ To some land I ain't bought, bought, bought ♪ ♪ And here's to you, old skinny Dennis ♪ ♪ Only one I think I will miss ♪ ♪ I can hear that old bass singing sweet and low ♪ ♪ Like a gift you're bringin' ♪ ♪ Play it for me one more time now ♪ ♪ Got to give it all we can now ♪ ♪ I believe everything you're saying ♪ ♪ Just you keep on, keep on playing ♪ ♪♪ ♪ If I can just get off of this L.A. freeway ♪ ♪ Without getting killed or caught ♪ ♪ Down that road in a cloud of smoke ♪ ♪ To some land I ain't bought, bought, bought ♪ ♪ And you put the pink card in the mailbox ♪ ♪ Leave the key in that old front-door lock ♪ ♪ They'll find it likely as not ♪ ♪ I'm sure there's somethin' we have forgot ♪ ♪ Oh, Susanna, don't you cry babe ♪ ♪ Love's a gift that's surely handmade ♪ ♪ We've got something to believe in ♪ ♪ Don't ya think it's time we're leavin'?

♪ ♪♪ ♪ If I can just get off of this L.A. freeway ♪ ♪ Without getting killed or caught ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Down that road in a cloud of smoke ♪ ♪ To some land I ain't bought, bought, bought ♪ ♪ If I can just get off of this L.A. freeway ♪ ♪ Without getting killed or caught... ♪ Edgar: With their heartfelt words and soulful melodies, Elizabeth Cook, Buddy Miller, Darrell Scott, and Guy Clark represent the pinnacle of songwriting that is the foundation of the Nashville music scene.

♪ Pack up all your dishes ♪ ♪ Make note of all good wishes ♪ Going in, it was sort of, "Oh, you're doing the job, and let's focus, let's get it done."

Leaving, I...felt like I wasn't working, you know?

Like I just got to witness something amazing that most people don't get to see.

♪♪ Edgar: It was a gathering of greats in Nashville, Tennessee, and the whole "Music Voyager" crew were happy to share this moment with you.

♪♪ [ Applause ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪