CONCERT REVIEW – BRAD PAISLEY Brad Paisley came to Sioux Falls last Friday night. It was my first opportunity to see him in concert. I’ve been a fan of his since before I was introduced to him backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. That was probably in 2000. An internet search tells me he recorded […]
NEWS On his 83rd birthday, Bobby Bare received a surprise from the Grand Ole Opry. He was on the Opry stage April 7, singing during the segment hosted by Jeannie Seely, when Garth Brooks walked to the microphone. Garth invited him to officially rejoin the Opry family. “I’ve got to tell you that this is […]
NEWS This year’s inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame are Johnny Gimble, Dottie West, and Ricky Skaggs. They were announced March 27 at an event in the rotunda of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood were the hosts. Western Swing fiddler Johnny Gimble from Texas was […]
NEWS Ronnie Prophet (1937-2018) Ronald Lawrence Victor Prophet, a native of Calumet, Quebec, died March 2 at age 80, following cardiac and kidney failure. Ronnie Prophet charted 23 singles during his 60-year career. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1966, playing in Memphis and Nashville. There is a Ronnie Prophet Waiting Room at St. Jude’s […]
NEWS The 2018 inductees to the Bill Monroe Bluegrass Hall of Fame are songwriters Tom T. Hall and Dixie Hall. The award ceremony will take place during the 44th Annual Hall of Fame and Uncle Pen Bluegrass Festival at the Bill Monroe Music Park in Bean Blossom, Indiana, in September. Bluegrass Today explains that Tom […]
NEWS Daryle Singletary (1971-2018) Daryle Singletary, 46, died unexpectedly on February 11 at his home in Lebanon, Tennessee. The cause of death is pending. He leaves behind a wife and four children. Daryle Bruce Singletary was born March 10, 1971, in Cairo, Georgia. An early Randy Travis fan, he moved to Nashville at age 19 […]
NEWS One of Faron Young’s Country Deputies, Dave Hall, died on January 19. He was 76. Dave played bass and served as frontman from 1969-72. After leaving the music business, he worked with Royalty Department and Creative Team at HoriPro. I met him in Canby, Minnesota, in 1970 and saw him again when I held […]
FEATURED ARTIST — JOHNNY BUSH Johnny Bush is still going strong, as he approaches his 83rd birthday. He records for BGM Records, owns a tour bus, and travels with his 6-piece band, the Bandoleros. “I’m working as much as I ever did,” he told me when I called him the other day. “And making a […]
GUNFIGHTER BALLADS AND TRAIL SONGS Fifty-eight years ago, as our nation moved into 1960, “El Paso” was riding at the top of Billboard’s country AND pop charts. In 2016, the Library of Congress chose the Marty Robbins album, Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, as one of its 25 annual additions to the National Recording Registry. […]
NEWS Leon Rhodes (1932-2017) The last early member of Ernest Tubb’s Texas Troubadour band has died. Leon Rhodes, 85, died December 9 at his Nashville area home. By age 16, the young Texan was already gaining acclaim for his precision guitar playing in the Big D Jamboree band. Lefty Frizzell and Ray Price hired him […]