This week we think back 88 years, to February 25, 1932, the day a little boy was born in a two-bedroom rental home in Shreveport, Louisiana. Five-year-old Dorothy Young stood in the front yard and yelled at those passing by, “We got a new baby brother!” Faron Young remains in our hearts and in our musical selections today.

NEWS

The last original member of the Kingston Trio has died. Bob Shane of Phoenix, Arizona, died of complications from pneumonia on January 26, a few days before his 86^th birthday. He, Dave Guard, and Nick Reynolds formed the Kingston Trio in the 1950s and won a Grammy for Country & Western Performance for “Tom Dooley” during the first Grammy awards ceremony. USA Today reports that Shane accepted the Grammy lifetime achievement award for the Kingston Trio in 2011; Guard had died in 1991 and Reynolds in 2008. Shane retired in 2004 but performed occasionally until 2016.

NEWS

Bakersfield.com reports the death of 67-year-old Mark Yeary, a California native who spent 19 years as pianist and occasional record producer for Merle Haggard and the Strangers. He died January 17 after suffering a heart attack at his home in Arizona City, Arizona. “He played music Thursday night,” his longtime girlfriend said in a phone call. “He seemed chipper and happy.” In 1992, he had decided it was time to leave the Strangers. He moved to Branson, Missouri, and then to Arizona. A stroke in 2008 limited the use of his right hand.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT – MO PITNEY

When Mo Pitney returned my call last Monday night, he said, “I just left the studio. We put the final vocal on our record. So we’re a little closer to having it put out.” He remembered seeing me at his Sisseton, South Dakota, concert in November. And he appeared in an earlier newsletter: Read the rest of this entry »

IN THE SPOTLIGHT – MOE BANDY

When I called Moe Bandy to ask if he had time for a conversation, he was in the middle of a family Christmas party at his home in Branson, Missouri. Still, he took a few minutes to talk to me. He had just returned from Las Vegas, where he’d played four different events during the National Finals Rodeo. “I’ve just been running up and down the road, doing a lot of dates,” he told me. “I enjoy it as much now as I ever did.”

IN THE SPOTLIGHT – JOE STAMPLEY

It’s been almost four years since I featured Joe Stampley in this newsletter. shortly after his heart bypass surgery (http://dianediekman.com/dianes-country-music-newsletter-10-february-2016). When I called him for an update, he told me he feels good. “The thing that hurt me more than anything,” he said, “four months after my bypass surgery, my gallbladder ruptured.” He spent 18 days in the hospital, while the poison was removed from his system. “That was when I was SICK,” he explains. “That will make you sick, let me tell you. But other than that, I’m feeling great.”

CONCERT REVIEW – KRIS KRISTOFFERSON

When I stepped up to the ticket window at the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls, and asked for one ticket to see Kris Kristofferson and the Strangers, the lady said, “We have one free ticket. Would you like that, or would you rather buy one?” The free ticket was in Row X; the ticket for purchase was in Row U. It was an easy choice. My seat in the last row of the main section looked directly at the stage, with no one in front of me to obstruct the view. As I waited for the concert to begin, the preshow music included Randy Travis’s “Forever and Ever, Amen.” This looked like a promising evening.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT – DAVID BALL

The first time I saw David Ball in concert was when he opened for Alan Jackson in the mid-1990s at the US Air Arena in Maryland, east of Washington DC. I lived in Virginia and had to drive halfway around the beltway, into unfamiliar territory, to get to his show. The second time was two months ago, when my sister and I were in Nashville; we went to see him perform at Honky Tonk Tuesday Nights. That, too, was unfamiliar territory, but only three miles down the road from our hotel.

CONCERT REVIEW – DOUG STONE

My sister, Kayo Paver, went with me recently to Sisseton, South Dakota, to see Doug Stone at the Sisseton Performing Arts Center. We talked to him briefly before the show. I told him my favorite song of his is “Fourteen Minutes Old.” He and his wife, Jade, had just driven in from Sturgis. He mentioned that he has been playing guitar since age five.

MUSIC FESTIVAL IN FREMONT

Bob Everhart invited me to come to Fremont, Nebraska, to talk about and sell my books at the 44th National Old Time Country & Bluegrass Festival. Bob and his wife, Sheila, who operate the nonprofit National Traditional Country Music Association, moved their festival from its previous location in LeMars, Iowa. The event covered four days (October 3-4-5-6) and three stages, with more performers than I could count.