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Ed Dovel perhaps
one of our finest ‘real’ country music artists passed away October 23rd
from a stroke followed by a massive heart attack at the age of 68. It
appeared to be a rather sudden attack, and even though he was safely
within the confines of a hospital, they could not do anything for him.
He was one of our very thoughtful and kind musicians who never ever
placed himself before others. He was among the first to always
volunteer to play music, move amplifiers, man sound boards, clean the
floors, or whatever else needed doing. He was a very stringent classic
and traditional country music lover and player, along with his wife
Kathy who joined him on the keyboards. Together they kept the classic
country music ‘dance’ alive at a number of clubs, including the Elks,
and the American Legion. He enjoyed tremendously performing the older
country music classics for assisted living and senior centers. He was a
very outgoing and happy man, smiled easily and often, and enjoyed
swapping jokes and stories with his musician friends. I knew him from
my very early adventures in country music when he worked endlessly
getting the Cornhusker Country Music Club in Louisville going, but he
also performed and helped keep going the Weeping Water Country Music
Festival, both of those enterprises operated by opposing sisters. He had
a small recording studio in his basement, he duplicated tapes and CD’s
for his fellow friends and musicians, and is a member of America’s
Country Music Hall of Fame. In the Hall of Fame is Ed’s old
cassette-tape duplicator he had in his studio. It could duplicate four
tapes at a time, a bit faster than normal. Imagine that, four at a
time. He was a constant ‘helper’ for anyone who asked, and he still has
musicians that were part of his band living in LeMars, Iowa. We hope
his wife Kathy will continue her ‘real’ country music contributions to
the upper Midwest, keeping it the way Ed played it for such a long time,
and so well.
one of our finest ‘real’ country music artists passed away October 23rd
from a stroke followed by a massive heart attack at the age of 68. It
appeared to be a rather sudden attack, and even though he was safely
within the confines of a hospital, they could not do anything for him.
He was one of our very thoughtful and kind musicians who never ever
placed himself before others. He was among the first to always
volunteer to play music, move amplifiers, man sound boards, clean the
floors, or whatever else needed doing. He was a very stringent classic
and traditional country music lover and player, along with his wife
Kathy who joined him on the keyboards. Together they kept the classic
country music ‘dance’ alive at a number of clubs, including the Elks,
and the American Legion. He enjoyed tremendously performing the older
country music classics for assisted living and senior centers. He was a
very outgoing and happy man, smiled easily and often, and enjoyed
swapping jokes and stories with his musician friends. I knew him from
my very early adventures in country music when he worked endlessly
getting the Cornhusker Country Music Club in Louisville going, but he
also performed and helped keep going the Weeping Water Country Music
Festival, both of those enterprises operated by opposing sisters. He had
a small recording studio in his basement, he duplicated tapes and CD’s
for his fellow friends and musicians, and is a member of America’s
Country Music Hall of Fame. In the Hall of Fame is Ed’s old
cassette-tape duplicator he had in his studio. It could duplicate four
tapes at a time, a bit faster than normal. Imagine that, four at a
time. He was a constant ‘helper’ for anyone who asked, and he still has
musicians that were part of his band living in LeMars, Iowa. We hope
his wife Kathy will continue her ‘real’ country music contributions to
the upper Midwest, keeping it the way Ed played it for such a long time,
and so well.
Bob Everhart for Country Music News International