TRIP REPORT My sister, Lorraine “Kayo” Paver, and I returned Sunday night from our third Randy Travis research trip. We drove 3,082 miles in the eleven days we were on the road. On our first afternoon in Nashville, we headed to I-65 to go downtown, but I missed the interstate entrance because of a misplaced […]
http://dianediekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Diane-Diekman-Logo.png00Diane Diekmanhttp://dianediekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Diane-Diekman-Logo.pngDiane Diekman2021-07-28 07:37:512021-07-28 07:46:10Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 28 July 2021
NEWS The newest members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame are Amy Grant (“Baby Baby,” “Tennessee Christmas,” “That’s What Love Is For”), Rhett Akins (“That Ain’t My Truck,” “Honey Bee,” “It Goes Like This”), Toby Keith (“How Do You Like Me Now,” “I Love This Bar,” “Should’ve Been a Cowboy”), Buddy Cannon (“Give It Away,” “I’ve Come To Expect […]
http://dianediekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Diane-Diekman-Logo.png00Diane Diekmanhttp://dianediekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Diane-Diekman-Logo.pngDiane Diekman2021-07-14 07:38:212021-07-14 07:46:36Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 14 July 2021
NEWS We’ve lost another of Faron Young’s Country Deputies. Skip Jackson of Hendersonville, Tennessee, died June 26. Born Lloyd Aaron Jackson III, Skip played steel guitar with The Kendalls and then with Faron Young from 1970-75. He retired from the music business and became a photography professor at Nashville State Community College. Pam Jackson posted […]
http://dianediekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Diane-Diekman-Logo.png00Diane Diekmanhttp://dianediekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Diane-Diekman-Logo.pngDiane Diekman2021-06-30 08:14:512021-06-30 08:15:01Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 30 June 2021
NEWS The 32nd annual National Memorial Day Concert on PBS, which ran for 90 minutes and was cohosted by actors Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise, featured several country music performers. Mickey Guyton sang the National Anthem. Alan Jackson sang his “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning).” Vince Gill, on the stage of the […]
http://dianediekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Diane-Diekman-Logo.png00Diane Diekmanhttp://dianediekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Diane-Diekman-Logo.pngDiane Diekman2021-06-16 12:49:392021-06-16 12:53:55Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 16 June 2021
NEWS B.J. Thomas, 78, died May 29 at his home in Arlington, Texas, two months after announcing he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Best known for “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head,” he also had hits with songs such as “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “Hooked on a Feeling,” “(Hey Won’t You Play) […]
http://dianediekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Diane-Diekman-Logo.png00Diane Diekmanhttp://dianediekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Diane-Diekman-Logo.pngDiane Diekman2021-06-02 08:30:592021-06-02 08:39:26Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 2 June 2021
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – LIONEL CARTWRIGHT After Mary Lorefice in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, asked me what Lionel Cartwright is doing these days, I decided to track him down. We had an enjoyable half-hour phone chat. Like Mary, I remember hearing on my radio “I Watched It All (On My Radio).” Lionel’s #1 hit was “Leap […]
http://dianediekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Diane-Diekman-Logo.png00Diane Diekmanhttp://dianediekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Diane-Diekman-Logo.pngDiane Diekman2021-05-19 08:50:002021-05-19 08:56:31Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 19 May 2021
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – DON REID Waiting for a phone call from Don Reid last week was one of my most nervous times in planning an interview. Hearing the voice on the phone that I’ve heard on Statler Brothers records and shows for half a century felt otherworldly: “Diane, this is Don Reid. How are […]
http://dianediekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Diane-Diekman-Logo.png00Diane Diekmanhttp://dianediekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Diane-Diekman-Logo.pngDiane Diekman2021-05-05 13:27:142023-12-07 11:33:26Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 5 May 2021
By Don Reid The Statler Brothers spent almost four decades touring and recording as one of the top draws in country music. Brothers Harold and Don Reid, along with Phil Balsley and Lew DeWitt, two boyhood friends from their hometown of Staunton, Virginia, joined the Johnny Cash show as the Statler Brothers in 1964. While […]
https://dianediekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/The-Music-of-The-Statler-Brothers.png320212Diane Diekmanhttp://dianediekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Diane-Diekman-Logo.pngDiane Diekman2021-05-03 17:35:052026-02-05 17:35:34The Music Of The Statler Brothers: An Anthology
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – DOTTSY When I called Dottsy at her home in Seguin, Texas, last week, she told me, “At age 68, I’m still singing and playing guitar and being able to be part of my community, and that’s really great.” Fans will remember her hits from the late 1970s, such as “I’ll Be […]
http://dianediekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Diane-Diekman-Logo.png00Diane Diekmanhttp://dianediekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Diane-Diekman-Logo.pngDiane Diekman2021-04-21 07:52:042021-04-21 07:52:13Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 21 April 2021
HEART OF TEXAS COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL For more than a decade, I’ve wanted to go to Texas to attend a Jody Nix dance. That finally happened when Kayo and I flew to Dallas and drove to Brady for Tracy Pitcox’s 32nd Heart of Texas Country Music Festival. We attended the final four days of the […]
http://dianediekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Diane-Diekman-Logo.png00Diane Diekmanhttp://dianediekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Diane-Diekman-Logo.pngDiane Diekman2021-04-07 08:29:062021-04-07 08:54:44Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 7 April 2021
Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 28 July 2021
TRIP REPORT My sister, Lorraine “Kayo” Paver, and I returned Sunday night from our third Randy Travis research trip. We drove 3,082 miles in the eleven days we were on the road. On our first afternoon in Nashville, we headed to I-65 to go downtown, but I missed the interstate entrance because of a misplaced […]
Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 14 July 2021
NEWS The newest members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame are Amy Grant (“Baby Baby,” “Tennessee Christmas,” “That’s What Love Is For”), Rhett Akins (“That Ain’t My Truck,” “Honey Bee,” “It Goes Like This”), Toby Keith (“How Do You Like Me Now,” “I Love This Bar,” “Should’ve Been a Cowboy”), Buddy Cannon (“Give It Away,” “I’ve Come To Expect […]
Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 30 June 2021
NEWS We’ve lost another of Faron Young’s Country Deputies. Skip Jackson of Hendersonville, Tennessee, died June 26. Born Lloyd Aaron Jackson III, Skip played steel guitar with The Kendalls and then with Faron Young from 1970-75. He retired from the music business and became a photography professor at Nashville State Community College. Pam Jackson posted […]
Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 16 June 2021
NEWS The 32nd annual National Memorial Day Concert on PBS, which ran for 90 minutes and was cohosted by actors Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise, featured several country music performers. Mickey Guyton sang the National Anthem. Alan Jackson sang his “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning).” Vince Gill, on the stage of the […]
Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 2 June 2021
NEWS B.J. Thomas, 78, died May 29 at his home in Arlington, Texas, two months after announcing he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Best known for “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head,” he also had hits with songs such as “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “Hooked on a Feeling,” “(Hey Won’t You Play) […]
Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 19 May 2021
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – LIONEL CARTWRIGHT After Mary Lorefice in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, asked me what Lionel Cartwright is doing these days, I decided to track him down. We had an enjoyable half-hour phone chat. Like Mary, I remember hearing on my radio “I Watched It All (On My Radio).” Lionel’s #1 hit was “Leap […]
Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 5 May 2021
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – DON REID Waiting for a phone call from Don Reid last week was one of my most nervous times in planning an interview. Hearing the voice on the phone that I’ve heard on Statler Brothers records and shows for half a century felt otherworldly: “Diane, this is Don Reid. How are […]
The Music Of The Statler Brothers: An Anthology
By Don Reid The Statler Brothers spent almost four decades touring and recording as one of the top draws in country music. Brothers Harold and Don Reid, along with Phil Balsley and Lew DeWitt, two boyhood friends from their hometown of Staunton, Virginia, joined the Johnny Cash show as the Statler Brothers in 1964. While […]
Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 21 April 2021
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – DOTTSY When I called Dottsy at her home in Seguin, Texas, last week, she told me, “At age 68, I’m still singing and playing guitar and being able to be part of my community, and that’s really great.” Fans will remember her hits from the late 1970s, such as “I’ll Be […]
Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 7 April 2021
HEART OF TEXAS COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL For more than a decade, I’ve wanted to go to Texas to attend a Jody Nix dance. That finally happened when Kayo and I flew to Dallas and drove to Brady for Tracy Pitcox’s 32nd Heart of Texas Country Music Festival. We attended the final four days of the […]