ON THE ROAD WITH THE EVERHARTS
Not exactly ‘on the road’ but definitely ‘on the
radio’ with a neat interview on KMA Radio in Shenandoah, Iowa. Great
town Shenandoah, this is where the competing radio stations KFNF
(founded by Frank Field a seed salesman) and KMA (founded by Earl May a
seed salesman) who married sisters. What a wonderful time it was for
‘live’ music shows featuring some of the best musicians in America back
then. Why is that so hard to do today? So many incredibly gifted
entertainers with no place to perform. “Live” radio was an automatic
ear grabber. What with the lame television shows that we now have an
over abundance of, ‘live’ radio would undoubtedly attract a very nice
large audience, no matter what the genre of music. We’d however like to
see some good ‘old-time’ country music back on the air. The
supposition that there are no players of it, is entirely false. There’s
so many fellow musicians so fed up with ‘media’ today, none of us
listen to what they program anymore.
radio’ with a neat interview on KMA Radio in Shenandoah, Iowa. Great
town Shenandoah, this is where the competing radio stations KFNF
(founded by Frank Field a seed salesman) and KMA (founded by Earl May a
seed salesman) who married sisters. What a wonderful time it was for
‘live’ music shows featuring some of the best musicians in America back
then. Why is that so hard to do today? So many incredibly gifted
entertainers with no place to perform. “Live” radio was an automatic
ear grabber. What with the lame television shows that we now have an
over abundance of, ‘live’ radio would undoubtedly attract a very nice
large audience, no matter what the genre of music. We’d however like to
see some good ‘old-time’ country music back on the air. The
supposition that there are no players of it, is entirely false. There’s
so many fellow musicians so fed up with ‘media’ today, none of us
listen to what they program anymore.
We’ve been busy on the home front too, the LeMars
Festival is just around the corner, starting August 26. It’s really
loaded with incredible talent this year, all week long. One of the
feature attractions is Roger Tibbs from New Zealand. He just did a show
for us at the Oak Tree in Anita, and his performance was incredible.
What he does with his voice is astonishing, to say the least. Having
Tex and Mary Schutz on with him was also a treat, and then when they
come together as a trio, once again it’s unbelievable what remarkable
talent this is. They will all be at LeMars, all week I think, except
perhaps Sunday. Sunday won’t be so bad though, that’s September 1, the
birthday of Boxcar Willie, and his son Marty Martin Jr., who is carrying
on his dad’s lifelong work of keeping traditional and old-time country
music alive will be with us on his dad’s birthday to induct him into
America’s Country Music Hall of Fame.
Festival is just around the corner, starting August 26. It’s really
loaded with incredible talent this year, all week long. One of the
feature attractions is Roger Tibbs from New Zealand. He just did a show
for us at the Oak Tree in Anita, and his performance was incredible.
What he does with his voice is astonishing, to say the least. Having
Tex and Mary Schutz on with him was also a treat, and then when they
come together as a trio, once again it’s unbelievable what remarkable
talent this is. They will all be at LeMars, all week I think, except
perhaps Sunday. Sunday won’t be so bad though, that’s September 1, the
birthday of Boxcar Willie, and his son Marty Martin Jr., who is carrying
on his dad’s lifelong work of keeping traditional and old-time country
music alive will be with us on his dad’s birthday to induct him into
America’s Country Music Hall of Fame.
Sheila and I had a nice performance at the Gristmill
Theater in Macedonia Saturday night. They were celebrating their ‘Donia
Days’ and even though it’s a small rural Iowa town, they have converted
an old implement store into a remarkable theater called the Gristmill.
We had a nice audience (though not full) in to see our ‘Traveling
Museum of Music’ and it went quite well for us. We really like the
theater, the seats are out of the old Omaha Fine Arts Theater, which the
folks in Macedonia got for free. What a lovely experience.
Theater in Macedonia Saturday night. They were celebrating their ‘Donia
Days’ and even though it’s a small rural Iowa town, they have converted
an old implement store into a remarkable theater called the Gristmill.
We had a nice audience (though not full) in to see our ‘Traveling
Museum of Music’ and it went quite well for us. We really like the
theater, the seats are out of the old Omaha Fine Arts Theater, which the
folks in Macedonia got for free. What a lovely experience.
“Dad said he didn’t have time to manage a budget
lunch,” daughter Bobbie Lhea remarked. “So after their performance
Saturday night, mom and dad took me to Cox’s Bar-B-Que in Council
Bluffs, only a short distance away. I can remember how we used to stop
at Joe Cotton’s down by Corpus Christi, Texas, for delicious brisket and
Texas sausage, and believe it or not that’s what we had at Cox’s. They
are located in the expanding shopping center down by Lake Manawa, and
we really enjoyed our meal. So no budget lunch this week, and dad will
probably complain all of next week because the BBQ was a little
expensive. See you in LeMars, stop and say Hi, I will be helping out in
the information booth.”
lunch,” daughter Bobbie Lhea remarked. “So after their performance
Saturday night, mom and dad took me to Cox’s Bar-B-Que in Council
Bluffs, only a short distance away. I can remember how we used to stop
at Joe Cotton’s down by Corpus Christi, Texas, for delicious brisket and
Texas sausage, and believe it or not that’s what we had at Cox’s. They
are located in the expanding shopping center down by Lake Manawa, and
we really enjoyed our meal. So no budget lunch this week, and dad will
probably complain all of next week because the BBQ was a little
expensive. See you in LeMars, stop and say Hi, I will be helping out in
the information booth.”