NEWS C.W. McCall (1928-2022) William Dale Fries Jr. (pronounced “freeze”), 93, an advertising executive who became C.W. McCall, died April 1 at his home in Ouray, Colo. He had announced in February that he was in home hospice for cancer. The Washington Post reports he was born Billie Dale Fries on November 15, 1928, in […]
CONCERT REVIEW – REBA McENTIRE The first time I saw Reba McEntire in concert was in her early cowgirl days, in Oklahoma in the late 1970s. A decade later, when she gave a concert in Virginia, she had gone uptown. Her fancy gowns and choreographed movements made it appear she’d practiced posing on a certain […]
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – SCOTTY McCREERY After reading an article where Scotty McCreery said, “Little Scotty used to sit on the end of his bed with a guitar playing three wooden crosses, forever and ever amen, 1982, diggin’ up bones and so many other Randy Travis songs till 2 in the morning,” I knew I […]
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – JANA JAE When I typed “girl with the blue fiddle” into an internet search engine, it brought up Jana Jae. She had told me in our recent phone conversation how she acquired that title. First, a bit about her background. Born in 1943, Jana started playing violin at age two. Her […]
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – GENE WATSON It’s been almost eight years since I spotlighted Gene Watson in my newsletter (https://dianediekman.com/dianes-country-music-newsletter-2-july-2014). When I arranged a phone interview recently, I asked about his health, as he had cancelled his November show in Sisseton due to illness. “All the illnesses I’ve been through finally culminated in double pneumonia, […]
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – DAVID FRIZZELL When David Frizzell called from Nashville for our scheduled interview, and I told him one of my newsletter readers likes Barnyard Christmas, he said, “That was one of my first children’s albums. I have another one, but I’ve got to record it. I’ll try to do that if we […]
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – ERIN ENDERLIN Erin Enderlin made her first trip to Nashville at age 16, when she attended Fan Fair in 1998. She carried a backpack containing a Trapper Keeper full of songs she’d written. “Just in case, y’know, somebody needed a song,” she explains. “I carried it all over the fairgrounds with […]
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – BOBBY TOMBERLIN After missing the opportunity to meet Bobby Tomberlin during our Nashville trip, I requested a phone conversation–and found the songwriter relaxing in his hometown of Luverne, Alabama, during Christmas break. My first question was about the song Jeannie Seely recently recorded, “If You Could Call It That,” an unfinished […]
TRIP TO NASHVILLE – BILL ANDERSON: AS FAR AS I CAN SEE EXHIBIT Our four days in Nashville went by way too fast. I’m so glad I accepted Bill Anderson’s invitation to attend the opening of the Bill Anderson: As Far as I Can See exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. […]
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – AL SHADE “We’re Country and Proud of It.” That’s the theme of Al Shade, 94, who has been performing and promoting country music in Pennsylvania for seven decades. He is the oldest entertainer to appear at any county fair in the state of Pennsylvania. He still performs annually at the Lebanon […]