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 On A Building,” which brought their second standing ovation from the Opry crowd. Ernest Dale Tubb III allowed Cutter to play a guitar that belonged to his grandfather, Ernest Tubb. (more…)

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 from Southwest Texas State University, he moved to Nashville and became Head of Promotions for ABC Records’ new country division in 1973. He and his then wife Connie owned The Prairie Rose in San Marcos, Texas, the club where he first saw George Strait perform. (more…)

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.

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 continued to tour as the Stoneman Family. In the 1970s, Roni joined the cast of the TV show Hee Haw. She and sister Donna, the last surviving members of the Stoneman siblings, continued to perform into their 80s. I think Donna is still alive, although my internet searches for her only brought up Roni.

NEWS

The former Ernest Tubb Record Shop on Nashville’s Lower Broadway will become a bar and live music venue, reports Nashville Scene. To recap: David McCormick bought the record shop business and three-story building from ET’s family in 1992 for $128,000. He sold it for $4.75 million in 2020 to JesseLee Jones of the Brazilbilly band and Robert’s Western World. With the ownership changed to an LLC, it was sold in 2022 for $18.3 million to Nashville real estate investor Brad Bars, attorney Blake Bars (Brad’s brother), Dale Tubb (ET’s grandson) and Ilya Toshinskiy, a prominent Nashville musician. The record shop went out of business. The new owners have leased the building to Tusk Brothers Entertainment, owned by Bryan Kenney and Jamie Kenney–a music producer and songwriter who says, “Our hope is to have a honky-tonk that will pay tribute to the legacy of Ernest Tubb and the record shop. We love who Ernest Tubb was and what he meant to Nashville’s music history.” The Metro Planning Commission on March 14 will consider final approval for the proposed live music venue and four-level bar (three stories and the rooftop). There isn’t yet a name or opening date.

NEWS

Toby Keith (1961-2024)

Toby Keith, 62, died the evening of February 5, peacefully and surrounded by family. He had been battling stomach cancer for almost two years. He was born in Clinton, Oklahoma on July 8, 1961. MusicRow reports he got his first guitar when he was eight, and he formed the Easy Money Band at age 20. He worked in the oil fields and then played defensive end with the semi-pro Oklahoma City Drillers while continuing to perform with his band. Moving to Nashville in the early ’90s, he made a vow that he would get a record deal by the time he was 30 or he would quit. His first hit came with “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” in 1993. The many hits that followed included “I’m Just Talkin’ About Tonight,” “I Wanna Talk About Me.” “Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American),” “Beer for My Horses,” and “How Do You Like Me Now?” Toby was also a member of the New York-based Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. (more…)

IN THE SPOTLIGHT – WILSON FAIRCHILD

When Langdon Reid called me a week ago for our scheduled interview, his first question was, did we have any snow. I said we had a foot of snow, and the temperature was below zero. He told me they’d had an unexpected snowstorm in Staunton, Virginia, the previous night, and he’d spent that morning shoveling his driveway. Cousin Wil was not on the call with us because he was snowed in and still shoveling.

Langdon Reid and Wil Reid, sons of Don Reid and Harold Reid of the Statler Brothers, make up the musical duo Wilson Fairchild. The name comes from their middle names–Harold Wilson Reid II and Langdon Fairchild Reid.<!–more–>

NEWS

Vintage Guitar Magazine reports that rockabilly guitar great Larry Collins, 79, died January 5 at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Santa Clarita, California. He was 10 and his sister Lorrie was 12 when they joined the cast of Los Angeles television’s Town Hall Party as the Collins Kids in 1954. The Collins family had moved from Tulsa to Southern California the previous year, on the advice of Leon McAuliffe of the Texas Playboys, after Lorrie won a talent contest. In 1956, the Collins Kids appeared as guests on the first televised broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry. Joe Maphis mentored Larry and gave him the double-neck Mosrite guitar Larry played throughout his life. Lorrie and Larry reunited at a British rockabilly festival in 1993 and continued to perform occasionally. Lorrie retired in 2012 and died in 2018. Larry co-wrote hit songs “Delta Dawn” (Tanya Tucker) and “You’re the Reason God Made Oklahoma” (David Frizzell/Shelly West), as well as writing songs with Mac Davis.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT – TONY JACKSON

One of the performers at A Heroes & Friends Tribute to Randy Travis – 1 Night, 1 Place, 1 Time in Huntsville, Alabama, was Tony Jackson. He agreed when I asked to spotlight him in my newsletter, and I called him several weeks ago for a conversation. His latest release is “Do You Remember Country Music,” written by Mo Pitney, Bobby Tomberlin, and Aaron Bowlin. The video features Randy Travis and was filmed at Johnny Cash’s farm, now called the Storyteller’s Museum, near Bon Aqua, Tennessee, forty miles west of Nashville along I-40.

This month, we especially honor the memories of Faron Young and Marty Robbins. Marty died December 8, 1982, at age 57. Faron died December 10, 1996, at age 64.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT – THE TENNESSEE FOUR

When Johnny Cash recorded “Hey Porter” in 1955 with Luther Perkins on guitar and Marshall Grant on upright bass, they called themselves “Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two.” In 1960, drummer W.S. Holland joined the group, and the band became The Tennessee Three. Now, twenty years after Cash’s death, his legacy continues with THE TENNESSEE FOUR.