FEATURED ARTIST – JAN HOWARD “If it sounds like fun, I’ll do it. If it doesn’t, I won’t.” That is the philosophy of Jan Howard, 83, who lives contentedly in her Nashville condo. “I’m thankful for every morning I wake up,” she told me when I called her the other day. “I’ve lost so many […]
NEWS Billy Joe Royal, 73, died in his sleep at his home in North Carolina on October 6. He had been planning to tour with Ronnie McDowell in November. He was born April 3, 1942, in Valdosta, Georgia. His debut single, “Down in the Boondocks,” was a pop hit in 1965. During the mid-1980s, he […]
FEATURED ARTIST – ED BRUCE “I’ve written a few hits,” Ed Bruce told me when I called him this past weekend. “That’s what I came to town to do–be a dedicated 24-hour-a-day musician/ songwriter.” His website lists some of those well-known songs, beginning with Charlie Louvin’s “See the Big Man Cry.” Ed was 23 at […]
This week we especially remember Marty Robbins, who would have been ninety years old this Saturday. He was born on a Saturday evening—9:55 on September 26, 1925, in the desert near Phoenix, Arizona. He only lived 57 years, but what memories he gave us. NEWS “I said all along I wasn’t going to tour […]
NEWS William Lee Golden of the Oak Ridge Boys married Simone Staley in Nashville on August 29, after re-kindling an old friendship. They first met In October 1980, and spent time together over the next several years, until losing touch after a show in 1982. A portrait she painted of him was one of the […]
FEATURED ARTIST – SYLVIA HUTTON Sylvia had eleven top-ten Billboard hits from 1980-1985, including “Snapshot” and the number one “Nobody.” I hadn’t heard anything about her in years, until Diane Jordan mentioned on Facebook they’d recently had lunch together. I asked Diane to put me in touch with Sylvia, and that led to an enjoyable […]
NEWS Buddy Emmons (1937-2015) Buddy Gene Emmons, 78, was found July 21 at his home in Hermitage, Tennessee, near Nashville, where he had died of an apparent heart attack. Because all family members couldn’t be reached right away, the death wasn’t publicly reported until July 29. His career began when his father gave him a […]
NEWS Patsy Stoneman of the famous Stoneman family died peacefully in her sleep at age 90 on July 23. When The Stoneman Family performed in the 1960s, Patsy played the autoharp and sang. Bluegrass Today reports that Patsy, until recently, continued to perform with sisters Donna and Roni as The Stoneman Sisters. Wayne Carson, age […]
FEATURED ARTIST – TEEA GOANS Teea Goans has a mission. She wants to give a gift to people who love traditional country music and are searching for it. She wants to bring an awareness to the new generation of country music fans who are not familiar with the classics. I wanted to make my newsletter […]
FEATURED ARTIST – JODY NIX I met Jody Nix and his Texas Cowboys in July 2008, when they came to Washington, D.C., to represent the state of Texas at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. I’d been listening to them for a while by then, on XM Radio. When I called Jody last week at his home […]