CONCERT REVIEW – THE MUSIC OF RANDY TRAVIS I finally met Randy Travis!! I’ve been his fan and have followed his career ever since first hearing “On the Other Hand” on my car radio while driving to Susie’s Nashville East in Virginia Beach in 1986 to go dancing. After getting my University of Illinois Press […]
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – DENNIS McCALL My last newsletter mentioned the McCall family (Darrell, Dennis, Diane, and Dee Jee) had been inducted into the Ohio Country Music Hall of Fame, and that Dennis received his plaque during the Heart of Texas show we attended while we were in Nashville. I introduced myself to Dennis McCall […]
NASHVILLE TRIP REPORT The day before flying to Nashville, I received an email from United Airlines that suggested changing my flights to avoid weather congestion in Chicago. But rescheduling before knowing there was a problem seemed like an unnecessary hassle. Kayo Paver, Perry Steilow and I showed up at the Sioux Falls airport on Friday […]
CONCERT REVIEW – JANIE FRICKE Janie Fricke came to the Sisseton Performing Arts Center in Sisseton, South Dakota, last Friday evening. Brother Keith and sister Kayo were there with me for the show. Janie came onstage at 8 p.m. and kicked off with “Somebody Else’s Fire,” a song she said came from “my new greatest […]
CONCERT REVIEW – STEVE EARLE The Deadwood Mountain Grand, a Holiday Inn Resort that overlooks Historic Deadwood, South Dakota, is the only hotel I can recall–and I’ve stayed in many of them around the world–that has no front entrance. We crossed the street from the parking lot and entered the casino, then took an elevator […]
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – JENNIFER McCARTER The McCarters were a sister trio who recorded traditional country music for Warner Bros. in the late 1980s. Jennifer sang lead, with twin sisters Lisa and Teresa singing harmony. Their debut album, The Gift, produced two Top Five singles, the title track and “Timeless and True Love.” When I […]
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – DOYLE GRISHAM Steel guitarist Doyle Grisham grew up wanting to be the next Carl Smith. Instead, after a long career as a musician, he is now a Coral Reefer with Jimmy Buffet. When I called him the other day, they had just returned from a two-week tour. At age eighty, he […]
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – JAMES DUPRÉ Tickets go on sale today, June 1, for The Music of Randy Travis Concert at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. The show takes place Sunday afternoon, August 28, at 2 pm, to conclude the annual Corn Palace Festival. James Dupré will be singing Randy’s songs, backed by […]
CONCERT REVIEW – GENE WATSON Gene Watson finally gave his concert at the Sisseton Performing Arts Center. He told us the May 7 show had taken so long to happen he didn’t think they would ever do it. It was two years in the making. “We drove all the way up here from Texas,” he […]
Happy birthday to Randy Travis. He celebrates his 63rd birthday today. NEWS Naomi Judd (1946-2022) One day before being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Naomi Judd, 76, died on April 30. “Today we sisters experienced a tragedy,” daughters Wynonna and Ashley Judd said in a statement. “We lost our beautiful mother to […]