What to do in Oklahoma on Jan. 18, 2013: See the exhibit "Starmaker: Jim Halsey and the Legends of Country Music" at the Gaylord-Pickens Museum

Today’s featured event:

The Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum, 1400 Classen Drive, will open the exhibit “Starmaker: Jim Halsey and the Legends of Country Music” tonight in its Tulsa World Gallery.

The opening reception is set for 5 to 7 tonight at the Gaylord-Pickens Museum, NW 13 Street and Shartel Avenue. “Starmaker” will be on display at the museum through April 5.

In keeping with the gallery’s mission to showcase Oklahoma artists, the exhibit features 60 years of historic music and show business memorabilia from Halsey’s career as a premier artist manager, agent and impresario.

Born in Independence, Kan., in 1930, Halsey began promoting concerts while still in high school. He formed Jim Halsey Co. Talent Agency in 1951 in Oklahoma with his first client, Hank Thompson.

During his 60-year career, Halsey affected the careers of many country and popular music figures including Oklahomans  Reba McEntire, Wanda Jackson and Leon Russell as well as Waylon Jennings, Minnie Pearl, Clint Black, Tammy Wynette, Merle Haggard, Dwight Yoakum, Conway Twitty, The Judds, Roy Orbison, Willie Nelson, the Osmond Brothers, Tammy Wynette, Bob Hope, Jerry Jeff Walker, and many others. At its height, the Jim Halsey Company was the largest country music agency in the world.

Halsey expanded country music’s reach to Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America by organizing and presenting concerts abroad.

“Even in the late 1950s, we were pioneering Southeast Asia and the European markets with Wanda Jackson and Hank Thompson,” said Halsey in a news release. “Our specialty was taking country music to locations and venues where it had never been presented before.”