NEWS Congratulations to Bill Anderson for being a Grand Ole Opry member for 62 years, longer than any other performer in history. He broke the record of Herman Crook, who joined with his string band, The Crook Brothers, in 1926 and stayed on the Opry for 61 years, 11 months, and 17 days, until his […]
CONCERT REVIEW — ALABAMA My plans to attend the Alabama concert Saturday night at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls took an unexpected turn at the last minute. I’d contacted Alabama’s merch manager, Terry Tyson, to ask if he was on the tour, and he responded with a backstage pass and a spot […]
By David C. Morton The Country Music Foundation Press recently partnered with The University of Illinois Press to reissue its out-of-print 1991 biography, DeFord Bailey: A Black Star in Early Country Music. The author, David C. Morton, first met Bailey when he went to the “Harmonica Wizard’s” apartment for an interview in 1973. They became […]
CONCERT REVIEW I planned to see Brooks & Dunn when they came to the Sanford Premiere Center in Sioux Falls, but I didn’t expect to have such great seats or a meet & greet with Scotty McCreery. Thanks to Scott Stem of Triple 8 Management for making that happen. The meet & greet was well-organized, […]
BIOGRAPHY CONFERENCE IN NEW YORK CITY I’ve been waiting since 2020 to travel to New York City for the Biographers International Organization conference. I’m a plank owner of BIO, which grew out of the Washington Biography Group in D.C. I attended those meetings while I lived in Maryland and was writing Live Fast, Love Hard […]
By Taylor Hagood Stringbean was the stage name of David Akeman, a star of the Grand Ole Opry and the television show Hee Haw. Wearing a long nightshirt and pair of pants belted together below his thighs, the embodiment of a human string bean, he worked his way into the hearts of fans around the […]
NEWS The latest class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has been announced. It includes Willie Nelson, 90, along with Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, Kate Bush, George Michael, The Spinners, and Rage Against the Machine. The induction ceremony will be held in November at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. CMT News reports […]
NEWS Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot, 84, died May 1 at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, Canada. He first gained fame in the early 1960s when Ian and Sylvia Tyson recorded two of his songs, “Early Morning Rain” and “For Lovin’ Me.” His reputation soared when Marty Robbins recorded “Ribbon of Darkness.” He had his own […]
NEWS Joe Vincent, the first steel player in the Nashville bands of both Marty Robbins and Faron Young, died at age 92 in Nashville on April 6. Joe Mack Vincent served in the US Army during the Korean War. Following his music career, he worked at and retired from Baptist Hospital. He is survived by […]
NEWS Ray Pillow (1937-2023) Herbert Raymond “Ray” Pillow, 85, died March 26 in Nashville. The Lynchburg, Virginia, native was born July 4, 1937, and served in the U.S. Navy. He joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1966 and performed regularly until formally retiring in 2018. I remember listening to him on the Opry for many […]