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 a reunion of the Deputies in 2000. He wrote two of the songs on Faron’s 1971 It’s Four In the Morning album: “It’s Not the Miles” and “Night Coach Out Of Dallas.” Dave told me he gave co-writer credit to bus driver Lewis Redding, because, “He and I rode down the road a lot at night, me with a guitar in my hand.” Graveside services for Dave were held January 27 at Mt. Juliet Memorial Gardens. (more…)

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 lot more money than I ever did.”

His first hit, in 1969, was the Marty Robbins song, “You Gave Me a Mountain.” In 1972, under a new contract with RCA Victor, he released his own composition, “Whiskey River.” Then his life changed. “It was the pinnacle of my career, when I was really rockin’ and rollin’, when it happened,” he says. “My voice just slammed shut.” (more…)

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. I was asked to write an essay about the album. You can find it here: https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/recording-registry/index-of-essays/ (more…)