NEWS Mel Tillis (1932-2017) Mel Tillis, 85, died of respiratory failure on November 19 at the Munroe Regional Medical Center in Ocala, Florida. After colon surgery in Nashville in January 2016, he’d gone home to Ocala for medical care and physical therapy. He never recovered. Lonnie Melvin Tillis was one of the best, and best-loved, […]
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NEWS Billy Mize (1929-2017) One of the last remaining founders of the “Bakersfield Sound” has died. William Robert Mize, 88, died October 28 at a nursing home in Pleasanton, California. He was a singer, songwriter, steel guitarist, and television host. The Academy of Country Music chose him as TV Personality of the Year three years […]
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CONCERT REVIEW – JEANNIE SEELY Jeannie Seely entertained for ninety minutes at the Performing Arts Center in Sisseton, South Dakota, on October 15. The audience in the almost-full theater chose to spend Sunday afternoon with this Grammy Award winner and 50-year Grand Ole Opry member. Jeannie was accompanied by Tim Atwood, Opry pianist and Nashville […]
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NEWS In his Saturday Night Live debut, Jason Aldean gave a tribute to the victims of the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas. Cmt.com reports it was his first public appearance since the night 58 people were killed and 489 injured when a gunman opened fire on the crowd […]
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We remember Marty Robbins on September 26, the 92nd anniversary of his birth. CONCERT REVIEW – GARTH BROOOKS My first memory of Garth Brooks is 1990. When I moved to Jacksonville, Florida, from Guam, the radio airwaves and nightclubs were filled with the sounds of his wonderful music. I bought his first two CDs, Garth […]
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NEWS Don Williams (1939-2017) “The Gentle Giant,” Don Williams, died September 8 after a short illness. He was 78. Born and raised in Texas, he won his first talent contest at age three. The prize was an alarm clock. His first chart-topping song was “I Wouldn’t Want To Live If You Didn’t Love Me. Other […]
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By James Reston, Jr. A Rift In The Earth: Art, Memory, And The Fight For A Vietnam War Memorial could be considered a biography of this national memorial. Having many times visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., and having followed the controversy as it was built, I looked forward to reading this […]
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CONCERT REVIEW – BILL ANDERSON The Performing Arts Center in Sisseton, South Dakota, hosted the Bill Anderson concert Saturday night. Bill invited me to come up from Sioux Falls for the evening, and I took sister Kayo and friend Perry with me. The folks at Coteau Entertainment Company treated us well, complete with a delicious […]
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Edited by Nancy Tystad Koupal This is not a book for beginners. Pioneer Girl Perspectives; Exploring Laura Ingalls Wilder is a collection of essays for those with a scholarly appreciation of the life and work of Laura Ingalls Wilder. It follows an earlier book, Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography, which was an unexpected bestseller in […]
CONCERT REVIEW – TRAVIS TRITT The Sioux Empire Fair brought Travis Tritt to Sioux Falls last Friday evening. It was the first time I’d seen him in concert. There was no opening act, and he came on stage singing “Put Some Drive in Your Country.” He then traded his electric guitar for an acoustic one, […]
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Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 22 November 2017
NEWS Mel Tillis (1932-2017) Mel Tillis, 85, died of respiratory failure on November 19 at the Munroe Regional Medical Center in Ocala, Florida. After colon surgery in Nashville in January 2016, he’d gone home to Ocala for medical care and physical therapy. He never recovered. Lonnie Melvin Tillis was one of the best, and best-loved, […]
Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 8 November 2017
NEWS Billy Mize (1929-2017) One of the last remaining founders of the “Bakersfield Sound” has died. William Robert Mize, 88, died October 28 at a nursing home in Pleasanton, California. He was a singer, songwriter, steel guitarist, and television host. The Academy of Country Music chose him as TV Personality of the Year three years […]
Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 25 October 2017
CONCERT REVIEW – JEANNIE SEELY Jeannie Seely entertained for ninety minutes at the Performing Arts Center in Sisseton, South Dakota, on October 15. The audience in the almost-full theater chose to spend Sunday afternoon with this Grammy Award winner and 50-year Grand Ole Opry member. Jeannie was accompanied by Tim Atwood, Opry pianist and Nashville […]
Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 11 October 2017
NEWS In his Saturday Night Live debut, Jason Aldean gave a tribute to the victims of the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas. Cmt.com reports it was his first public appearance since the night 58 people were killed and 489 injured when a gunman opened fire on the crowd […]
Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 27 September 2017
We remember Marty Robbins on September 26, the 92nd anniversary of his birth. CONCERT REVIEW – GARTH BROOOKS My first memory of Garth Brooks is 1990. When I moved to Jacksonville, Florida, from Guam, the radio airwaves and nightclubs were filled with the sounds of his wonderful music. I bought his first two CDs, Garth […]
Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 13 September 2017
NEWS Don Williams (1939-2017) “The Gentle Giant,” Don Williams, died September 8 after a short illness. He was 78. Born and raised in Texas, he won his first talent contest at age three. The prize was an alarm clock. His first chart-topping song was “I Wouldn’t Want To Live If You Didn’t Love Me. Other […]
A Rift In The Earth: Art, Memory, And The Fight For A Vietnam War Memorial
By James Reston, Jr. A Rift In The Earth: Art, Memory, And The Fight For A Vietnam War Memorial could be considered a biography of this national memorial. Having many times visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., and having followed the controversy as it was built, I looked forward to reading this […]
Diane’s Country Music Newsletter – 30 August 2017
CONCERT REVIEW – BILL ANDERSON The Performing Arts Center in Sisseton, South Dakota, hosted the Bill Anderson concert Saturday night. Bill invited me to come up from Sioux Falls for the evening, and I took sister Kayo and friend Perry with me. The folks at Coteau Entertainment Company treated us well, complete with a delicious […]
Pioneer Girl Perspectives; Exploring Laura Ingalls Wilder
Edited by Nancy Tystad Koupal This is not a book for beginners. Pioneer Girl Perspectives; Exploring Laura Ingalls Wilder is a collection of essays for those with a scholarly appreciation of the life and work of Laura Ingalls Wilder. It follows an earlier book, Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography, which was an unexpected bestseller in […]
Diane’s Country Music Newsletter – 16 August 2017
CONCERT REVIEW – TRAVIS TRITT The Sioux Empire Fair brought Travis Tritt to Sioux Falls last Friday evening. It was the first time I’d seen him in concert. There was no opening act, and he came on stage singing “Put Some Drive in Your Country.” He then traded his electric guitar for an acoustic one, […]