Entries by admin

Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 26 June 2024

NEWS George Wayne Hobbs, 72, of New Carlisle, Ohio, died June 10, 2024, surrounded by loved ones at home, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Born in 1951 in Virginia, he moved with his family to New Carlisle and later graduated from Tecumseh High School. His obituary says his two passions in his early years […]

Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 29 May 2024

NEWS On Monday, May 20, the New York Times reported that Elvis Presley’s Graceland mansion (built in 1939) in Memphis, Tennessee, was scheduled to be auctioned off at the Shelby County courthouse on Thursday. A notice from the Shelby County Courthouse stated that Graceland and its surrounding property would be sold for cash to the […]

Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 15 May 2024

NEWS Randy Travis has a song on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart for the first time since 2009, when he and Carrie Underwood reached No. 2 with “I Told You So.” The AI-generated recording of “Where That Came From” debuted at No. 45 on May 10, one week after the song’s release, with over 3.3 million […]

Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 1 May 2024

Happy birthday to Randy Travis on Saturday. CD REVIEW– JOHN MCEUEN’S THE NEWSMAN: A MAN OF RECORD One of the musicians who founded the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1966 was John McEuen. Other than a 15-year hiatus for a solo career, he stayed with fellow founding members Jeff Hanna and Jimmie Fadden until the […]

Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 17 April 2024

NEWS During her Saturday night Opry segment on April 6, Jeannie Seely introduced Cutter & Cash and The Kentucky Grass as her special guests. The young West Kentucky bluegrass ensemble performed their new Seely-produced single, a bluegrass version of “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.” Their second song was “I’m Working […]

Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 3 April 2024

NEWS George Strait’s manager of 45 years, Erv Woolsey, 80, died March 20 in Clearwater, Florida, due to complications from surgery. MusicRow reports he “passed peacefully under the care of physicians.” Eugene Ervine “Erv” Woolsey was born in Houston on February 15, 1944, and spent his entire professional life in the music business. After graduating […]

Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 20 March 2024

CONCERT REVIEW – MARTY STUART Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives came to the District in Sioux Falls on March 12. And were they fabulous! They took the stage at 7:00, opening with an instrumental, and entertained us nonstop for 90 minutes. They played a variety of instruments, changing them seamlessly with never a disruption.

Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 6 March 2024

NEWS Veronica Loretta “Roni” Stoneman, 85, member of the famous Stoneman Family and banjo player and comedian on Hee Haw, died February 22. No cause of death or funeral information was announced. Born in 1938, Roni was the 12th of Hattie and Ernest “Pop” Stoneman’s 13 children. After Pop Stoneman’s death in 1968, his children […]

Get government out of the time-change business

On these cold, dark winter mornings, do you long for daylight to arrive? Think what it would be like if daylight saving time (DST) were in effect all year long. The sun wouldn’t be up until nine a.m. Our children would be heading to school in darkness. And we’d be commuting in the dark, navigating […]