Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 10 June 2026
BIOGRAPHY CONFERENCE IN NEW YORK CITY
For a year, I have been looking forward to the BIO (Biographers International Organization) conference in New York City. It always opens with authors reading three-minute excerpts of their new biographies. Randy Travis: Storms of Life didn’t quite make the window last year, and I had to wait. These books are sold at the conference, along with books by all the panelists and award winners. I wondered how many of my books would sell and how many autographs I’d sign.
I checked in at the conference Thursday afternoon and headed excitedly to the book table, looking for the distinctive yellow and black cover. It wasn’t there. I asked the bookseller where was Storms of Life and was told several shipments had been held up due to Memorial Day; my book should be there tomorrow afternoon. Held up? It was March when I connected the bookseller with my publisher and was assured “there shouldn’t be a problem.”
My reading was a hit. The seventeen books being read were listed by age of the subject, and Randy was the youngest subject, so I had the “headliner” spot of being last. I received many compliments throughout the evening and all the next day. But there were obviously no autograph requests. Two copies of my book eventually appeared on the table Friday afternoon, and one did get purchased. I’ll never know how many BIO members might have wanted to read Randy’s story—if it had been on the table. I always make a point of buying at least one book at a writer’s conference. This time I chose Custer’s Trials, a 2015 Pulitzer Prize winner for history, and author T.J. Stiles autographed it to me.
I’d signed up for a “New York Historical” tour on Thursday morning before the conference began. I mistakenly guessed it would be a bus tour of Manhattan that left from the conference center. No, it was a writer’s museum three miles from my hotel. I walked west on 42nd Street, past Grand Central Terminal, and turned north on 8th Avenue which became Central Park Avenue. The museum was about halfway up the length of Central Park. We toured an exhibit of Robert Caro, a Pulitzer Prize biographer who writes about political power and—at age ninety–is currently working on his fifth volume of The Years of Lyndon Johnson. For my return trip, I walked through Central Park and came out on Broadway Avenue. That took me through Times Square.
The conference was at the CUNY (City University New York) Graduate Center in Manhattan, across the street from the Empire State Building, and less than a mile from my hotel. The weather was perfect for those two days of walking—sunshine, light breeze, and low 70s temperature. When I left Saturday morning, the wind had picked up, and the temperature was in the mid-50s. I’m glad I didn’t have to walk in that.
Friday consisted of four panel discussion periods (with four choices for each), lunch, keynote speech by T.J. Stiles, and a closing reception. It was great to see in person (for the second time) the five members of my monthly Zoom group. We’ve been meeting online for about five years to talk about the books we’re writing. The first panel I attended discussed “biographers as collectors.” Faron Young is the subject of my largest collection, and I’m happy to report I’ve found a permanent home for his Mercury LPs and other items. I’ll be delivering them to Faron’s daughter, Alana, during my Nashville trip in July.
Long-term marketing (which I’m not good at) and university presses were my next two panel discussion choices. The fourth one gave me an idea for a new career—one that would actually bring in an income. That is ghostwriting. I’m waiting to hear from a company that hires writers to help individuals put together memoirs or family histories or whatever it might be.
My on-time Delta flights were wonderful. I wish I could always fly in the middle of the day. The flights between Sioux Falls and LaGuardia both left around ten a.m. and arrived around 3:30. There were no lines at check-in or security at either airport. Saturday morning, I left my hotel at eight, walked to the end of the street and flagged down a taxicab that dropped me off at LaGuardia 15 minutes later, and was through security around 8:35. The taxi driver commented on the lack of traffic on a Saturday morning.
The only glitch (almost) occurred while changing planes in Minneapolis on the eastbound flight, where the layover was only 35 minutes and I had to go from terminal A to terminal G. Although we’d arrived on time, it took forever to get the jet bridge in place and then forever to offload the carryon bags. One tram ride and four moving walkways later, I was so relieved to see the door still open at my gate. I’d been preparing to miss my flight. Coming home, we flew over the Great Lakes, and it appeared that farmland goes right to the water’s edge. That was a surprising sight to this prairie gal.
My next BIO conference attendance will probably be in 2030, when I hope to read a three-minute excerpt of the biography of Hargus “Pig” Robbins.
NEWS
Grand Ole Opry announcer Bill Cody is in critical condition as he awaits a heart and kidney transplant, reports Taste of Country. The host of WSM’s Coffee, Country & Cody morning show was admitted to the ICU last month for heart and kidney failure. As of last report, he is on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), a life support machine that pumps and oxygenates a person’s blood to allow the heart to rest and heal.
David Allan Coe was buried May 23 at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio, the day after a funeral where numerous people shared their memories. The black and purple casket showed an image of Coe as the masked Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy. A group of Outlaws Motorcycle Club members provided an escort from the funeral home and acted as pall bearers. Saving Country Music debunks the numerous fake stories, such as Alan Jackson’s presence, Coe being cremated, and the location of his grave. He did have a flag-draped casket and an honor guard. He served in the military for four months before his discharge for being underage. His widow, Kimberly, was there, along with members of his band. His estranged children were not present.
Reading about Judy Rodman in Parade magazine last month brought me up to date on a singer I’d written about in Randy Travis: Storms of Life. She and Randy won Academy of Country Music awards in 1985 as top new female and male vocalists; they were then sent out on tour together. Judy was the first artist signed to MTM Records. Tommy Rivelli told me the story when I interviewed him about being Randy’s drummer. He worked with Judy at the time of the joint tour. Judy is now celebrating her 75th birthday. Based in Nashville, she is an award-winning singer/songwriter who writes for contemporary musical theater and is also a vocal coach.
“I will not be performing at the Great American State Fair on June 25,” Martina McBride posted on social media. “I was presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading. I asked lots of questions and was assured this was a nonpartisan event that was meant to celebrate ALL 50 states.” She wrote, “Yesterday things started changing and what we were told is, in fact, not what is happening.” Freedom 250 Presents: The Great American State Fair is set to take place June 25 – July 10 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. According to NBC News, Freedom 250 is a public-private partnership backed by President Donald Trump. More than half of the original lineup dropped off the concert, many of them saying they did not realize Trump had ties to the event. Taste of Country reports that President Trump lashed out against the artists, writing, “I am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate ‘Artists.’”
Country Now reports The Chicks are officially heading back out on the road. Their Taking the Long Way 20th Anniversary Tour will celebrate the record-breaking studio album. Taking the Long Way, released in May 2006, topped the Billboard 200 chart and earned five Grammy awards. The 26-date tour launches September 30 in Detroit and concludes November 1-2 in Hollywood. Throughout the run, Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire, and Emily Strayer will perform the entire album for the first time.
On June 2, the 40th anniversary of the release of Randy Travis’s debut album Storms of Life, Tennessee officials unveiled a Music Pathways marker at the former site of Morningstar Sound Studio in Hendersonville, reports Country Insider. Attending the ceremony were Mary and Randy Travis, studio co-founders Kyle Lehning and Tony Gottlieb, members of the Dan Seals family, Warner Records Nashville Chair and President Cris Lacy, and songwriter Paul Overstreet who sang “Forever and Ever, Amen.” The building now houses Moby Dicky’s restaurant. Tennessee Music Pathways, launched by the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development in 2018, connects visitors to musical landmarks across all 95 counties of the state. Governor Bill Lee proclaimed June 2 as Randy Travis Day, and the city of Hendersonville officially named the waterfront location Point Amen.
Pictured, clockwise from top left: Kyle Lehning, Hendersonville Mayor Jamie Clary. Tony Gottlieb, Tennessee State Representative Johnny Garrett, Tennessee Department of Tourist Development Commissioner Mark Ezell, Randy Travis. Photo: Brian Mansfield.
The following day, Randy Travis cut the ribbon to dedicate the Randy Travis Room at The Nashville Palace. This is the main room, containing the bar, restaurant, stage and dance floor. Bass player Becky Hinson, leader of the Nashville Palace Band, and steel guitarist Steve Hinson, her husband and a member of Randy’s band, welcomed Randy’s longtime guitarist Rick “LD” Money, along with Dina Johnson and Joe Spivey to make up the band for the evening. Randy’s bandmates Lance Dary, Bill Cook, and David Johnson made guest appearances. Many other artists paid tribute to Randy throughout the evening, such as Drake Milligan, Walker Montgomery, Jacob Tolliver, and James Dupré. The show concluded with a group performance of “Forever and Ever, Amen.”
During the grand opening of the Randy Travis Room at the Nashville Palace, American Songwriter reports, Mary and Randy Travis announced the upcoming release of a full-length album of songs from the vault. I would guess these are the songs Kyle Lehning told me he had identified and remastered more than a decade ago. They’ve been working for years to track down ownership of every song and obtain copyright permission. “We have a whole new album coming out of archived music,” Mary said. It’s been mastered, mixed and ready to go. We’ll be having a new album.” They plan to release it by the end of the year.
Billboard presented its first-ever Icon Award to Miranda Lambert, 42, during the recent Billboard Country Power Players ceremony in Nashville. The celebration took place on the rooftop of Luke Combs’ Category 10 bar in downtown Nashville. Songwriter Tom Douglas, who wrote Miranda’s breakout hit “The House That Built Me,” presented her with the trophy. The recognition honors her 23-year career and ongoing commitment to guiding the next generation of musical talent. She previously received a Country Icon Award at the 2024 People’s Choice Country Awards.
Saving Country Music reports that Zach Top has announced new dates to his Cold Beer and Country Music tour. He already had a full June, July, and August, and he has added September and October. The tour will now end at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on October 30 with Lukas Nelson as opener. The new dates in the Midwest include Sioux Falls! Zach will be at the Denny Sanford Premier Center on October 15.
LETTERS
Rockin’ Lord Geoff Lambert writes from England, “Firstly thank you for your wonderful country music newsletter full of important news which here in England is almost impossible to obtain except from people like you and Larry, from Classic Country 1940s-to-1970s group. With Larry’s passing, a great font of country knowledge had left us. Having just watched the Indianapolis 500 this past weekend made me wonder did the great Marty ever participate?”
Diane: Marty Robbins drove the pace car for the Indy 500 in 1976 but only raced with NASCAR.
Martha Moore of so much MOORE media says, “Love that pic of you and Johnny Western and thanks for sharing Alex Miller news/pic.”
Jackie Allen Thomas in Arizona says, “Thanks again for a great newsletter. Glad to say I was lucky to meet Johnny Western also when he was inducted into the Great Arizona Country and Western Music Hall of Fame. Please keep these great newsletters coming our way.”
Dominique ‘Imperial’ Anglares writes from France, “Thanks for that new publication and for the information shared. Nice to read about Smokey Stover who recorded for the short-living Specialty Hillbilly series in 1953. Then that Rhythm and Blues record label from Los Angeles (California) was trying his luck on the Hillbilly field. Also recorded were Bill Mack, Claude King, Jerry K. Green, and Johnny Tyler to name a few.”
Mike Johnson says, “Enjoyed your latest issue, and just had to share a photo of me and Smokey Stover and his wife Margie when we first met at Bob Everhart’s 1999 Old Time Country Music Festival in Avoca, Iowa. We would encounter each other at subsequent Everhart Festivals but mostly at a string of small Oprys south of Houston around Santa Fe, Texas, that my music friends Ed and Barbara King introduced me to. I would park my rig in the local shopping center, and they would pick me up to spend the weekends at their compound. Because of my trucking schedules, I had a walk-in status with the Ron and Linda Cook Band as guest performer while they hosted shows at the Manvel, Pearland, and Santa Fe Oprys and Pam’s Restaurant.”
Donald Ewert writes from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, “I’d like to wish Mike Johnson #1 Black Yodeler a Happy Day on his upcoming 80th Birthday June 14.”
Ron Wood says, “Have you heard of The Dakota Ramblers band from Shakopee, Minnesota? They are a 4-piece group and do a really good job with traditional Country Music. One of their claims is that they have roots back to South Dakota from the 1950s. To anyone interested in the older Country Music numbers, I certainly recommend them.”
Bobby Fischer sends a “funny flashback” from Nashville: “A couple years ago, Helen and me walking at Green Hills mall, around the corner came Reba and her entourage. I stepped in front of her and started singing off tune, ‘You Lie,’ the song we had on her. She gave me a big hug and said thanks for the song. She is so real.”
SUMMER SALE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS
From June 1-16, all books are 50% off when you use promo code SUMMER26 on the University Press website at https://www.press.uillinois.edu/. That includes these three:
Randy Travis: Storms of Life
Twentieth Century Drifter: The Life of Marty Robbins
Live Fast, Love Hard: The Faron Young Story
COUNTRY MUSIC DISC JOCKEY HALL OF FAME – 2001 (first half)
These two 2001 inductees are longtime subscribers to my newsletter. Both have used information from my newsletter on their radio shows.
Terry Burford, born in 1937 in Springhill, Louisiana, began his radio career in 1955. After working at KCIJ in Shreveport and on the Louisiana Hayride, he moved to KOSY in Texarkana in 1962. He left when told he couldn’t play country music and joined station KFDI in Wichita in 1966. He held the afternoon drive slot at KFDI for 33 consecutive years. In 1981, Terry began hosting bus trips to Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry, which he did for 17 years. He later added a December trip to Branson. Now age 88, Terry hosts Inside Nashville on KXHE country radio in Magnolia, Arkansas.
Dale Eichor, born in 1939 in Casey, Iowa, graduated from high school in 1956 and moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where he earned a 1st Class FCC License at the Radio Engineering Institute. He worked at stations in Iowa prior to serving as DJ/Music Director at KBUC in San Antonio, Texas. In 1972, he joined KWMT in Fort Dodge, Iowa, as DJ/Music Director. He promoted live concerts, promoted bus trips to Nashville and Branson, and served as a longtime reporter to the Gavin Report, Billboard, and Radio & Records magazines. When I met Dale in 2019 at a country music festival in Fremont, Nebraska, he had retired from fulltime work but still did fill-in live shifts at True Country 540 KWMT in Fort Dodge. He is 87 years old.