Last Week in Country Music
Just
got off the phone with Ron Wilburne who makes his home near Sacramento,
California. He’s a super good singer and guitar picker in the ‘real’
country music vein. So is his dad Dave, who is a road warrior if
there ever was one. It’s so remarkable to hear this father-son duo sing
and play good old-time terrific traditional and classic country music
with a little folk sound thrown in to make it even better, and a little
mountain style in the harmony to make it truly a nice experience to
listen to. Sheila, Bobbie Lhea, and I will be
headed for the California hills before long, and we’ll try to connect
with Ron once we get out there.
got off the phone with Ron Wilburne who makes his home near Sacramento,
California. He’s a super good singer and guitar picker in the ‘real’
country music vein. So is his dad Dave, who is a road warrior if
there ever was one. It’s so remarkable to hear this father-son duo sing
and play good old-time terrific traditional and classic country music
with a little folk sound thrown in to make it even better, and a little
mountain style in the harmony to make it truly a nice experience to
listen to. Sheila, Bobbie Lhea, and I will be
headed for the California hills before long, and we’ll try to connect
with Ron once we get out there.
Alan Jackson, one of the few traditional and classic
country artists left in Nashville usually lets his music do the talking,
but at a recent concert at the Country Music Hall of Fame, he talked a
lot about his songs, his life, career, and famous songs. Standing
ovations continuously. His show lasted 2 1/2 hours, that even included
some talk about his origins in Georgia, his hardships in Nashville
getting started, and his new Nashville Restaurant that he is just now
opening. That to be done with a special surprise concert at the
restaurant. He was a little critical of today’s ‘pop’ country artists,
and wished they’d return to a more ‘country’ country.
country artists left in Nashville usually lets his music do the talking,
but at a recent concert at the Country Music Hall of Fame, he talked a
lot about his songs, his life, career, and famous songs. Standing
ovations continuously. His show lasted 2 1/2 hours, that even included
some talk about his origins in Georgia, his hardships in Nashville
getting started, and his new Nashville Restaurant that he is just now
opening. That to be done with a special surprise concert at the
restaurant. He was a little critical of today’s ‘pop’ country artists,
and wished they’d return to a more ‘country’ country.
Emily Phillips won the J. Mullkey Kent award and first
place in the open division in the Arkansas State Old Time Fiddle
Championship in late September at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain
View. Phillip’s love of old-time folk music comes naturally. She’s a
native of Mountain View, Arkansas, which is proudly self-proclaimed as
the ‘Folk Music Capital of the World.’ I’m sure there would be others
nominating themselves for that same distinction, however when it comes
from such a lovely young girl as Emily, it’s believable when she says,
“You can go to the courthouse square any night of the week, and there
are musicians everywhere playing folk music.” She’s a freshman at UALR,
and began playing the fiddle in the fourth grade.
place in the open division in the Arkansas State Old Time Fiddle
Championship in late September at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain
View. Phillip’s love of old-time folk music comes naturally. She’s a
native of Mountain View, Arkansas, which is proudly self-proclaimed as
the ‘Folk Music Capital of the World.’ I’m sure there would be others
nominating themselves for that same distinction, however when it comes
from such a lovely young girl as Emily, it’s believable when she says,
“You can go to the courthouse square any night of the week, and there
are musicians everywhere playing folk music.” She’s a freshman at UALR,
and began playing the fiddle in the fourth grade.
Someone out there owns a little piece of Willie Nelson, and
they had to pay $37,000 to get it. An auction in Phoenix, Arizona on
Oct. 5, was selling items from Waylon Jenning’s estate. One of the
items up for bid was Willie’s red braids, which he gave to Jennings in
1983 to show support for Jennings sobriety. The story gets even better
once you know Willie presented Jennings with the hair at a party thrown
by Johnny Cash that same year. It’s not exactly clear who bought the
braids, but you can be sure my hair is now for sale and we’ll use the
money to fix the roof on the Pioneer Music Museum.
they had to pay $37,000 to get it. An auction in Phoenix, Arizona on
Oct. 5, was selling items from Waylon Jenning’s estate. One of the
items up for bid was Willie’s red braids, which he gave to Jennings in
1983 to show support for Jennings sobriety. The story gets even better
once you know Willie presented Jennings with the hair at a party thrown
by Johnny Cash that same year. It’s not exactly clear who bought the
braids, but you can be sure my hair is now for sale and we’ll use the
money to fix the roof on the Pioneer Music Museum.
Western Nebraska fans of bluegrass music will depend on
someone new to bring quality acts to the annual bluegrass festival at
the fairgrounds in North Platte, Nebraska. Courtney Ewald, was
announced as the newest President during the groups annual meeting. The
current president Donna Mentzer will stay on for a year to assist in
the transition. Ewald says she hopes to expand the festival and bring
more family style entertainment to the event. I love her statement
about running a festival…..”Ideally, maybe we could even extend the
concert out or the festival out to maybe even four days, four or even
five days. The longer it goes, then the bigger it gets. The biggest
attraction would definitely be the bands, the high name bands and I look
forward to keeping it like that too, hiring out the nice big bands and
not necessarily even the big bands, but just the real good music that
people enjoy listening to” Well good luck North Platte, it will
definitely be interesting to see the direction of your bluegrass
festival.
someone new to bring quality acts to the annual bluegrass festival at
the fairgrounds in North Platte, Nebraska. Courtney Ewald, was
announced as the newest President during the groups annual meeting. The
current president Donna Mentzer will stay on for a year to assist in
the transition. Ewald says she hopes to expand the festival and bring
more family style entertainment to the event. I love her statement
about running a festival…..”Ideally, maybe we could even extend the
concert out or the festival out to maybe even four days, four or even
five days. The longer it goes, then the bigger it gets. The biggest
attraction would definitely be the bands, the high name bands and I look
forward to keeping it like that too, hiring out the nice big bands and
not necessarily even the big bands, but just the real good music that
people enjoy listening to” Well good luck North Platte, it will
definitely be interesting to see the direction of your bluegrass
festival.
Larry Cordle, who was inducted into our Hall of Fame this
year at LeMars, has just released a landmark new album “All Star Duets”
to global radio. It’s been in the making for 11 years and has some
pretty ‘hot’ players on it, including Dierks Bentley, Garth Brooks,
Kenny Chesney, Terry Clark, Kevin Denny, Diamond Rio, Alison Krauss,
Kathy Mattea, Daryle Singletary, Travis Tritt, Del McCoury, Ricky
Skaggs, and Trisha Yearwood. Even our own Randy Kohrs is on the final
cut.
year at LeMars, has just released a landmark new album “All Star Duets”
to global radio. It’s been in the making for 11 years and has some
pretty ‘hot’ players on it, including Dierks Bentley, Garth Brooks,
Kenny Chesney, Terry Clark, Kevin Denny, Diamond Rio, Alison Krauss,
Kathy Mattea, Daryle Singletary, Travis Tritt, Del McCoury, Ricky
Skaggs, and Trisha Yearwood. Even our own Randy Kohrs is on the final
cut.
Bob Everhart for Country Music News International Magazine