NEWS
Johnny Gimble (1926-2015)
One of the greatest fiddlers of all time, Johnny Gimble, died May 9, three weeks before his 89th birthday, due to complications from several strokes. John Paul Gimble spent most of his life in Texas, other than the Nashville period and World War II, when he was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to Austria, where he worked behind a desk in the special services. In the 1950s, he played with Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. In the late 1960s, he moved to Nashville, where he played on many famous country music recordings. He was a member of Hee Haw’s Million Dollar Band, along with Chet Atkins, Roy Clark and Floyd Cramer. He portrayed Bob Wills in Clint Eastwood’s 1982 movie, Honkytonk Man, which also starred Marty Robbins. (more…)

NEWS 
The principal of Bakersfield High School recently presented Merle Haggard with his high school diploma–an honorary one. In 2013, Cal State University Bakersfield gave Merle an honorary doctorate, and Buck Owens was posthumously honored with the President’s Medal. (more…)