Rod Ham, a 30 year Nashville Veteran, is the originator of this event. "For a long time I had been trying to come up with an idea for a get together for musicians who had been in Nashville for a long time but their careers had moved them in many directions over the years. I had attended the funeral for a good friend in which many friends of mine attended who I had not seen in years. It inspired me to get something going that would allow us to visit and pick together instead of waiting years between visits".

Event History:

August 2006 – Held at the Nashville Nightlife. Music hosts were Rod Ham, Dennis Payne, Jim Unger, Mickey Gaworecki, Tommy Hannum, James Mitchell & John McTigue. We once again had a lot of fun and had some new folks get introduced to the Ball. Unfortunately this was the last time some of us got to work with Jim Unger as he passed away just a month after our event. We’ll certainly miss his musicianship and personality.

March 2006 – Held at the Nashville Nightlife. Music hosts were Kenny Penny, Jim Vest, Willie Rainsford, Rod Ham, Jack Daniels, Matt Combs, & Ric McClure. We celebrated our 3rd anniversary with a great group of musicians and participants. Connie Smith came out and performed a set to help us celebrate and she brought her hubby Marty Stuart along with Brian Glenn, one of Marty’s band members. We had a fun Jam and good time visiting with some of our old and new friends.

January 2006 - Held at the Nashville Nightlife. Musical hosts were Rod Ham, Randy Mason, Jack Daniels, Tim Atwood, Scott Coney, John Hughey, & Suzanne Rohrer. We had a great time with nearly 30 pickers & singers who took part in the Jam and got to see some old friends some of us hadn't seen in 20 years. That's what's it's all about folks. Thanks to those who came out in support of our efforts and made it a fun night.

August 2005 - Held at the Nashville Nightlife. Musical hosts were Rod Ham, Randy Mason, Jack Daniels, James Mitchell, Tommy White, Dave Duncan, & Jim Buchanan. We had some old friends and some new faces who had not been to an Elders Ball show up and the music was superb. We also had a large crowd of music fans who enjoyed the traditional country music theme. Thanks to all who are supporting our effort and continue to make this the fun event that it's become.

February 2005 - Held at the Nashville Nightlife. Musical hosts were Rod Ham, Dina Johnson, Hoot Hester, Jack Daniels, Terry Duncan, James Mitchell, & Steve Hinson. We had The Nashville Cats reunion in which we saw many of the ex-Cats members come to play and visit. Some of the Cats that came out were Jim Vest, Diane Sherrill, Cliff Parker, Joe Roden, Diane Jordan, Kathy Lee, Suzanne Elmer, Jan Jones, Willie Rainsford, Tommy Williams from Florida, Susie Reed, Doc Peters from Pigeon Forge, & Sid Hudson from Virginia. We also had Charlie Louvin come by and sing some with us as an added bonus. We had a packed house with over 200 people attending and I personally counted 67 musicians there.

December 2004 - Held at the Nashville Nightlife. Musical hosts were Rod Ham, Dina Johnson, James Mitchell, Smiley Roberts, Drew Covington, & Willie Rainsford.

August 2004 - Held at the Nashville Nightlife. Musical hosts were Rod Ham, Dina Johnson, Terry Duncan, Jack Daniels, Russ Hicks, & Suzanne Rohrer. Laney Hicks was our special guest. Connie Smith stopped in to listen and even did a couple of songs with us.

July 2004 - Held at the Nashville Nightlife. Musical hosts were Rod Ham, Dina Johnson, Terry Duncan, Jack Daniels, Mike Jones, Dennis Payne, & Jim Unger. Billy Dean was our special guest.

May 2004 - Held at the Nashville Nightlife. Musical hosts were Rod Ham, Jack Daniels, Dina Johnson, Terry Duncan, Mike Johnson, Danny Parks & Drew Covington. Mountain Dew Rag Boys (part of Porter Wagoner's Band - Danny Davis, L.D. Money, Fred Newell, & Greg Cole) were our special guests.

April 2004 - Held at the Nashville Nightlife. Musical hosts were Rod Ham, Dina Johnson, Jack Daniels, Terry Duncan, Rusty Danmyer, Rick Wright, & Ozzie Osment. Mel McDaniel also stopped in to visit.

September 2003 - Held at the Broken Spoke Saloon. Musical hosts were Rod Ham, Dina Johnson, Terry Duncan, Scott Coney, Steve Hinson, Buck Reid & Kenny Sears.

August 2003 - Held at the Broken Spoke Saloon. Musical hosts were Rod Ham, Dina Johnson, Jack Daniels, Terry Duncan, Scott Coney, Johnny Cox & Ozzie Osment. Jim Ed Brown was our special guest.

June 2003 - Held at the Broken Spoke Saloon. Musical hosts were Rod Ham, Dina Johnson, Jack Daniels, Terry Duncan, Scott Coney, Johnny Cox & Ozzie Osment. Melvin Sloan also came by.

May 2003 - Held at the Broken Spoke Saloon. Musical hosts were Rod Ham, Dina Johnson, Buck Reid, Kenny Sears, Terry Duncan, James Mitchell & Gregg Galbraith.

April 2003 - Held at the Broken Spoke Saloon. Musical hosts were Rod Ham, Jack Daniels, Dina Johnson, Buck Reid, Billy Johnson, Hoot Hester, & Tim Atwood. We had many musicians there to entertain and Daryle Singletary was the highlight of the evening as he did nearly an hour performing many classic country standards as well as a few of his own hits including "Old Violin" from his latest CD which drew a standing ovation from the crowd. He also brought several of his band members that brought his backup crew to 9 musicians for his performance. Daryle is a great example of what country music should be about and we appreciate his support tremendously.

March 2003 - Held at the Broken Spoke Saloon. Musical hosts were Rod Ham, Jack Daniels, Dina Johnson, Kenny Sears, Terry Duncan, Scott Coney & Buck Reid. Connie Smith was our special guest to get our 1st event started off right. Doyle Holly, George Riddle, Marty Stuart, Joe Sun, & Hairl Hensley also dropped in.