A country music legend is performing in Athens Friday.

Charlie Louvin (formerly of the Louvin Brothers) has spent more than 50 years in the limelight of country music.

In support of his new self-titled album, the Country Music Hall of Famer is bringing his 80th birthday tour to The Melting Point.

“Our ownership has made it a goal to book nationally known artists and is currently adding more and more country shows as well,” said Shelby Wright, marketing manager of The Melting Point. “Louvin definitely fits the mold, and we are very happy to book him.”

Louvin’s latest contains mostly Louvin Brothers songs and early country classics.

The album features more than 13 guest artists, including Will Oldham (a.k.a. Bonnie “Prince” Billy), Alex McManus (of Bright Eyes fame) and Elvis Costello, who sings the Louvin Brothers’ hit “When I Stop Dreaming.”

“Jeff Tweedy, Will Oldham, Elvis Costello, Joy Lynn White – they’re all good kids,” said Louvin, who met some of the artists at Bonnaroo Music Festival this year. “I’m also already booked on Bonnaroo for next year, and I live in Manchester, so I can hear the music at night.”

Ever since the beginning, Louvin said he has been involved with new and contemporary musicians of the day despite their genre of music.

He has gone from booking Elvis Presley as his opening act during the 1950s to touring with bands like Cake and Cheap Trick in 2003.

“John McCrea (of Cake) was doing a tour with Cheap Trick and sent me an e-mail asking me if I was interested in performing with them,” Louvin said. “Before he got up from his computer, I wrote back and said I’d like to do the entire tour, and before it was over I was singing California Man’ with Cheap Trick.”

Louvin is one of the few artists with a long-standing perspective on recording technology, which has changed greatly.

“When my brother and I started recording, we recorded directly to an acetate and if you made a mistake, you did it straight from the top again,” said Louvin.

“I prefer that way over today because everybody was in the studio cutting at one time, and when you finished, you were finished. Today, I’ll play with just a piano and an electric guitar, and afterward they’ll ask, ‘Well, what would go better with that?’”

Louvin said he has maintained a healthy lifestyle despite the harsh influences that come with the music industry and the loss of his brother Ira in 1965.

“I came up in a duet where the other half drank,” said Louvin. “They call that the designated driver, and I was always the driver.”

The one new song on Louvin’s album is a tribute to his late brother.

“It wasn’t difficult to write it, but it’s difficult for me to sing it today,” said Louvin. “It means a lot to me.”