IN THE SPOTLIGHT – JIMMY FORTUNE “I’m at a really good place right now,” Jimmy Fortune said when he called me for our scheduled interview. “I feel like God’s not finished with me yet. I’m singing as good as I ever did, and I’m writing quite a bit.” He has had to build a new […]
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – MO PITNEY Morgan Daniel “Mo” Pitney is 25 years old and a native of Rockford, Illinois. He released his first single, “Country,” in 2014. He co-wrote the song with Bill Anderson and Bobby Tomberlin. His first album, Behind This Guitar, was issued in 2016. On the day he called me, he […]
CONCERT REVIEW – JIMMY FORTUNE This past Saturday evening, Coteau Entertainment hosted Jimmy Fortune at the Performing Arts Center in Sisseton, South Dakota. Just Between Friends gave their usual excellent opening performance. My sister, Kayo Paver, and I enjoyed both performances and sold my books during intermission. Jimmy kicked off his one-and-three-quarter-hour show of spectacular […]
This newsletter is late because I just returned home from the national convention for the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Kansas City. I received my second consecutive award for All-American Commander of VFW Post 628 in Sioux Falls. NEWS Larry Gatlin wants his Grammy back–no questions asked. He won his only Grammy in 1977 for […]
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – BOBBY BRADDOCK Golden Ring – Old Flames Have New Names – He Stopped Loving Her Today – I Wanna Talk About Me – D-I-V-O-R-C-E – Would You Catch a Falling Star – You Can’t Have Your Kate and Edith Too – Her Name Is – Nothing Ever Hurt Me Half As […]
NEWS Dominic Joseph Fontana (1931-2018) D.J. Fontana, 87, died in his sleep on Wednesday evening, June 13. He played drums for Elvis Presley from 1954 to 1968, both onstage and on approximately 460 recordings. A native of Shreveport, Louisiana, he taught himself to play drums by listening to big band records. Hired in 1953 as […]
CONCERT REVIEW – SUZY BOGGUSS Coteau Entertainment recently hosted Suzy Bogguss at the Performing Arts Center in Sisseton, South Dakota. It was a show worth driving 170 miles to see. Just Between Friends gave their usual excellent opening performance. Suzy played a 90-minute set, with the backing of Elio Giordano on upright bass and Craig […]
FEATURED ARTIST — Wylie Gustafson If you’ve heard the three-note yodel for Yahoo.com, you’ve heard Wylie Gustafson. He told me the story when I called him last week. The Montana cowboy had moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1980s to pursue a musical career. Playing at the Palomino Club, he became known as one of […]
NEWS One of the Geezinslaw Brothers has died. Sammy Allred, a native of Austin, Texas, died May 10 at age 84. He and partner Dewayne “Son” Smith came to national attention on the Louisiana Hayride in the late 1950s and Arthur Godfrey’s radio show in the early 1960s. Sammy later had a show on KVET […]
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 […]