Obama Hosts White House Hoedown

The grand East Room of the White House felt more like the Grand Ole Opry last night as the Obamas hosted a celebration of country music, the Tennessean reports. The elites of DC and Nashville packed the room as Charley Pride, Brad Paisley, and Alison Krauss took to the stage for the event, the second in a White House series showcasing American music.

"A lot of people think I’m a city boy, but I do appreciate listening to country music,” the president said in his opening remarks. “It’s about folks telling their life story the best way they know how—stories of love and longing, hope and heartbreak, pride and pain." Rumors had circled that Obama would duck out of the concert early but he stayed until the last twang.
(More country music stories.)