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 »

IN THE SPOTLIGHT – TONY BOOTH
Tony Booth initially planned to be a school teacher. He was majoring in education at the University of New Mexico when a friend invited him to join a band. Realizing music was his calling, he dropped out of school. “I started playing when I was 18 or 19 years old,” he told me during our recent phone conversation. “We played six nights a week, we had Sunday off, and I couldn’t wait for Monday, so I could get back and play on the bass.” Read the rest of this entry »

Today we remember Faron Young and Marty Robbins on the anniversaries of their deaths. Marty died December 8, 1982, at age 57. Faron died December 10, 1996, at age 64. Both gone too soon. Both never forgotten.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT – NORMA JEAN
About the time I started watching The Porter Wagoner Show in the 1960s, Pretty Miss Norma Jean left the show and was replaced by Dolly Parton. Over the years, I enjoyed her music, songs such as “Let’s Go all the Way,” “I’m a Walking Advertisement (For the Blues),” and “I Wouldn’t Buy a Used Car From Him.” Read the rest of this entry »

IN THE SPOTLIGHT – JUSTIN TREVINO
Justin Trevino doesn’t remember his first public performance. He was three years old, sitting in a grocery cart while his mother did her shopping, when he belted out, “First time I shot her, I shot her in the side, hard to watch her suffer, but with the second shot she died.” A shocked woman asked his embarrassed mother, “Ma’am, doesn’t he know any nursery rhymes?” Read the rest of this entry »

CONCERT REVIEW – MO PITNEY
Coteau Entertainment commemorated Veterans Day and the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I with a Mo Pitney concert at the Sisseton Performing Arts Center. The event began with a color guard and Wade Johnson singing the Pledge of Allegiance. The 45-minute opening set by Just Between Friends consisted of country hits by singers who were military veterans.

Mo Pitney, after spending the morning hunting pheasants with his brother, Blake, and their dogs, took the stage and sat on a stool with his acoustic guitar. Read the rest of this entry »