IN THE SPOTLIGHT – LACY J. DALTON

The most incredible project Lacy J. Dalton, 72, has ever done in her life came from the recent three-and-a-half years she spent with an arts program at High Desert State Prison in Susanville, California. “It was a life-changing experience,” she told me during our telephone conversation last week. When a friend called and asked her to join the program, she said she was too busy and didn’t want to do it. He convinced her to give it a try. Dale Poune, her partner of ten years and a “fabulous guitar/mandolin/piano player,” went with her. “From the minute I went into that prison, I never felt one moment of fear,” she recalls. “Those men were so grateful. They had no programs like art or music or acting or anything in the arts. These are level four guys, twenty to life. I’ve never felt so loved and appreciated in all my life.” Read the rest of this entry »

NEWS

Mastering engineer John Eberle, 79, died April 12 at Dickson Health and Rehab in Dickson, Tennessee. For more than 30 years, he mastered recordings at Nashville Record Productions (NRP), before launching his own company, Americana Mastering. His credits appear on nearly 450 recordings. “Mastering is the final process in audio recording, after the music has been captured to tape (or disc), and mixed down to a two-track master recording,” explains Bluegrass Today. Read the rest of this entry »

NEWS

Jim Glaser (1937-2019)

Jim Glaser, the originator of the Marty Robbins harmony sound, died April 6 at his Nashville home at age 81. While on tour near Spalding, Nebraska, in 1957, Marty hired the Glaser Brothers (Tom, Chuck, and Jim) after their father brought them to his dressing room. The trio toured and recorded with Marty for almost five years. “The western songs were three-part harmony,” Jim once explained. “I laid out those harmonies pretty much the way I laid out the Glaser Brothers harmony, which turned out to be a little bit of a bugaboo for us, because the Glaser Brothers began to sound like we were copying Marty.” They became known as Tompall and the Glaser Brothers Read the rest of this entry »

CONCERT REVIEW – DWIGHT YOAKAM

Saturday night brought my first opportunity to see Dwight Yoakam in concert. He came to the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls for a sold-out show in a wonderful venue. I enjoyed the intermission more than the opening act. The recorded music gave promise of a show that respected classic country. Listening to Patsy Cline, George Jones, Willie Nelson, and two songs in a row by Faron Young made me wonder if Dwight had personally chosen the playlist.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT – GARRY ROBBLE

Willful Shadows: The Account of SONNY JAMES and the Southern Gentlemen is the title of a book being released May 1. Gary Robble, who cowrote the book with Barb Day, told me about it in a recent phone conversation. “Our book on Sonny is not about all the artists we performed with,” he said. “It’s about the process–of how he almost became a one-hit wonder. And then how he found a second career. Read the rest of this entry »

IN THE SPOTLIGHT – GEORGETTE JONES
Life changed for Georgette Jones in 2009, as the result of two men she met on a trip to Ireland. The daughter of Tammy Wynette and George Jones had been a registered nurse in Alabama for seventeen years. “I loved my job,” she told me when we talked on the phone recently. “I enjoyed being a nurse. But I always loved music and it was something I was too shy to pursue.” She sang at an occasional local gig, but that was it.

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This week we especially remember Faron Young, born in Shreveport, Louisiana, on February 25, 1932. He would be turning 87 on Monday.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT – HILDA YOUNG AND ALANA YOUNG
When I tried to catch up with Hilda Young and daughter Alana for a telephone conversation, it took several attempts to find the busy pair at home. “Miss Hilda has too many doctor appointments,” Alana joked.

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NEWS
Harold Bradley (1926-2019)
Harold Bradley, 93, died peacefully in his sleep on January 31 in Nashville. The Tennessean reports he grew up in Nashville and played the banjo as his first instrument. He and his older brother, Owen Bradley, opened Bradley Film and Recording on Sixteenth Avenue South in 1955. Columbia Records purchased the Bradley studio in 1962. This is where Marty Robbins did most of his recording. Read the rest of this entry »

IN THE SPOTLIGHT – DALLAS WAYNE
When I called Dallas Wayne the other day and asked what is his current highest priority, the 62-year-old Willie’s Roadhouse deejay immediately responded, “I’ve got to lose fifty pounds by Sunday because we’re going on the Outlaw Country Cruise, and I want to make sure I look good in a Speedo.” Then he added, “I don’t think it’s gonna happen.”

To seriously answer my question, he told me about the new vinyl double album he’s just released: Songs the Jukebox Taught Me, Volumes I & II. Read the rest of this entry »

NEWS
The leader of country-rock band The Tractors has died. Steve Ripley, 69, died January 3 at his home in Pawnee, Oklahoma. He had been suffering from cancer, according to a statement from Alison Auerbach Public Relations. Born January 1, 1950, he grew up on his family’s Oklahoma Land Run homestead in Pawnee County. He played in bands from junior high through college, graduating from Oklahoma State University with a degree in communications. Read the rest of this entry »