Underwood, the Checotah graduate topping country music charts, will perform at the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame Concert and Induction at 7 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Muskogee Civic Center. Other inductees include Grand Ole Opry singer Ramona Reed and rock keyboardist Rocky Frisco.

Hall of Fame board member Tracy Blair said on Wednesday that the 576 VIP tickets for the concert already sold out. Those tickets, which included an inductee reception before the concert, went on sale Tuesday. She said advance tickets for Hall of Fame members also sold quickly.

“A lot of people joined the Hall of Fame in order to buy the tickets,” said Blair, who is Ramona Reed’s daughter-in-law.

Blair said there will be plenty of tickets will be available when public sales begin at 10 a.m. Saturday. She said the Civic Center seats 3,656.

“But we expect to sell out of those tickets on Saturday,” she said.

Blair said Underwood’s appearance is drawing people from all over the state.

“A lot of people who knew her are coming up from Checotah, a lot of people knew her from NSU,” she said. “People drove up here — not only once but twice — all the way out here from Enid.”

Published August 19, 2009 11:58 pm -

Hall of fame advance tickets selling quickly
Reserved seats on sale Saturday

By Cathy Spaulding
Phoenix Staff Writer

Advance tickets for Carrie Underwood’s induction into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame are selling fast, but concert promoters say there should be enough tickets when sales go public on Saturday.

Hall of Fame Board President Max Boydstun said he’s not surprised by the response.

“We knew this will be a sell-out because of Carrie,” he said. “This girl was a pro even before American Idol. She spent years with Downtown Country.”

Downtown Country is a summer musical revue presented by Northeastern State University. Underwood won American Idol in 2005.

Boydstun said advance VIP ticket sales already outsold the total number of tickets for the 2008 Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame induction, which featured the Cherokee National Youth Choir, the All American Rejects, songwriter Chick Rains and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes.

Boydstun said this year’s induction has been getting “wonderful press, not just in Oklahoma.”

He said one former board member heard a radio broadcast about the concert while he was driving in northern Alabama.