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At Country Hall of Fame & Museum salute
www.afm257.org
Official Journal of the American Federation of Musicians
AFM Local 257 • 1902-2006
Musician
Volume MMVI • Number 4 • October-December 2006
Local 257’s Bradley receives rare AFM honor
Local 257 President Harold Bradley holds AFM Lifetime Achievement Award just presented to
him by AFM President Thomas F. Lee (left), and acknowledged by AFM Secretary-Treasurer
Sam Folio and Local 257 Secretary-Treasurer Billy Linneman at the ‘Nashville Cats’ salute.
By WALT TROTT
It was literally Harold Bradley Day
at the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum,
Aug. 19, as the AFM official participated
in a “Nashville Cats” celebration,
during which he was surprised with
AFM’s Lifetime Achievement award.
The hall’s Ford Theater was packed
with family, friends and fans as Local
257’s President was honored for a more
than 60-year career as a musician and studio
pioneer.
Harold and his late producer-brother
Owen Bradley - himself a member of the
Country Music Hall of Fame since 1974
- established Nashville’s first recording
and film studio, and later built their unique
Quonset Hut studio, laying the foundation
for what is now Music Row.
Among VIPs on hand for Harold’s retrospective
were AFM’s President Thomas
F. Lee and Secretary-Treasurer Sam Folio;
Teresa E. Gafford, Secretary, Washington,
D.C. Local 161-710; Michael
Largarticha, President, Honolulu Local
677; Oklahoma City Local 375-703’s
President Joe Settlemires and Secretary
Donna Settlemires; Houston Local 65-699
Secretary-Treasurer Lovie Smith-Schenk;
guitarist Duane Eddy, all-time #1 Rock &
Roll instrumentalist; acclaimed studio
steel guitarist Lloyd Green; songwriter
Bob Tubert, creator of classics like
“You’re the Only World I Know”; former
label chief Jim Foglesong, a Country
Music Hall of Famer (who signed Garth
Brooks to Capitol Records); Patsy Bradley,
Senior Director, BMI’s writer-pub-
Symphony celebrates its new home
What’s important is that the Nashville
Symphony Orchestra now has a new
home, one its musicians could hardly
imagine two decades back.
In February 1985, the symphonic players
went out on strike, and it was scarcely
three years later they faced bankruptcy.
Theirs is a glorious comeback, culminating
in a $123.5 million Schermerhorn
Symphony Center, with its VIP ribboncutting
ceremony Sept. 7, and a glittering
Sept. 9 grand opening to rival a Broadway
first night or a Hollywood premiere.
“This is a night to remember for the
rest of our lives,” stated Martha Rivers
Ingram,” NSO board chairman. “In the
long history of Nashville’s quest for excellence
in the arts, during which it has
faced and overcome many struggles, the
opening of Schermerhorn Symphony
Center will surely stand as a watershed
event - a moment that quite literally sets
in stone our city’s commitment to realizing
its destiny for greatness.”
Amidst the splendor of the Saturday
night gala, for which tickets were $2,500
a piece, thousands of first-nighters, garbed
in designer gowns and tuxedos, admired
fellow guests on the red carpet, reveled in
the majestic surroundings of the $123.5
million neo-classical structure, and raved
over the performances by NSO, conducted
by new Music Advisor Leonard
Slatkin, that included a premiere of the
exotic Triple Concerto for Banjo, Double
Bass & Tabla by Béla Fleck, Zakir
Hussain and Edgar Meyer, who stood out
in his bright red suspenders. (Co-commissioned
by NSO and the acoustic designer
Akustiks, Inc., the concerto’s dedicated to
the interconnecting musical influences
(Continued on page 2)
lisher administration; Bill Pursell, professor
and pianist, who scored the 1963 pop
Top 10 instrumental “Our Winter Love”;
and Nashville Local 257’s Secretary-
Treasurer Billy Linneman.
“Would everybody that’s kin to me
please stand up,” grinned Bradley, upon
which the first two rows arose as one.
Among these were wife Eleanor, a former
water ski champion, daughters Beverly
and Bari, their families, niece Patsy, and
Harold’s brother Bobby Bradley, whose
son Bobby Jr. is a noted studio engineer.
Bradley, of course, has been Local
257’s President 15 years, and is a charter
member of Music City’s celebrated A
Team of session players, who helped to
establish Nashville as a premier worldwide
recording center.
“When I was 16, I joined the union in
1942,” acknowledged Bradley, explaining
this enabled him to play guitar in big
brother Owen’s bands, initially as a replacement
picker.
Genial host Bill Lloyd, serving as
moderator for the monthly “Nashville
Cats” sessions, noted that Harold’s was
third in a series premiering with steel
guitarist Lloyd Green, followed by harmonica
whiz Charlie McCoy.
Guitar Player magazine hailed Bradley
as the most recorded guitarist in the
world. That tells only a part of the Brad-
(Continued on page 16)
CM Hall of Fame
claims Bradley,
James and Strait
On Aug. 30, the Country Music Association
announced the annual CMA
awards nominees in New York City and
Nashville, and also revealed the newest
inductees into the Country Music Hall of
Fame.
Local 257 Life Members Harold Bradley
and Sonny James were voted among
the Class of 2006 Hall of Famers, along
with Texas-based vocalist George Strait,
(Continued on page 25)
Nashville Association of Musicians
P.O. Box 120399
Nashville, TN 37212-0399
- Address Service Requested -
What’s Inside?
‘Bionic
Bryan’
brings
his heroes
onto his
new CD
. . . Page 18
Leona
Williams
and
Ferlin
Husky
tell their
stories . . .
He, page 22;
She, page 25
New Local 257 members of
Heartland begin their #1
country music journey . . .
Page 27
See Union Rally pix . . . Page 12
Hundreds gather at Legislative
Plaza to protest NLRB rulings!
See President Bradley’s column
Local 257’s leader recalls ICSOM
meeting here in August, his AFM Lifetime
Achievement honor, Country Hall of
Fame induction, and recent Las Vegas trip,
among other happenings . . . See page 3
Members meet, Dec. 7, 2006
Musicians of AFM Local 257 are encouraged
to attend the next scheduled
General Membership Meeting, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 7, in the George W. Cooper
Jr. Hall at the union headquarters, 11
Music Circle North, on Music Row.
Agenda items include an overview of
Local 257’s financial status, and new business
of getting your ideas on putting together
a successful campaign for recruiting
new members.
For further details, regarding the next
meeting and its agenda, call (615) 244-
9514, ext. 224.
Nonprofit
U.S. Postage
PAID
Franklin, TN
Permit No. 357

2 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
. . . Schermerhorn Symphony Center officially opens
NSO Music Advisor Leonard Slatkin.
(Continued from page 1)
found in Nashville.)
Among those interviewed on the red carpet
by various media types were singer
Crystal Gayle, her trailing five-foot tresses
giving a new meaning to long-hair; Dollar
General heir Steve Turner, sporting a
rhinestoned-emblazoned cutaway denim
jacket designed by Manuel that would be
the envy of Porter Wagoner; disco queen
Donna Summer and husband Bruce
Sudano; TV’s Nashville Star Search talent
judge Anastasia Brown in a Christian Dior
original, on the arm of producer-label chief
husband Tony Brown; singer Trisha
Yearwood and high-profile hubby Garth
Brooks, wearing tuxedo jacket with black
jeans; dapper Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell;
television host Meryll Rose; songbirds Amy
Grant and Vince Gill; and Governor Phil
Bredesen and wife Andrea Conte.
“The success of the Nashville Symphony
has multiplied exponentially in recent
years,” noted Alan Valentine, President &
CEO of NSO, now in its 60th year. “Currently
one of the most active recording orchestras
in the world, it is earning critical
acclaim around the globe, including multiple
Grammy nominations. It is attracting
the country’s finest musicians to its auditions.
It is performing for the nation via radio
and TV broadcasts. It is playing to
packed houses on tour. Today, the Nashville
Symphony is internationally-recognized
and respected. And there is no end in sight.”
Patrons welcomed the opening Festive
Overture (Opus 96) by Dmitri
Shostakovich, which gave them their first
inkling of what an acoustic marvel the Laura
Turner Concert Hall truly is. From our vantage
point we couldn’t spot an empty seat
in the 1,860-capacity house named in honor
of Dollar General’s First Lady, but everybody
there joined in a standing ovation for
the orchestra’s performance under the
steady hand of Maestro Slatkin.
After his thank you, the conductor
greeted the receptive crowd: “Welcome to
our home. It’s been a long time coming for
Nashville.”
At the conclusion of the intermission,
however, most didn’t realize it, but the
unique bit of attention-getting music played
Frederica von Stade
on chimes was conceived and recorded by
the late NSO Conductor Kenneth
Schermerhorn for opening night in the magnificent
building bearing his name. Slatkin
also said that the late conductor had planned
most of the evening’s program prior to his
April 18, 2005 death.
Following intermission, NSO performed
American composer Samuel Barber’s Essay
No. 2, Opus 17, and then rendered
Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor
“Resurrection,” with its soaring solos
by mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, and
soprano Janice Chandler-Etemé. Another of
the evening’s wonders was the exceptional
Nashville Symphony Chorus, which joined
the singers in a Scherzo finale featuring offstage
brass to bring the performance to a
fulfilling climax.
Throughout the presentation one could
sense the extraordinary energy pulsating
through the players, proud to be part of such
a breathtaking endeavor, a truly milestone
event for the 81-member NSO - and Music
City USA.
Laura Turner Hall, of course, was a collaborative
effort among the architecture, theater
planning and acoustic design teams. Designed
by David M. Schwarz/Architectural
Services, Inc., Akustiks, and Fisher Dachs
Associates, the 197,000-square-foot Symphony
Center is the crowning jewel among
Nashville’s great performance gems.
Formerly while located in crowded
TPAC, the musicians didn’t have access to
the type of conveniences offered in their new
surroundings, including a huge warm-up
room, a semi-quiet lounge, a quiet lounge
and, of course, lockers in which to secure
their belongings.
Janice Chandler-Eteme
Following dinner, first-nighters returned
to Turner Hall to enjoy one of the Symphony
Center’s most distinctive features: the convertible
flat-floor system, which allows for
a huge cabarat-style room. NSO Director of
Pops Albert-George Schram conducted the
Symphony for dancing on the converted
floor, serenading listeners with Strauss
waltzes. Afterwards, the 11-piece Craig
Duncan Orchestra continued to play for latenight
dancers.
Co-chairs for the opening night gala
were Julie Boehm and Ellen Martin. Sponsored
by Ingram Industries, the premiere
evening’s earnings help fund NSO’s future
programs. Currently, NSO schedules more
than 200 concerts, including pops, classical
and children’s fare.
A splendid follow-up to the opening gala
the next night boasted a pair of the gospel
world’s brightest stars Amy Grant and
Michael W. Smith, sharing the stage with
pop-country diva LeAnn Rimes, Grand Ole
Opry great Vince Gill, violin virtuoso Ruth
McInnis, the Symphony and guest conductor
David Hamilton, in an eclectic presentation
(see concert review page 34), serving
as the hall’s first paid public performance
(with tickets ranging from $50 to $250, or
higher for diners).
Two earlier invitation-only concerts
were rendered, however; the first in appreciation
for the building’s construction workers
(and their families) as they neared
The trio in rehearsal.
completion of the three-year project; and
then on Sept. 1, only days before the official
opening, twin-preview concerts for area
students, in tune with the NSO’s ongoing
commitment to music education, and which
included selections from Aaron Copland’s
Rodeo and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Cappriccio
espagnol.
A Free Day of Music scheduled Oct. 7,
is a way to connect with the community,
creating greater public awareness of the
Schermerhorn Symphony Center and its
programs. (Its co-sponsors are NSO and
AmSouth Bank.)
In addition to the contemporary opening
night commissioned concerto by Fleck,
Meyer and Hussain, there are two other
works being commissioned for premiere
performances by the Symphony early in
2007: Philip Glass’ The Passion of
Ramakrishna and Michael Daugherty’s
Concerto For Piano.
(Editor’s note: We would like to acknowledge
NSO Director of Media Relations
Christy Crytzer’s invaluable assistance
in letting us cover this major event.)
- Walt Trott
Martha Rivers Ingram
DON HASTY IGNATZ
Public Accounting
Computerized Bookkeeping
and Tax Preparation
Suite LL-20
2200 21st Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37212
Tel: (615) 385-5224
Leonard Slatkin named NSO
Music Advisor, as a search
continues for Music Director
Leonard Slatkin, whose credentials are
world class, was appointed Music Advisor
of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Aug.
23, for the next three years.
The internationally-known conductor is
also currently Music Director of the National
Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C.,
and serves as Principal Guest Conductor for
both the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London.
“We are thrilled and honored to have
Leonard Slatkin as our Music Advisor,”
noted Alan D. Valentine, NSO President and
CEO. “Leonard worked with our orchestra
for the first time in June, and quickly brought
their performance to a whole new level. We
jumped at the opportunity to share the expertise
of one of the world’s greatest conductors
and believe the collaboration will
have a lasting impact, shaping the direction
our orchestra takes in the coming years.”
Maestro Slatkin, son of renowned violinist-conductor
Felix Slatkin and cellist
Eleanor Aller, is married to soprano Linda
Hohenfeld and is father to their son David.
“One of the greatest pleasures in recent
memory for me was to spend several days
with the Nashville Symphony,” said Slatkin.
“This outstanding ensemble has a sense of
direction and purpose. Their music-making
is of the highest level and their commitment
to excellence extends from the stage
to the management. I am thrilled to have
the opportunity to assist in these crucial
years of transition, and I look forward to our
collaborations over these next three years.”
Following his tenure as Music Director
for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
(1979-’96), Slatkin was named Conductor
Laureate. The American-born musician (he
plays piano and violin) was Chief Conductor
of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London
(2000-’04), after having served as Festival
Director of the Cleveland Orchestra’s
Blossom Festival nine years, and was Principal
Guest Conductor of their Philharmonia
Orchestra.
In Nashville, his most significant assignment
since assuming his Music Advisory
role was conducting the NSO in a gala opening
night performance in the Schermerhorn
Symphony Center’s Laura Turner Concert
Hall, Saturday, Sept. 9.
Slatkin’s appearances have included performing
with such celebrated musical contingents
as the Berlin Philharmonic, the New
York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra and the Concertgebouw Orchestra
of Amsterdam in The Netherlands, as
well as with distinguished opera companies,
among them the Metropolitan Opera in New
York City, Lyric Opera in Chicago, the
Washington National Opera, and the Vienna
State Opera in Austria.
This year’s dual wins for his recording
“Bolcom: Songs of Innocence And of Experience”
brings his Grammy total to seven.
The Los Angeles-born conductor is founder-
(Continued on page 10)
Symphony CEO Alan Valentine continues the
search for a Music Director to succeed the late
maestro Kenneth Schermerhorn (with Alan above).

October-December 2006 The Nashville Musician 3
Dear Members:
Time sure flies when you’re having fund
or traveling on the road . . .
Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of both of
the above.
A fun event for me was to give the welcoming
speech to the ICSOM Conference.
We are privileged to have Laura Ross serving
as ICSOM Secretary. Also serving for
the first time as the ICSOM Delegate was
Lee Levine.
It was my pleasure to welcome the
ICSOM officers and delegates to Nashville
and give them some of Nashville’s rich historical
background.
A very special event was the ICSOM
tour and dinner served at the Schermerhorn
Symphony Center. Our ICSOM guests were
extremely impressed with the Center, and
we were extremely proud to show it off.
Local 257 was the official host of the
Conference, and we were well-represented
by Dan Lochrie and Brad Mansell, who did
yeomen work on our behalf.
Another fun event that my wife and I
attended was the Amy Grant pops concert
(for our review, see page 34). Amy and her
guests Vince Gill, LeAnn Rimes and
Michael W. Smith and the Nashville Symphony
gave a memorable musical concert,
which was well-received by an appreciative
audience. Amy has been a huge supporter
of the Symphony, and she gave a great performance
in the very first pops concert in
Schermerhorn Symphony Center.
On Aug. 19, 2006, the Country Music
Foundation & Museum paid tribute to me
in its Nashville Cats series.
I was interviewed by Bill Lloyd of the
Foundation, who did a brilliant job of keeping
the program moving, and still hitting the
high spots of my 60 years as a recording
musician.
AFM International President Tom Lee;
AFM International Secretary-Treasurer Sam
Poster photo and two at right
by Bari (Bradley) Brooks
A Reminder!
Attend the next General
Membership Meeting,
6 :30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 7
in George Cooper Jr. Hall.
President’s
Report
By
Harold R. Bradley
Folio; Washington, D.C. Local 161-710
Secretary Teresa E. Gafford; Houston Local
65-699 President Lovie Smith-Schenk;
Oklahoma City, Okla. Local 375-703 President
Joe Settlemires, and Local 375-703’s
Secretary-Treasurer Donna Settlemires; and
Honolulu, Hawaii Local 677 President
Michael Largarticha were all present.
On Aug. 30, 2006, I was introduced at
a press conference as an inductee into the
Country Music Hall of Fame. It was a real
surprise and I was completely unaware that
I would be the second studio musician to
be elected to the Country Music Hall of
Fame. The first was Floyd Cramer, a Local
257member for many years. Every three
years the recording musicians/road musicians
category will be included on the Hall
of Fame ballot.
I hope the CMA’s recognition of recording
musicians and road musicians will open
the door for all Local 257 members and I
accept this honor on behalf of all members
of Local257, and I hope you will share in
my joy.
Oct. 11, 2006 found me in Las Vegas
for a one-day meeting to address membership
in the AFM.
Secretary-Treasurer Billy Linneman
and I will be discussing a membership drive
with you in the near future.
Well, I’ve had enough fun for today,
until next time . . . Stay tuned.
Harold R. Bradley
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Harold accepts AFM Lifetime Achievement Award
from AFM President Thomas F. Lee, Aug. 19 at
Nashville Cats’ salute in the Hall’s Ford Theater.
3 to Songwriters’ Hall of Fame
Local 257 member Jeffrey Steele has
been named best songwriter of 2006 by the
Nashville Songwriters Association International
(NSAI). Hits in 2006 by Steele include
“Something To Be Proud Of” (Montgomery
Gentry) and “What Hurts the Most”
(Rascal Flatts).
Votes for NSAI Artist/Songwriter of
’06, resulted in a tie: Toby Keith, whose successes
were “As Good As I Once Was” and
“A Little Too Late”; and Phil Vassar, writer
of “Last Day Of My Life” and “Good Ole
Days.” The year’s best song is: “Jesus Take
the Wheel” co-written by Brett James,
Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson.
Jimmy Buffett, Hugh Prestwood and
Jim Weatherly are this year’s inductees into
the Nashville Songwriters Foundation and
NSAI’s Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
What’s this all about?
For details about podcaster Wichita’s
brand new e-book, “The Bluegrass Way,”
read page 32.
During Nashville Cats series, Aug.19, at the Country Music Hall of Fame, host Bill Lloyd
and studio veteran Harold Bradley chat (above), and then do some pickin’ (below).
Vol. MMVI, No. 4
October-December 2006
The
Nashville
Musician
Official Quarterly Journal of
The Non-Profit Union
Nashville Association of Musicians,
American Federation of Musicians Local 257
(c) 2006 The Nashville Association of Musicians
P.O. Box 120399, Nashville TN 37212
ISBN 0-9632684-1-4
NEWSPAPER STAFF
Harold R. Bradley, Publisher
Billy Linneman, EIC
Walt Trott, Editor
Sherri Dickerson, Advertising
Kathy Shepard, Photographer
LOCAL 257
Harold R. Bradley, President
Billy Linneman, Secretary-Treasurer
Otto Bash, Sergeant-at-Arms
Assistant to the President
Laura Ross
Assistant to Secretary-Treasurer
& Office Manager
Sherri Dickerson
Executive Board
Bobby Ogdin
Dave Pomeroy
Laura Ross
Denis Solee
Bruce Bouton
Mike Brignardello
Andy Reiss
Hearing Board
Wm. (Tiger) Fitzhugh
Kathy Shepard
Buddy Edmundson
Danny O’Lannerghty
Jim Grosjean
Jeff King
Tim Smith
Hearing Board Clerk
Anita Winstead
Trustees
B. James Lowry
Paul Leim
Shop Stewards
Laura Ann Ross,
Nashville Symphony
Live Engagement
Services Division
Kathy Shepard, Supervisor
Laura Ann Ross, Assistant
Anita Winstead, Assistant
Electronic Media
Services Division
Melissa Hamby Meyer, Director
Teri Barnett, Assistant
Shana Allen
Mandy Arostegui
Christie Allen
Tyler Allen
MPF Coordinators
Kathy Shepard
Anita Winstead
Business Agent
Kathy Shepard
Front Office
Arleigh Barnett
Janet Butler
www.afm257.org
All material intended for publication should be directed to The
Nashville Musician, P.O. Box 120399, Nashville TN 37212 (office
location: 11 Music Circle North, Nashville TN 37203) Telephone
[615] 244-9514; Fax [615] 259-9140. The Nashville Musician
assumes no responsibility for loss or damage to
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permission of Publisher, EIC or Editor.
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4 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
Secretary-
Treasurer’s
Report
By Billy Linneman
It’s really easy for me to start out my column congratulating Harold Bradley
as a new inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Then we have the
great Sonny James. What can we say! Two of the three inductees are longtime
members of our Local. Congratulations!!! The third inductee, George Strait,
records here and is an AFM member at Local 433 in Austin.
TIME CARDS ARE THE LOCAL’S TIME CARDS, NOT THE
SIGNATORY’S TIME CARD.
We are accommodating in providing multiple copies of the time card. ONE
of the copies can be given to the signatory, one for the leader/contractor, and
one for the Local. The time card needs to be in at the union not less than 48
hours after the session date. If you get any arguments from anyone representing
the employer, please ask them to read the language within the mid-upper
block. Then tell them you will get into trouble if you don’t return them to the
union. We will soon start enforcing this, as this is one of the reasons why you
are being paid late and this is one of the reasons why we are having trouble
collecting late payments. Employers have figured this out and are trying to use
this to their advantage!
NO SIGNATORY---NO PENSION
If there is no signatory in place, your pension money will eventually be
returned to the non-signatory company--The Company that you should not
have been working for in the first place--and not be credited to you. Remember
that for any work done off the card that you will be missing approximately
50% of the scale wages in pension. In other words, for every $100.00 of scale,
you will in the future also be getting around $50.00 back in your pension. Do
you want to work for $100.00 or $150.00? It really seems like a no-brainer, but
every time you work off the card that is what you are cheating yourself (and
others) out of. I know several musicians that have retired and received their
pension, but know they could have doubled that amount by helping get work
put on the card. With our menu of scales, there is NO reason for any work to be
off the card or contract--INCLUDING ANY CASUAL DATE OR CLUB JOB!
I know that I am sounding like a broken record but membership is not doing
any better on this issue and it is COSTING YOU, both in office personnel time
and directly with your pension!
WE ARE BOYCOTTING DELTA AIRLINES
The AFM continues to boycott Delta Airlines because of their policy on
musical instruments. Just because they let you through here at the Nashville
Airport (I understand that they are sometimes not letting instruments go
through), don’t assume they will at other airports. Before you book a ticket on
any airline make sure that you can take your instrument on board!
DO NOT WORK FOR PEOPLE OR ENTITIES WHO ARE ON EITHER
OUR OR THE FEDERATION’S “DO NOT WORK FOR” LIST!
Some of our Local people are probably not aware they are on this list (see
page 10). We would appreciate it if you would bring it to their attention, so that
we could work that out.
Good news is that we are slowly catching up on our finances. My goal is to
be caught up by the end of this office term, 2008. This naturally assumes that
everything stays at the present pace of business.
See you at the next General Membership Meeting on Thursday, December
7, 2006 at 6:30 P.M. at the Local.
Sincerely and Fraternally,
Billy Linneman
Local 257 Secretary-Treasurer Billy Linneman, seen at the Country Music Hall of Fame Aug. 19
Nashville Cats’ salute to Harold Bradley, with Local 257 member Teresa E. Gafford, who is also
Secretary, Washington, D.C. Local 161-710.
Studio fiddler Jim Unger succumbs at 52
Jim Unger, 52, of Madison, Tenn., died
from a heart attack Sept. 25. A session fiddler,
Unger also played mandolin, and was
a former bandleader for Billy (Crash)
Craddock.
James Richard Unger, Jr., son of Christine
and James Unger, was born July 20,
1954 in Martinsburg, W. Va. He was a fifth
generation fiddler, whose father’s friends included
Vassar Clements and Buddy Spicher.
“Jim started playing when he was about
10 years old,” says his widow Melissa. “His
idols were Johnny Gimble and Dale Potter.
He left home at 17 to play music in the
Washington, D.C. area for about a year.”
She explains that Jim’s Grandfather
Unger had cut records for RCA, “way back
before he lost his life in a mining accident.”
Jim Jr. graduated from high school in
1972. He was versatile in his playing, and
once performed with a bluegrass band, the
Trinity Mountain Boys.
It was during the 1980s, however, that
Jim moved to Nashville. According to Melissa,
he worked about seven years with
Craddock, who had such hits as “Knock
Three Times,” “Rub It In” and “Broken
Down in Tiny Pieces.”
In the mid-1980s, Jim was working in
Beaumont, Texas, in a band with Local 257
picker Mark Nesler, when Melissa met him.
“Did you know a fellow named Bill Starnes?
Well, he managed the band, Texas Tradition
down there . . . ”
Melissa and Jim were wed in 1990.
Hearing Board meeting’s
minutes - May 23, 2006
8:40 a.m. - Meeting convened with
swearing in of Hearing Board member Tim
Smith.
Present: Board Members Buddy
Edmundson, Tiger Fitzhugh, Jim Grosjean,
Jeff King, Kathy Shepard, Tim Smith and
Hearing Board Clerk Anita Winstead.
Discussion of Feb. 14, 2006 minutes.
MSC to approve Feb. 14, 2006 minutes.
8:50 a.m. - Members charged with violations
of Article II, Section 4 of Local 257
By-Laws:
MSC to fine Justin Niebank $10 for failure
to pay work dues and $25 for not appearing
before the Hearing Board;
MSC to fine Michael Ripoli $20 for failure
to pay work dues and $25 for not appearing
before the Hearing Board;
MSC to fine Kurt Goebel $30 for failure
to pay work dues and $25 for not appearing
before the Hearing Board;
MSC to fine Guthrie Trapp, Hank Singer
and Pat Coil $40 for failure to pay work dues
and $25 for not appearing before the Hearing
Board.
The next Hearing Board meeting will be
8:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 25.
9:05 a.m. - MSC to adjourn.
“He did all kinds of studio work,” she
continues. “Mainly Jim played fiddle, but
he also played mandolin and once in a while
did a little back-up singing.”
A few of the numerous artists Jim
worked the road with in their bands, were
Ray Price, Johnny Paycheck and Doug
Stone.
More recently, Melissa points out, her
husband was participating in a show in
Vienna, Va., where . . . “His parents came
down to see him and I was so grateful, because
it had been awhile since they heard
him play. I think they all enjoyed that.”
Survivors include Melissa; his father
James Unger, Sr., who lives in Martinsburg;
step-son Heath Parrish; step-daughter
Heather Thomason; grandchildren Briana
and Ethon; and a sister Kimmie Unger of
Martinsburg. Funeral services were held
Sept. 29 at Cole & Garrett Funeral Home in
suburban Goodlettsville, Tenn., with The
Reverends Harry Yates and Ray Hughes officiating.
- Walt Trott
Jim Unger, Jr.
Members notice . . .
You can help the AFM promote
people to Congress who are interested
in musicians’ issues. Donate
now to the AFM Tempo Fund.
Eddie W.
JACKSON
C.P.A.
Professional Corporation
Eddie Jackson & Associates
Airport Executive Plaza
Suite 600
1218 Murfreesboro Rd.
Nashville, TN 37217
OFFICE 360-8787
& FAX 360-8795

October-December 2006 The Nashville Musician 5
Can you believe that . . . we’re winding
up another year! So, as we are getting
ready to jump in the leaves, and head into
the holidays, let’s catch up a little with
what’s been going on.
First of all, I want to talk about my last
column. I got a lot of response from y’all
on that one. I did a whole lot of complaining
about the fact so many of the checks
that came through here for the CMA Music
Festival were for non-members. A lot
of these checks were for engagements
played with a combination of members and
non-members (a violation of the By-Laws).
I pointed out that a lot of man-hours are
spent here in the office by Anita and I, in
the Live Engagement Services department,
and also by Janet and Arleigh at the front
desk, for non-members.
From calls and comments from a lot
of you, that is disturbing. It is now October
and time is still spent here on nonmembers
concerning those checks. Many
of them are returned (i.e. bad addresses,
etc.) or never picked up. The system is
purged now and then, and those checks that
are still here have to be found in the files,
picked up in the system, and mailed to
these non-members. This is more time and
money (postage) spent. OK people, we
really need to make some changes.
Don’t work with non-members! If you
find out that you are working with nonmembers,
try to get that person to join this
Local. If we take a stand for what is right
here, we can make a difference.
As a member here . . . and also an employee
. . . I don’t like paying myself to
work for non-members. That doesn’t make
sense.
Happy 25th anniversary to the Nashville
String Machine! Carol and Carl
Gorodetzky generate a lot of work for some
of our members. Congratulations to them,
and continued success. (See page 34.)
So far this year, we have used up a lot
more of the funds allocated to this Local
from the Music Performance Fund. This
is because more of you have been hustling
to get the performances. Keep in mind that
the percentage paid by the co-sponsor is
still at 10 per cent for grade schools and
middle schools, and 25 per cent for high
schools. We don’t know how long this will
be in effect. Hospitals and nursing homes
are 50 per cent and all others are 60 per
cent.
And speaking of Music Performance
Fund jobs, recently (Sept. 21) blues singerproducer-guitarist-educator
James T.
Nixon was the leader for a performance at
Cloverbottom. For those who are not aware
of what Cloverbottom is, it’s a facility for
mentally-handicapped individuals. Performing
there can be a bit depressing, as it
can be at some of the nursing homes, etc.,
or depending on your attitude, it can be a
“feel good” experince. Also the pay is live
concert scale, which is a pretty low
amount; so sadly, a lot of our members
don’t want these jobs.
Anyway, one of the musicians who
Live
Engagement
Services
By Kathy Shepard
worked that particular job with James
(a.k.a. Nick of The New Imperials) was
Nashville native Bobby Hebb. For those
of you who aren’t familiar with him, Bobby
wrote and recorded the million-seller
“Sunny” (which went to #2 on Billboard
in 1966) and “Natural Man” (a Top 20
single for Lou Rawls in 1971). I think that
is so cool that James and Bobby Hebb
played at Cloverbottom.
On Nov. 9, Paul Ross’ group, The
Kadillacs, will be performing at the Granny
White Park in Brentwood between 12:30
p.m. - 3 p.m. This performance will be a
“welcome home” celebration for the 1st
Battalion of the 327th Infantry Regiment
of the 101st Airborne Division, returning
from Iraq.
The city of Brentwood adopted “E”
Company last year when they were deployed
to Iraq, and since that time has been
sending packages of supplies, sundries and
assorted entertainment (DVDs, CDs, etc.)
to the troops in Iraq. There will be a parade
through town before the concert. This
concert is funded 100 per cent by the Music
Performance Fund. Please put this date
on your calendar.
We have recently lost member, past
employee and dear friend Carolyn Austin.
When she retired several years ago, I inherited
“keeping dog biscuits” in my office.
She will be remembered. (See page
8.)
May all of you be happy and healthy.
’Til next time . . . . . . . Kathy Shepard
Hara Hackett and daughter Sophia.
Phyllis Sparks and ‘Fiona.’
Member Randy Ford performs with student at W.O. Smith School of Music Camp. (- Teresa Hargrove photo)
President Bradley presents a 25-year
member’s pin to Tom Wild.
Curtis Burch accepts his 25-year pin.
- Photos by Kathy Shepard -
(7)
Next General Membership
Meeting is at
6:30 p.m. Thursday,
Dec. 7, at the Union Hall!
Call in Off-The-Cuff recording
sessions anonymously to
(615) 244-9514, Ext. 225.
President presents Life Member
pin to Zeke King.
Jason Hutcheson receives 25-year pin.
Andrew and Mary Ann Heller
at Local 257 with pet ‘Cocoa.’
R each thousands
with
your message . . .
Call Ad Director
Sherri Dickerson
at
(615) 244-9514,
Extension 240

6 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
Symphony
Notes
By Laura Ross
Nashville Symphony
Shop Steward
Where do I begin?
I guess I should begin where I left off,
which was the end of a grueling season. By
the time the orchestra heads into its summer
hiatus, many are tired and perhaps a
bit cranky and just looking forward to a vacation.
This last season was no exception
and in fact was harder by far than any summer
season the orchestra has faced in years.
In addition to our regular summer fare –
Beethoven Festival concerts, July 4, summer
parks concerts – the orchestra had numerous
“tuning” services with large works
of orchestral repertoire (Stravinsky,
Bruckner, Mahler, etc.) to allow the orchestra
to begin getting a feel for the new hall.
Guest conductors were brought in and so
were audiences.
Additionally, three works by Joan Tower
were scheduled during a week’s visit by the
National Symphony’s Music Director
Leonard Slatkin. These works were performed
in a “hard hat” concert for all the
construction workers, their families and
support staff and then we spent a day and a
half recording them for Naxos. Following
that, the orchestra was in front of TV cameras
for the annual July 4th concert. We took
on bugs, temperature issues (a blazing 94
degrees at 7:30 p.m., the highest temperature
possible before calling off a service,
according to our contract), traffic, and noise
... incredible noise, I might add.
Plus the orchestra also dealt with the
devastating news that one of our 1st violinists
had been diagnosed with cancer (she
has my admiration for the way she continues
coming to work following chemo sessions
that would wipe out any other person).
Then there was the sudden death of
our assistant librarian at age 28. Add to this
a music director search, where nothing is
constant and instead we are faced with a
changing parade of candidates with good
and bad traits, all for us to evaluate.
As I said, we could hardly wait for a
break! Unfortunately, the day before I was
to set off for Chicago and Virginia on my
vacation, our concertmaster of 17 years and
a member of the NSO for more than 22
years (including a stint when she was in high
school), had her contract terminated for Just
Cause. Her musical ability and performance
skills were never at issue. Instead, management
made allegations without proof, and
fired her. The union completely supports
Mary Kathryn’s reinstatement in the orchestra
and firmly stands by the charges that the
master agreement was violated. An arbitration
date has been set for Nov. 28, 2006.
Upon my return to Nashville, NSO cellist
and orchestra committee co-chair Brad
Mansell (who served as ICSOM conference
coordinator and host) and I began setting
plans in motion for the conference the NSO
and Local 257 hosted Aug. 16-19 – the International
Conference of Symphony and
Opera Musicians (ICSOM). The conference
was held at the Hilton, right across the street
from the new Schermerhorn Symphony
Center. As a special treat the traditional
ICSOM mixer became much more than the
norm. Delegates, ICSOM/AFM/Local officers
and staff, Local 257 Executive Board
members, NSO members and guests, were
treated to a tour of the facility (it was still
three weeks away from the grand opening).
They also witnessed the transition of the
audience floor from raked seating to a flat
floor appropriate for table seating. Even
orchestra members had not seen this in action
– very cool! Following the tour, guests
were served a selection of wine, beer and
beverages and were then led to the West
Lobby (where the cafe and garden are currently
situated) for a wonderful dinner for
130!
My thanks to Local 257 and the Nashville
Symphony for covering the cost of the
dinner and to the Nashville Symphony Players’
Assembly for providing the entertainment
that evening, including our own Executive
Board member Denis Solee. AFM
President Tom Lee sat in with the band at
one point (something I’ve witnessed many
times in my years of attendance at ROPA
and ICSOM conferences). Needless to say,
our colleagues from across the country are
quite envious of our new digs and had glowing
words about the hospitality they received
while in Nashville. They’re even
coming to our defense! Recently former
Tennessean staff writer Kevin Nance wrote
a piece on the architecture of “The Horn”
(thank you Kenny Barnd) for the Chicago
Tribune and “let rip” on the design of the
building. As soon as my colleague in the
Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra and Grant
Park Symphony read that article, she fired
back a letter describing what a delight the
hall was, how well everyone was treated,
etc. Others have also responded from all
over the country expressing their enthusiasm
regarding our new home. And you
know what? We like it too!
The business of the ICSOM conference
included a number of workshops on contract
administration, a mock arbitration
panel hearing, bankruptcy, a discussion
about the application of the new federal law
– Sarbanes-Oxley – and its application to
non-profit board membership, orchestra reports
and various AFM and player conference
addresses. The new public relations
consultant for locals, Barbara Haig, was also
in attendance. The conference continues to
find more ways to explore opportunities for
orchestra delegates to talk together about issues
of common interest. There was also a
change in leadership as Bruce Ridge, a bass
player with the North Carolina Symphony
was elected ICSOM’s 10th chairman, replacing
outgoing Chairman Jan Gippo.
Brian Rood returned after a one-year hiatus
as ICSOM’s new President. The membership
of the governing board is quite diverse
and includes Big 5 orchestras as well as midrange
budget orchestras in ICSOM – those
orchestras represented are: North Carolina,
Chicago, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Nashville,
Dallas, Atlanta, San Diego and Minnesota.
ICSOM is dedicating itself to projecting
a more positive message about the
state of the orchestra industry in our communities
and in the media.
The orchestra returned to work the last
week of August (a week earlier than is usually
allowed by the contract) immediately
following the announcement that Leonard
Slatkin had been named Music Advisor of
the orchestra for the next three years. It
seems there was mutual admiration back in
June when we were together and Leonard
plans to have a very hands-on approach
during his tenure. The orchestra had to find
its way without a music director and
Leonard’s presence will add a lot of direction
we were missing last year. He has already
had a great meeting with the orchestra
committee and my colleagues and I look
forward to working with him very much.
The first two weeks were a flurry of rehearsals,
concerts, TV tapings, gatherings
to salute Martha Ingram and the ribbon-cutting
ceremony, plus just getting settled in
our new home – two lockers and a place to
keep some stuff! The concert went very well
and many of my friends tell me they
watched the concert on NPT as it was broadcast
live (it will be repackaged and broadcast
on PBS later this fall). Dinner and a
party for a cast of thousands (literally) was
held at the Hilton for orchestra members,
chorus members, staff members, ushers,
support staff, and all their guests while the
floor at “The Horn” was being converted
from raked to flat floor for dancing. Of
course, across the circle drive was the big
tent where 850 of Nashville’s elite ate an
amazing meal that was described in detail
in many of the papers before the big event.
I’ve seen reviews of this opening that state
there hasn’t been this kind of hoopla in over
100 years. I guess we were quite the event!
After dinner, the orchestra had to return to
play 30 minutes of Strauss waltzes and then,
if anyone had any energy left, they could
mingle with the rest of the guests.
The next day most of the orchestra returned
to perform a gala pops concert with
Amy Grant. She was joined by husband
Vince Gill, Michael W. Smith and LeAnn
Rimes. The reception prior to the concert
was a great deal of fun and offered multiple
opportunities for exploration of the building,
tasting the delicious food offerings by
the culinary services at the hall, and hearing
our own musicians performing in various
areas around the building. The Beegie
Adair Trio could be found up in the Curb
Education Room, Denis Solee and Jack
Jezioro were in the East Lobby, another
group was in the West Lobby, the Fisk Jubilee
Singers were in the Courtyard and a
quartet from the NSO were in the Balcony
Lobby. During the concert, Amy’s contributions
to the NSO were celebrated with the
announcement that the stage would be
named the “Amy Grant Performance Platform”
and it was also announced that
Michael W. Smith’s contributions allowed
the orchestra to purchase the nine-foot New
York Steinway Piano. (See page 34 review.)
Of course, there was no time to rest on
our laurels. The next week began the first
of 14 Classical Series concerts and our first
experience with triple concerts – Thursday,
Friday and Saturday evenings. Jean-Yves
Thibaudet, who found the Hamburg
Steinway for us in Paris, gave a stunning
performance of the Liszt Piano Concerto
and Andrew Litton, outgoing Music Director
of the Dallas Symphony led the orchestra
in a performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony
#5 and a work by Kenneth
Schermerhorn. The next weekend was a tribute
to Ray Charles and a first look at the
cabaret setting on the main floor. Let’s just
say, it’s a work in progress, as they deal with
space and food service issues, etc. Our final
concerts in September featured Branford
Marsalis performing Milhaud’s
Scaramouche and Ibert’s Concerto da Camera
for Alto Saxaphone. The rest of the wideranging
musical selections included two
works by Ravel and Augusta Read Thomas’s
Tangle, which was originally commissioned
for the Chicago Symphony. The NSO’s current
mission is to perform works by American
composers and in a rather innovative
move, the “second encores” of these underheard
American works will be packaged for
possible broadcast over syndicated radio.
Both the pops concerts and this second Classical
Series were conducted by Resident
Conductor Albert-George Schram.
The orchestra now separates for a few
weeks as some become the pit orchestra for
the Nashville Ballet performing Morton
Gould’s Fall River Legend (a work we recorded
for Naxos). The rest perform Aida
with the Nashville Opera and also participate
in the Day of Music (free concerts provided
at “The Horn” all day long) on Saturday,
Oct. 7. The orchestra will also perform
youth concerts under the direction of NSO
Chorus Conductor George Mabry. In mid-
October conductor Anu Tali (who is cofounder
of the Nordic Symphony Orchestra
– formerly the Estonian-Finnish Symphony
Orchestra – with her twin sister Kadri
Tali) leads the orchestra in Sibelius’ Symphony
#2, Joan Tower’s Chamber Dance
and Soovin Kim will perform the Mozart
Violin Concerto #5. The end of October finishes
up with movie music “Hits from the
Silver Screen” and the Carnival of the Animals
with the Bob Brown Puppets.
November includes visits from conductors
Carlos Miguel Prieto (we worked with
him briefly during the Louisiana Philharmonic
concert we hosted last October after
Hurricane Katrina), and Bernhard Gueller
returns to conduct excerpts of Wagner’s
Ring Cycle. Matt Catingub conducts the
pops concerts and Alastair Willis bring us
Beethoven Lives Upstairs as the second Pied
Piper concert. Willis also leads the orchestra
in November and December in Ravel’s
L’enfant et les Sortilèges (The Child and the
Magic Spell) and Menotti’s Amahl and the
Night Visitors, both of which will be recorded
for Naxos. Guest artists in November
will include Dionne Warwick, Yakov
Kasman performing the Prokofiev Concerto
#2 for Piano, and Awadagin Pratt performs
Beethoven Concerto #1 for Piano. December
rounds out with The Nutcracker,
Handel’s Messiah and a Christmas Special
with Aaron Neville.
By the way, our recent recording on
Decca Records of Porgy & Bess, which was
conducted by John Mauceri (who recently
got a great plug on Aaron Sorkin’s new TV
show “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”), was
recently released. While I haven’t had a
chance to listen to it yet (I’ve hardly got
time to practice!), I am told it’s a great recording.
I look forward to hearing it for
myself!
I realized at the end of the season that I,
too, was looking toward going on vacation
and forgot to acknowledge the contributions
of outgoing orchestra committee members
Chris Farrell and Mary Helen Law. They
were involved up to the end of their terms
and I thank them for their thoughtful participation.
New members Beth Beeson and Steve
Brown join returning members Liz Stewart,
Brad Mansell and Dan Lochrie, who now
shares chairman duties with Brad. I extend
my thanks for their wisdom, advice and considerate
participation. I’d also like to thank
Bruce Christensen for his service as ICSOM
delegate and as ex-officio member of the
orchestra committee. Lee Levine began her
term as delegate this summer at the ICSOM
conference.
All these positions are of vital importance
to oversee the administration of our
contract.This being the last year of our
agreement, we will be looking toward the
negotiation of a new agreement this coming
spring. Carrie Bailey, Gary Armstrong,
and Brad Mansell will join Lee Levine and
myself, along with Harold Bradley and
AFM SSD negotiator Chris Durham in those
negotiations
- See ICSOM
photos
on page 33 -

October-December 2006 The Nashville Musician 7
Be The Best On-line Detective
Over the years in my law practice, I have
often thought that a great many lawsuits
would never be filed, if the persons involved
had known more about their partners and
business associates.
In the music business, we often take
people at face value and rarely check them
out before entering into contracts, partnerships
or checking to see if 50 other people
have already sued them. It is important to
get a clear idea about whom you are dealing
with in any relationship, especially when
it comes down to money and rights.
Sometime ago I discovered a website
known as www.BestOnlineDetective.com I
laughed at the name thinking that I was the
“best on-line detective” because I often take
the time to search for lawsuits, judgments,
bankruptcies and criminal charges. It is not
uncommon for someone in the music business
to join a band and have the members
borrow money for equipment.
Wouldn’t you like to know that a member
of the group had just filed bankruptcy
or had a history of writing worthless checks?
Being informed is your right, and checking
someone out is the first step to saving yourself
money and headaches down the road.
During a discussion with a Music Row
On the Jazz &
Blues Beat . . .
By ROBERT
AUSTIN
BEALMEAR
By the time you read this, I'm sure we will
all have forgotten about the July-August heat
and are now complaining about the cold
weather.
It seems odd to me that all the jazz and
blues festivals around are summertime. Yeah,
I know the kids are out of school, people like
to travel, vacation and do festival type things
in the summer, but why not have an indoor
jazz festival in January or February? With the
right venue, it could be unique enough to actually
attract an audience.
There are some large events to look for
this fall. The Wright Music School at Middle
Tennessee State University begins its Jazz
Artists concert series with world-renowned
trumpeter and composer Tom Harrell on Nov.
2. Harrell's resume includes stints with Woody
Herman, Horace Silver, Phil Woods and dozens
of his own CDs on various labels. Harrell
will front the MTSU Jazz Ensemble I, a big
band playing his arrangements and featuring
saxophonist Don Aliquo.
The new Schermerhorn Center in downtown
Nashville opened in September to rave
reviews for its acoustics. (I'd like to hear the
musicians’ opinions.) Among the first jazz
events in the new hall was the Nashville Jazz
Orchestra with Annie Sellick. And a sold-out
house greeted the reunion of duo virtuosos
Chick Corea (piano) and Gary Burton (vibes).
Gary no doubt remembers his early years jamming
in Printers’ Alley with Hank Garland and
Boots Randolph, and recording in the Quonset
Hut on Music Row. Upcoming jazz events at
Schermerhorn include Dianne Reeves, Feb. 1,
2007, and Wynton Marsalis with the Lincoln
Center Jazz Orchestra, March 21, 2007.
Although no longer home to the Symphony,
The Tennessee Performing Arts Center
(TPAC) is still going strong. The
Smithsonian Jazz Orchestra appears there
Nov. 15, led by the legendary David Baker
(composer, historian, educator). The Nashville
Jazz Workshop (NJW) is co-sponsor of that
event. On Nov. 3, NJW will benefit from a
“Holiday Tasting” presented by Nashville
Wine & Spirits at Convent Place on 21st Avenue
South.
LEGAL TIPS
By
Marshall M. Snyder
Attorney - at - Law
private investigator, I learned that many
data-bases have information available that I
was frankly surprised was available to the
general public.
To quote him, “you just need to know
where to look to find out anything about
anyone.” Being that I questioned the validity
of finding such information easily, I
asked him to look up information on a person
that was involved in a legal matter that
I was working on. I was amazed that a criminal
background check showed that our person
in question had been arrested for passing
bad checks. This interested me greatly,
as it gave me a greater insight. Additionally,
we performed other searches and found that
our person had had a recent DUI and had a
revoked driver’s license.
Time and time again we learn the impor-
NJW continues its "Snap on 2 & 4" concert
series in their Jazz Cave on the second
and fourth Friday of every month. Watch for
guitarist Shawn Purcell in performance on Nov.
10, and the Lori Mechem Trio with guitarist
Andy Reiss on Dec. 15. A very special concert
featuring two solo sets by world-renowned pianist
Kenny Barron (Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz,
Sphere, etc.) will happen on Dec. 1. Details
on events, tickets, and evening classes are at
www.nashvillejazz.org
Some new jazz gigs include every Monday
and Thursday at Basil Asian Bistro (the
Pat Coil-Jim Ferguson Duo does Thursdays);
a trio at Chappy's Seafood Restaurant Thursday,
Friday, Saturday and Sunday brunches; a
trio at Scojo's Café on Fridays; jazz nights and
a Sunday jazz jam at Café Coco (watch the
newspapers); various groups at Whitfield's and
at Darfon's on Saturdays; and on Sundays at
Raz'z in Smyrna; various nights at the newly
expanded Ellendale's; and various nights at
Sambuca. Sadly, The Blue Bar ended its Sunday
modern jazz series hosted by Pat Coil.
On the blues scene, it's time for submissions
to the 2007 International Blues Challenge,
to be held in Memphis Feb. 1-3. The
Music City Blues Society sponsors a local contest
to select a band to represent Nashville. To
submit your band, or to join the party bus going
to the finals in Memphis, contact MCBS
as soon as possible at www.musiccityblues.org
Jam-wise, James "Nick" Nixon has moved
his Blues Jam to the Millennium Maxwell
House Hotel on the first and third Monday of
every month. Also check out the open jam at
Cragnacker's Bar & Grill in Hermitage every
Tuesday, sponsored by Superior Music. For a
weekly update of blues events around town,
call MCBS's Blues Hotline at 615-292-5222.
WMOT-FM Jazz89 held its fall fundraiser
in October, and I hope you all contributed to
this local treasure. Sundays in September featured
an hour of Afro-Cuban jazz hosted by
Latin piano legend Eddie Palmieri. “Jazz At
The Workshop” features NJW concerts by local
musicians, Sundays at 4 p.m. “JAZZ On
The Side” continues its series of music and
stories, Sundays at noon, including a special
holiday Halloween show called “Feets Don't
Fail Me Now” on Oct. 29. If you're traveling
to Memphis, you can now catch “JAZZ On
The Side” on WUMR The Jazz Lover
(91.7FM) on Sundays at 9 a.m.
And speaking of Memphis, next time
you're there, check out the Memphis Jazz Orchestra
every Sunday at 6 p.m. at a Beale Street
joint called Arnold's. The Knoxville Jazz Orchestra
is also going strong, go to
www.knoxjazz.org for their schedule of events.
And the Nashville Jazz Orchestra's schedule
is at www.nashvillejazzorchestra.com
If you want to see some amazing perfor-
tance of information and being informed.
Since hindsight is 20/20, researching a potential
co-writer, business partner or friend
on the front end will pay great dividends
later.
An example I like to use is to take a
person who is a great drummer. He joins a
group and learns that the lead singer wants
him to pay for the gas when they travel. He
will, of course, be reimbursed at a later date.
A few months go by and he has not received
payment. The drummer then uses an information
source and learns that the lead singer
owes child support and is behind several
months. To avoid jail, he uses every bit of
money he can acquire. Had our drummer
friend performed a search when first asked
to cover expenses, he would have saved
himself the money and the headache.
Background checks, background checks,
background checks. When entering into an
agreement, use a good source for a background
check. I have found that the T.B.I.
search for $29 (www.tbi.gov) is a great resource
for seeing if someone has a Tennessee
criminal record. If your party has lived
in other states, it is best to perform searches
in those states as well.
In a final note, as I stated earlier in this
article, I have used a great site called
www.BestOnlineDetective.com and for a
mances by jazz legends, filmed in Europe,
check out the new videos of the Buddy Rich
Orchestra (1978), Art Blakey & The Jazz
Messengers ('58), Dizzy Gillespie ('58 & '70),
Louis Armstrong ('59), Quincy Jones Orchestra
('60), Thelonious Monk ('66), Ella
Fitzgerald ('57 & '63), Count Basie Orchestra
('62), and Chet Baker ('64 & '79). For example,
the Blakey concert features the band that made
the classic "Moanin’" album, just a month after
its recording! Released on DVD, with all
proper royalties going to the artists and the
sidemen, the sound on most of these is quite
good. Check out the schedule of releases at
www.jazzicons.com
Recent CDs include "Thirty Years of
Stony Plain," a three-disc (CD & DVD) retrospective
of Canada's great blues label, Stony
Plain Records. The many classics include local
resident, Tracey Nelson, jazz organ great
Jimmy McGriff, and jazz-blues legend Jay
McShann explaining how he got the nickname
"Hootie"! Jazz vocalist and saxophonist Pattie
Cossentino has released "Invitation," featuring
great tunes with some of Nashville's finest
jazz cats. For details, go to
www.pattiecossentino.com Veteran L.A. tenor
man Pete Christlieb is featured on the new
"Live at the Jazz Workshop" with the Lori
Mechem Quartet; call 242-JAZZ.
Recent jazz passings include trumpet legend
Maynard Ferguson, a Canadian who
amazed everyone with his high note work on
the 1950 Stan Kenton band. Not just a high
note virtuoso, he was an excellent soloist on
trumpet and valve trombone, led a successful
big band for most of 50 years, and was a major
contributor to jazz education.
Tenor saxist Dewey Redman could play
inside or outside with equal force and was a
mainstay of the New York loft scene of the
’70's. Pianist Duke Jordan was one of the last
or the original beboppers, playing with
Coleman Hawkins ('46) and Charlie Parker
('47), but had been working in Europe the past
three decades. Also Piedmont blues guitarist
Etta Baker, Buck Page, original founder of the
Riders of the Purple Sage, and Rufus Harley,
the only man to play modern jazz on the bagpipes!
Local musicians were saddened at the
death of David Schnaufer, a virtuoso and historian
of the dulcimer. His passion for the
lowly dulcimer, an instrument with definite
roots in Tennessee, seriously increased its profile,
from recordings by Cindy Lauper to concerts
with the Nashville Chamber Orchestra.
David never heard a type of music he
didn't like, and his own recordings included
tunes by Charles Mingus and other jazzers.
Get out and celebrate our artists while they're
here. And so long, T. Bear, I hope you dug the
music.
minimal fee, you have access to background
resources when dealing with people you
don’t really know. Get informed and avoid
problems later.
(Marshall M. Snyder is a Music Row attorney
who can be contacted by e-mail -
marshall.snyder@earthlink.net - or by telephone
(615) 742-0833.)
Award-winning artists
to participate in music
fund raiser for children
Gibson Guitar, a Nashville-based instrument
firm, has donated four guitars to be
auctioned off at Music4TNKids’ Auction,
Nov. 2, in the Gibson Showcase cafe at Opry
Mills.
Guitars on the block to benefit the nonprofit
Music4TNKids, will be three
Epiphone acoustic guitars and one Gibson
Custom guitar signed by legendary artist Les
Paul.
Last year’s donation by the Nashvillebased
guitar maker, a Custom Shop Lucille
guitar signed by the legendary B.B. King,
was a highlight at the annual event. Live
music, great food and original art work –
guitar tops painted by juried artists and
signed by music legends – will round out a
fast-paced night ending in the signature live
auction.
Stars volunteering their time include
new Country Music Hall of Famer George
Strait, plus Faith Hill, Brooks & Dunn and
Wynonna. More than 20 artists will sign
original art work for auction, along with the
other donations.
Music4TNKids is a non-profit program
of the Tennessee Artist Guild, which
funds music education and art enrichment
programs for elementary children. The organization
was co-founded by Jeff and Kelly
Smagacz.
“Although we’re living in Music City,
music education for the next generation of
musicians is suffering,” said Smagacz,
Music4TNKids’ president. “In fact, according
to a recent study of the No Child Left
Behind Act by the Center on Education
Policy, most U.S. school districts have cut
time for music programs to make more time
for reading and math in elementary schools.
“Kelly and I were convinced that once
the leaders of the music industry knew that
our children were not being given the opportunity
to develop their talents, people
would get involved. Thanks to Gibson Guitars
and our other sponsors, we know that
this year we’ll be able to really invest in the
lives of future musicians.”
Since 2005, additional area businesses
have partnered with Music4TNKids, among
them Integration Management, Ergonomic
Concepts, Inca Molded Products, Advocate
Printing, Andrews Cadillac, Lyman
Davidson Dooley, Inc., Dr. Doug Nally
DDS, Lipman Brothers, Marry Rutland
Graphic Design, Batten & Shaw,
CornerStone Partners, and Music City Auction,
while national donors have included
the Guitar Center, Dippin’ Dots, and AXA
Advisors.
For further details on Music4TNKids’
programs or to donate to their worthy cause,
or this year’s auction, check out their
website at either www.music4TNKids.com
or music4TNkids@yahoo.com -- or by telephoning
organization President Jeff
Smagacz at (615) 289-4479.
Local’s holiday schedule
The Union offices will be closed
for the following holidays:
Veterans’ Day, Friday, Nov. 10
Thanksgiving, Nov. 23-24
Christmas-New Year’s, Dec. 25-
Jan. 1. Local 257 reopens Jan. 2, 2007.

8 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
Mr. Harold Bradley, President of the
Nashville Association of Musicians’ Local
257, is finally getting a little of the recognition
he so greatly deserves. On Saturday,
Aug. 19, the Country Music Hall of Fame
& Museum saluted Harold, celebrating the
Music City Session Players. This year he
is also being inducted into the Hall of Fame,
in the Recording and/or Touring Musician,
Active Prior to 1980 category. What a huge
honor! Harold is a humble man, a man of
truly great talent, wisdom, and experience,
one who represents you with great compassion
and kindness. He’s been a blessing to
this Local for many years, and we’re all so
very proud of him.
With an adjustment to our phone system,
calling our main line will get you a
personal, friendly greeting. That’s right,
personal. We’re now turning off the automated
system during business hours, and
directing your calls, per your request. It’s
been very well-received, and we’ll do our
best to maintain the communication during
our busier times of the year. Thanks for
letting us know it’s important to you.
Your 2007 Annual Membership Dues
are upon us. Your present membership card
will expire Dec. 31, 2006. To remain in
good standing, you should pay your full
membership on or before that date. Postcards
are being mailed to all active members,
notifying of all itemized amounts, due
Producer’s notice
All payments for recording sessions
are to be made through the office
of Local 257. Please be advised
that AFM may be notified of instances
where this is not done. In such
cases it could jeopardize and violate
the terms of your AFM Phonograph
Record Labor Agreement. Your recording
license with the AFM could
be subject to cancellation! Check with
us now.
CHANGE IN BENEFICIARY?
Be sure to report important
changes to the Union office!
Call (615) 244-9514
Please patronize
The Nashville Musician
Advertisers!
Member’s accounts payable
now via VISA or MasterCard
For the convenience of our
members, we now accept both
MasterCard and VISA credit
cards. For information, call
Billy Linneman, Secretary-
Treasurer, Tel: (615) 244-9514,
Ext. 224.
Office
Manager’s
Notes . . .
By Sherri
Dickerson
dates, late fees, etc. The 2007 regular membership
renewal rate is $204.00, and lifetime
members pay a reduced fee of $115.25.
The only increase this year is in the AFM.
Per Capita Dues amount. The Federation
charges each Local a set amount per member,
a small increase of $2.00 this year,
which we pay on a quarterly basis.
If you know of a member who has recently
passed away, please ask a family
member to contact us in regards to their
Funeral Benefit Fund. This fund is paid into
by all members, and has a benefit for any
active member at the time of their death.
The procedure is simple. As a new member,
please fill out the beneficiary card and
we’ll keep it on file. If you’ve been a member
for a while, it may be a good time to
review your listed beneficiary. You can fill
out a new card at any time. Upon the death
of a member, we’ll need an original statecertified
Death Certificate for our files.
Member must be in good standing, with all
dues and charges paid-to-date.
Thanks to Mr. Otto Bash, who graciously
performed the fall trimming of our
Ficus tree. Great job, Otto! I wish you, and
all our members, a very blessed holiday season.
[Note: The Office Manager can be
reached on line at Sherri@afm257.org or
by calling (615) 244-9514, Ext. 240.]
Carolyn Austin displays ribbon
won in official cooking bake-off.
Carolyn Austin
former Union
admin assistant
Carolyn Austin was not only Assistant
to the President, but she was handling the
Electronic Media Services Division
(EMSD) workload for Local 257 over 15
years ago, when we started editing The
Nashville Musician.
The lady’s incoming box appeared to be
bottomless, meaning Carolyn would often
burn the midnight oil to make sure people
got their checks in a timely manner, sometimes
working 15-hour days.
“I always wanted the musicians to know
that I was here for them, not merely to collect
their work dues,” confided Local 257
member Austin, in an earlier interview with
this reporter. “I genuinely enjoyed hearing
what it was they did, and to learn about them
and their families. I know whose wife was
sick or who was having a baby. I heard it all:
the good, the bad and the ugly. The members
were my children - and I’m gonna miss
them.”
Sadly, they will now miss Carolyn Totty
Austin, who some affectionately referred to
as “Mama.” She died on Aug. 24 at age 65.
Carolyn was the wife of Local 257 drummer-educator
Tony Austin for 45 years.
On St. Patrick’s Day 1995, when Carolyn
stepped down, her replacement was immediately
assigned an assistant. Today, Melissa
Hamby Meyer heads up this operation, with
an assist from four employees and a parttimer.
“Carolyn Austin retired March 17, after
20 years of dedicated service to our Local,”
stated President Harold Bradley, acknowledging
her tireless devotion to duty in 1995.
“Carolyn is a special person whose heart
went out to all of our musicians and their
families. I especially want to thank her for
the wonderful job she did for me as Assistant
to the President for the past four years.
We all want Carolyn and Tony to enjoy themselves
in retirement, although all of us will
miss the delectable food she so graciously
served to us on numerous occasions.”
Since 1989, Carolyn’s job was to run
EMSD and also Assistant to the President.
Prior to that her duties included scheduling
Music Performance Trust Fund shows and
various other tasks such as assisting members
at the reception window.
In our interview - after 20 years and a
day of service - she explained, “My primary
responsibility was to see that members got
paid for the work they did. For recordings,
which can emcompass demos, limited
pressings or masters; for all types of television
(shows), including network, public television,
pay television, cable television; for
whatever they do, there’s a scale for that particular
type of work. If it’s not a ‘live’ performance
and it’s recorded in any shape, form
or fashion, then it goes to the Electronic
Media Services Division.”
As Nashville’s contract supervisor, Austin
had different regulations to comply with:
“The federal government says here are our
guidelines, then the Federation has its rules,
and Local 257 has its rules.”
Carolyn’s duties as Assistant to the President
included dealing with prospective signatories
who wanted to engage musicians for
projects: “I would explain the difference between
union and non-union. A lot of them
don’t know what’s happening, so I tried to
be helpful and tell them.”
She remembered, too, that there were a
number of unscrupulous types arranging recording
sessions, who “come in and talk to
me and though they don’t mean to, they give
themselves away with every word they
speak. Those people are not concerned about
paying a fair share for the musicians’ talents,
they’re only interested n lining their own
pockets. They may have a huge budget for a
recording session - and I mean big bucks -
but the musicans are the cheapest part of that
package. In some instances, my guys won’t
even be a tenth of it.”
Carolyn admitted that dealing with both
sides - session producers and musicians - required
real diplomacy: “Sometimes it was
like walking on egg-shells.”
Despite a heavy workload, she would
bake “goodies” for the office staff or anyone
who wanted a taste until the plates were emptied.
It was in 1975 that then-President
Johnny DeGeorge, a neighbor of the Austins,
called to see if Carolyn would be available
for temporary work at the Local?
“I had a plumbing bill staring at me for
$400 and I didn’t know how we were going
to get the extra money to pay that. Then
Johnny called and asked me to work two
weeks to fill in,” she smiled. “Until that time
I had been tending kids before and after
school, doing arts and crafts for fairs and
Carolyn with her pet Katie Mae.
sewing for people in order to send my children
to private school.”
When DeGeorge realized what a great
worker she was, her duties expanded to full
time, which included working with the
Local’s bookkeeper, Gertrude (Gertie)
DeGeorge, the president’s wife: “There was
no actual job description that we followed,
and for a long time we could basically interchange.
That was good if someone was
out sick or on vacation.”
After DeGeorge departed, she continued
working with subsequent presidents,
Jay Collins and Harold Bradley, each of
whom she noted had different styles. Being
on the job for two decades she saw a lot
of changes, including moving into the
Local’s own building at 11 Music Circle
North, after being located at 1806 Division
Street just off Music Row.
“Of course, the Opryland complex was
just getting going and when they started The
Nashville Network (TNN) in 1983, it created
even more contracts for us. And the
face of the Row has really changed so . . .”
She said her personal musical preferences
ran the gamut: “I love everything
from toe-tapping bluegrass to the Nashville
Symphony and anything in between . . .”
Among her favorite artists were pianist
Floyd Cramer, crooner George Morgan and
folk favorite John Hartford, all of whom she
got to know. She shared a humorous incident
with us concerning Cramer: “The first
time he ever came into the building after I
started working, I was eating a sandwich
and had just taken a bite. When I looked up
and saw Floyd Cramer, I swallowed, but it
just hung there. Here I am choking to death
and everybody in the office is laughing so
hard, nobody thought to pat me on the back
so I could breathe. How I got that bite of
food back up, I’ll never know. I remember
thinking, ‘Lord, help me!’ and then I
thought I must have been blue in the face
and I wasn’t pretty! When I asked him if I
could have his autograph, he said, ‘Sure.’
Then I pulled up about 15 albums I’d been
saving for him to sign!”
Carolyn Totty was born in Memphis,
daughter of D.A. and Ida Totty. She grew
up there, then moved to Chester County,
where she graduated from Chester County
High School in 1959. She later attended
Freed Hardeman College. Tony and Carolyn
were wed in June 1961.
Since 1966, Tony, who was also a
schoolteacher, and his wife, who sang and
played piano, had lived in the Nashville
area. A member of the Bellevue Baptist
Church, Carolyn enjoyed helping several
area organizations with whatever their
needs were, such as baking, cooking and
sewing, at which she excelled.
According to longtime friend Otto
Bash, today the Local’s Sergeant-At-Arms,
Carolyn was a “giving of herself soul.” He
said she collected labels from soup cans
which helped funding for elementary school
playground equipment, and also aluminum
(Continued on page 9)

October-December 2006 The Nashville Musician 9
Bluegrass award winners and participants in the 2006
IBMA meeting --All pictures by Patricia Presley -- see
page 14 for story and additional Presley photographs.
Members of the U.S. Navy Band perform at 2006 IBMA Awards broadcast in the Grand Ole Opry House.
Dixie and Tom T. Hall help honor IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year Tim O’Brien.
Members of The Lewis Family assemble after being named to the Bluegrass Hall of Honor.
(Also inducted into the Hall is the late Syd Nathan, founder of King Records.)
Alecia Nugent and band entertain attendees at the IBMA awards show in Nashville, Sept. 28.
New act The Grascals score an upset winning coveted Entertainer of the Year statuette.
Ricky Skaggs greets labelmate Pop Cherryholmes.
Marty Stuart, above with Bobby Osborne, hosts
17th annual IBMA Bluegrass Awards show.
Bluegrass Hall of Honor, 2006
The Lewis Family
Sydney Nathan
. . . Austin, Local 257 member
(Continued from page 8)
cans to raise money for the Humane
Society’s efforts on behalf of animals. Bash
had also pointed out, “Each year, Carolyn
would win six or seven blue ribbons at the
State Fair for her cooking and baking. She’s
that good.”
When she departed the Local to stay at
home, Carolyn set a goal of completing 16
quilts, which would be her legacy to loved
ones: “These are queen-sized, mind you.
But it’s a very creative process - and a great
stress reliever.”
Besides her husband Tony Austin, sur-
Mac Wiseman conducts IBMA business panel.
Veteran bluegrassers (from left) Everett
Lilly, Jesse McReynolds and Curly
Sechler at 2006 IBMA meet.
vivors include their sons, Mark of Nashville,
Scott, who was stationed in Iraq at the time
of her death, and Steve of Fort Knox, Ky.;
mother Ida Totty of Collierville, Tenn.; sister
Christine Coble of Searcy, Ark.; brothers
Doug and Bud Totty of Memphis; grandchildren
Tyler Scott and Coltin Andrew; and
her mother-in-law Odessa Austin of
Henderson, Tenn.
The Johnson Funeral Home of
Henderson, Tenn., was in charge of arrangements.
Services were held on Aug. 26 at
Bellevue Baptist Church with Dr. Mike
Shelton officiating. Interment followed in
Henderson City Cemetery, Henderson.
- Walt Trott
Marking the late Jan Brock’s birthday at Local 257 were (from left) office staffers
Beverly Jordan, Carol Hardin, Jan, Carolyn and Tammy Daugherty in an old photo.

10 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
I would like to begin by extending my sincere
congratulations to Harold Bradley on the
recent announcement of his induction into the
Country Music Hall of Fame! What an honor!
It does not seem possible that Fall is already
upon us and that 2006 is quickly coming to a
close. With the holidays speedily approaching,
let us remember to make time each day to give
thanks for the abundance of blessings around
us.
Signatory Renewals
The Sound Recording Labor Agreement
(Master/Low Budget) is still in the midst of
some negotiation. The signatory agreement,
which expired January 31st, 2006, and scales
continue to be extended and will remain in effect
until a Memorandum of Understanding is
signed. Please check with the Recording Department
periodically for any available updates.
Local 257’s Limited Pressing Agreement
began a new term on February 1, 2006. The
2006-2009 Agreement was sent out the first
of the year to existing signatories for renewal.
If you have not yet renewed your agreement
and have done any sessions since February 1st
or intend to do so, please forward a signed
agreement to us as soon as possible. If you need
a copy of the current agreement, or scales, you
can download a copy from our website
(www.afm257.org) or email a request to
christie@afm257.org
Signatory…Pension…SPF…
It is vital that you confirm signatory status
prior to your session! Without the appropriate
signatory agreement on file, you cannot get
credit for pension contributions that are made
to the Fund and would not receive SPF credit
for eligible sessions, even when your wages
have been paid. It is the Leader and/or
Contractor’s responsibility to ensure that the
proper signatory paperwork is obtained prior
to downbeat. Any session that does not have a
current signatory in effect at the time your session
begins is considered a non-union session.
If the appropriate agreement is not in place
to cover an employer’s session(s), the employer
will receive written notification from
the Pension Fund and/or Local when they make
contributions that cannot be fully processed.
If an employer calls you regarding any
notice(s) they may receive, please contact your
Recording Department for guidance in how to
resolve the issue. If the necessary Signatory
agreement cannot be secured, your pension
contribution may ultimately be returned by the
Fund!
This department spends an inordinate
amount of time securing signatory after the
fact! We dedicate a great deal of time to clean
up what should have been taken care of before
your session. This is a tremendous drain on
personnel hours that should and could be dedicated
elsewhere. It is in your best interest to
confirm signatory status! This is your pension!
This is your SPF! This affects your
future!Time Cards
It is the Leader/Contractor’s responsibility
to have a time card completed at a session.
Time cards are unique to our jurisdiction and
are the property of Local 257. They should be
turned in to the Local immediately following
your session(s).
Pension & SPF Statements
SRSPF (Sound Recording Special Payments
Fund) Annual Statements were mailed
out this summer and Pension Fund Annual
Statements are mailed in October. Any engagements
listed on these statements are for contributions
that were received and fully processed,
prior to a Fund’s fiscal cut-off, for work
that was done during that calendar year. Any
Electronic
Media
Services
Division
By Melissa
Hamby Meyer
contributions received or fully processed after
a cut-off date, would be included on the
next annual statement. It is your responsibility
to cross-reference your annual Pension
Fund and SRSPF statements to confirm you
have received the appropriate contribution and
credit for the work you have performed.
Agreement Ratification
The new CMT agreement has officially
been ratified. The negotiation of this agreement
included a series of wage increases, as
well as an increase in the pension contribution.
Thank you to those who cast a ballot and
participated in this process.
The newly-negotiated OPRY LIVE agreement
is in the ratification process. You may
be eligible to participate in this process if you
have provided services under this agreement.
If you have met the wage requirement and receive
a ballot letter in the mail, please be sure
to cast your vote.
GAC
It is imperative that you contact this Local,
or the AFM, prior to doing any work for
GAC (other than OPRY LIVE). All programs
for GAC are being handled on an individual
basis. You must contact this Local, or the
AFM, ahead of time to ensure that your services
will be covered.
As a reminder, any work done outside of
our jurisdiction should be filed with and
handled by the Local that has jurisdiction. We
will be happy to provide you with the appropriate
Local’s contact information.
Your Recording Department staff is an extremely
dedicated team, which takes great
pride in their work. Their diligent efforts have
given us the opportunity to make great strides
in the last few months. I am extremely thankful
for each one of them. Together, we can
accomplish great things! I hope you find great
joy this holiday season…May you be richly
blessed!
**Review the Do Not Work For and Non-
Signatory Lists in each edition. If you have
worked for one of these employers, you may
have unsecured pension or SPF credit.**
Actors Equity’s PatrickQuinn
Patrick Quinn, 56, Executive Director
and former President of Actors’ Equity Association
in New York City, died Sept. 24
from a heart attack. An actor and activist,
who marched in support of AFM New York
City Local 802’s strike on Broadway in
2003, Quinn began his equity career in
1970. Actor Quinn made his Broadway bow
in Zero Mostel’s revival of “A Fiddler On
the Roof,” and appeared in such Great
White Way productions as “A Class Act,”
“Lend Me a Tenor” and a revival of “The
Sound Of Music.” In memory of Mr. Quinn,
donations may be made to the Actors Equity
Foundation, BC/EFA, or the Actors’
Fund of America.
Singer Don Walser , a diabetic, dies
Austin singer-musician-songwriter Don
Walser, 72, died Sept. 20 at home, due to complications
from diabetes.
The Texas-born artist came to performing
late in life, after having been an accountant
in the National Guard.
During the late 1980s, he formed the Pure
Texas Band, and at age 56 gained attention
performing traditional tunes in Austin In ’94,
Walser signed with Watermelon Records, and
released a highly-acclaimed country album
“Rolling Stone From Texas,” produced by Ray
Benson of the iconic Asleep At the Wheel.
Do not work for . . .
Audio Media Group/Todd McCoig (outstanding contract/limited
pressing sig)
Chez Musical/Sanchez Harley (outstanding contracts)
Compass Productions/Alan Phillips/David
Schneiderman (outstanding contracts)
Field Entertainment Group/Joe Field (outstanding
contract)
Hot Skillet/Lee Gibson (outstanding contract/limited
pressing sig)
Mark Hybner (outstanding contract)
J.C. Anderson (pension)
Rory Lee Feek/Giant Slayer (outstanding contract)
Jack Wilcox (outstanding contract)
Katana Productions/Duwayne “Dada” Mills (outstanding
contract)
Kenny Lamb (outstanding contract)
MC Productions/Mark Cheney (outstanding contract)
MCK Publishing/Rusty Tabor (outstanding contract)
Miss Ivy Records/Bekka Bramlett (outstanding upgrades)
O Street Mansion (pension)
On The Green/Kevin Beamish (outsanding contracts)
Renaissance Music Group/Deborah Allen (outstanding
contracts)
Rust Recods/Michelle Metzger (outstanding contract)
RichDor Music/Keith Brown (outstanding contract)
Sam Hogin Songs (outstanding contract)
Sleepy Town/David Lowe (outstanding contract)
Songwriters Collective (outstanding contract)
Tony Graham (pension)
Two Monkeys (outstanding contracts)
Village Square (pension)
Eddie Wenrick (outstanding conract)
Baldwin Entertainment (pension)
Copyright.net (outstanding contracts)
Earthtone Publishing/Roy English (outstanding
contract)
Fat Possum/Bruce Watson (outstanding contract)
Home Records/David Vowell (outstanding
contracts)
Jeff Tuttle (outstanding contract)
Marty McIntosh (outstanding contract)
Multi-Media (outstanding contract)
Notation Music (outstanding contract)
Over the Moon Prod./Rick Scott Prod. (outstanding
contract)
Raven Records/Coy Ray (outstanding contract)
Rendale Music (outstanding contracts)
Rick Tunes (outstanding contract)
Roxanne Entertainment (outstanding contract)
RPB Productions/Coy Ray (outstanding pension &
phono signatory)
Sean Ruth (outstanding contract)
Sunbird (outstanding contracts)
Thrillstreet/Jerry Parent (outstanding contract)
Century Music/Art Ward (outstanding contracts)
Golden Vine/Darrell Freeman (outstanding contract)
Kyle Jacobs (outstanding contract)
Labeless Records/Coy Ray (outstanding pension)
------------------------------------------------------------
Amentco (American Entertainment Concepts/Ron
Camacho)
ARK 21
Bait & Tackle (pension)
Bernie Nelson (Heatherington)
Don Goodman Music (payment/pension)
Garland Entertainment (Warren Garland)
James House Productions (outstanding contracts)
Jeff Best/Clever Cowboy (payment/ pension)
John Bunzow (pension)
John Kevin Mulkey (DWM)
K.A.R.E., Inc.
Larry Rose (Entheos Group)
Les Ladd (pension)
Margaret Bell-Byers (pension)
Maximus (outstanding contract)
Mooneyhand Pictures (Wayne Mooneyhand)
Music Row Records/Gene Cash (outstanding c o n -
tract)
Nancy Grant
On Purpose Prod. (pension)
Pat Reese, Music Media Int’l.
Pinebrook (pension)
Radio Records/J. Gary Smith (outstanding contract)
Randy Huston (Dr. Vet Music)
Revelator/Gregg Brown (outstanding contract)
Rio Star
River Girl, Inc.
Roy Salmond, Whitewater Prod.
Tom Oelson (pension)
Tyler Music Group (pension)
Volzone Prod./Gary Lloyd
William R. Holmes (outstanding contract)
Wyndstar (pension)
AFM’s non-signatory agents
The following companies or individuals are not signatory
to the AFM Agreements; therefore, do not
work for those listed below, without first checking
with the President (615-244-9514):
Recent additions:
KJ Entertainment (limited pressing)
Mark Moffatt (limited pressing)
Ronald Light (limited pressing)
Sawyer Brown (limited pressing)
Wilkinson Audio (limited pressing)
Domination Records LLC (Limited Pressing)
Kurt A. Coble (Limited Pressing)
Point To Point LLC (Limited Pressing)
Sammy Harp Productions (Limited Pressing)
Sing Sound Inc. & Chariscourt, Ltd. (Phono)
Wade Spencer Ministries, Inc. (Phono)
------------------------------------------------------------
Christopher Mortland (limited pressing)
Cottageworks/Betsy Foster (limited pressing)
44 West/Mike Welch (limited pressing)
Francis X. Sullivan
Jason Kerr Ministries - Don Goodman
J. Carlos (limited pressing)
Lance Productions (limited pressing)
Madacy Music Publishing (limited pressing)
One G Productions (limited pressing)
Peer Music (limited pressing)
Roxanne Entertainment
Taylor Productions (limited pressing)
---------------------------------------------------------
TBN, Paul Crouch (Phono/Video)
Campfire Records
CD Records/Charles Calello
Chapel Music Group
MTL Limited
LaToya Jackson & Jack Gordon
Westwood One
Ci-Ber Records International
Worldwide Agency
Important notice to members
Members do not perform with nonmembers.
If in doubt, call (615) 244-9514.
Substance abuse problem?
Need to talk?
Please call:
Bobby Kent, LADAC
Licensed Alcohol & Drug Abuse Counselor
(615) 300-0036
30-year member of Locals 802/257
ALL CALLS ARE CONFIDENTIAL
. . . Slatkin new Music Advisor
(Continued from page 2)
director of the National Conducting Institute,
and he initiated and developed the St.
Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra, which
are indicative of his dedication to arts education
for youth.
Among his highest honors are the 2003
National Medal of the Arts, ASCAP awards
(while with both the National and St. Louis
symphonies) and an Honorary Doctorate
from his alma mater The Juilliard School
of Music.
Slatkin’s selection here was approved
unanimously by the Music Director Search
Committee. Meanwhile, NSO continues its
search for a Music Director, the position
held by Kenneth Schermerhorn until his untimely
death, April 18, 2005.
The Music Advisor’s present duties include
programming NSO’s upcoming concert
seasons, selecting guest artists and conductors,
and assisting in musician auditions.
Of course, he will also lead NSO in the ongoing
American Classics recordings for
Naxos, plus additional projects with the
Symphony during his tenure.
The Maestro looks forward to
Corigliano’s Dylan Thomas Trilogy, scheduled
in 2007.
Valentine pointed out that a Naxos CD
by composer Joan Tower with Slatkin on
the podium was their first major project,
adding, “There is a palpable chemistry between
Leonard and the musicians, and given
the Nashville Symphony’s longtime focus
on American music, and Slatkin’s reputation
as one of the greatest interpreters of
American music, I am confident this relationship
will produce many exciting recordings
and performances.”

October-December 2006 The Nashville Musician 11
‘Nashville Cat’ Harold Bradley hailed, as he receives AFM’s Lifetime Achievement
Among the crowd cheering Harold Bradley on as a Nashville Cat, Aug. 19, was wife Eleanor Bradley.
Yet another guitar legend Duane Eddy applauds Harold’s on and off stage achievements.
Harold was particularly pleased to see among the faces, favorite niece Patsy Bradley, a BMI executive.
It was a must-see event for Harold’s buddy Bob Tubert, the songwriter responsible for
such classic cuts as the Sonny James #1 single ‘You’re the Only World I Know.’
(See additional pictures from the Nashville Cats event on pages 1, 3 and 4.)
AFM bossman Tom Lee attends with helpmate Teresa, longtime Local 257 member and former staffer.
Harold discusses pickin’ styles with session’s
moderator Bill Lloyd, host of Nashville Cats.
Digital Photos
by
Walt Trott
Harold offers audience a sampling of his playing
during the Nashville Cats session in the intimate
setting of the Country Music Hall of Fame &
Museum’s Ford Theater downtown.
After the Nashville Cats presentation in the Ford Theater, Harold sat in the
gift shop where he obliges an eager fan with an autograph on her hat.
Not only did Harold perform for a packed house at the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Ford Theater,
but he also attracted a long line of autograph seekers in the Hall’s nearby gift shop.

12 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
AFL/CIO President John Sweeney (center) speaks out against NLRB efforts to restrict unions.
Nashville musicians participating (left to right) were G.R. Davis, tuba; Bill Huber, trombone;
David Balph, trumpet; Marty Crum, banjo; Jerry Vinett, clarinet; and Ray Vonrotz, drum.
Local 257 players join fellow union workers
A labor rally to protest the Oct. 3 National Labor Relations Board decision affecting who can
join a union, was held noon Friday the 13th of October at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. Some
250 persons demonstrated displeasure with the Republican-dominated NLRB’s ruling that in
essence could deprive more than nine million workers of union representation. John Sweeney,
president of the National AFL-CIO, strongly denounced the NLRB decisions, vowing to lead
opposition against the labor board rulings.
According to Maura Lee, Co-Chair of Middle Tennessee Jobs With Justice, “The rally was
decided upon very quickly, about a week ago. We wanted to do something while President Sweeney
was in town . . .”
For the uninformed, NLRB decided three cases, collectively known as Kentucky River, with
the first case involving Oakwood Healthcare, Inc., creating a new definition of supervisor. Voting
along party lines, the board members trashed long-time federal labor laws protecting workers’
rights to form unions, and cleared the way for management to re-classify millions of laborers
as supervisors. (Under federal law supervisors are prohibited from initiating unions.)
Members of Local 257, led by Secretary-Treasurer Billy Linneman, attended the rally in a
show of solidarity. The event was coordinated by Middle Tennessee Jobs With Justice, The Nashville
Peace & Justice Center, Service Employees International Union Local 205, International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 428, and the United Steelworkers. AFL/CIO National
Organization Director Stewart Acuff, a Tennessee native, was also here to witness a coffin being
carried by workers, signifying the death of workers’ rights.
NLRB representatives were present, and spoke wih President Sweeney and other ralliers.
Maura Lee especially welcomed the participation of the Nashville Association of Musicians,
noting, “We would love to broaden our coalition and individuals who would like to get involved
with our labor-friendly organization, can call me for information. The telephone number is (615)
227-5070, Ext. 23.” - WT
Local 257’s Huber (from left), Balph, Vinett, Crum, Vonrotz and Davis aid in New Orleans-style funeral.
The coffin for the ‘funeral’ represents the demise of workers’ rights, as decided by recent NLRB ruling.
Eddie Bryan, secretary-treasurer, TN AFL-CIO; Lindsay (Jerry) Lee, president, TN AFL-CIO; John
Sweeney, and Local 257’s own Billy Linneman lend their support to the Oct. 13 Rally.
Workers get their point across in protesting the recent NLRB rulings to weaken the labor movement.
Digital Photos by Kathy Shepard
Local 257’s Secretary-Treasurer Billy Linneman (with sign) helps protest NLRB decisions.

October-December 2006 The Nashville Musician 13
Local 257’s Jack Logan succumbs at age 78
Steel guitarist and renowned recording
engineer Jack Dale Logan, 78, died of pneumonia
at Vanderbilt Medical Center, July
24. A former co-owner of Music City Recorders
Studio in Nashville, Logan had undergone
recent heart surgeries.
“He was a good man, a good father and
a good husband,” says widow Freeda Logan,
a retired nurse. “He was much loved
by all his family.”
Logan was both a touring band member
and session player for such acts as Lonzo
& Oscar, Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw
Hawkins, and was brother to former Jim
Reeves’ Blue Boy bandsman Bud Logan,
who produced such artists as John Conlee
and Wilma Burgess, with whom he recorded
a Top 20 duet “Wake Me Into Love.”
Jack’s son Steve Logan worked sideby-side
with dad in his various studios, including
The Fireside, which Jack designed
and built for Porter Wagoner, and where
many of the RCA artist’s hits were recorded,
along with his Dolly Parton duets. Steve,
who played drums and steel, was also a
bandsman for such notables as George
Morgan, Stonewall Jackson, John Conlee,
Justin Tubb and Johnny Cash.
Jack Logan engineered numerous hit
songs by other artists, as well, including
Conlee, Jim Reeves, Little Jimmy Dickens,
Mel Tillis, Sonny James and Marty Robbins.
He also wrote the novelty number “Herdin’
Cattle in an Air-Conditioned Coupe
DeVille” for Stringbean (Dave Akeman).
Early in his career, Jack succeeded
sideman Cousin Jody with Lonzo & Oscar,
and in addition to playing steel guitar also
adopted the comedy character Cousin
Luther.
“Early on, Dad also played backup for
Hank Williams, Sr. and Elvis Presley,” notes
Steve, who today lives in Harrisburg, Ill,
where he writes and performs Christian
music with wife Shary.
“He really enjoyed working in the studio.
The time when he learned the craft, they
put everything all down at once, before
multi-track recording came along. I remem-
Jack Logan
ber that he always strived for a natural sound
. . . he probably wouldn’t fit in too well today
with all the extra gimmicks they use.
But he had grown hard of hearing in later
years anyway.”
Jack’s daughter Shirl recalled that her
dad “had a good ear for the music, and the
way it should sound . . . he recorded some
of the biggest names in the business, and he
was instrumental in helping to create some
great sounds. He was also quite a character,
a very colorful guy, larger than life. Dad is
going to be greatly missed.”
Jack Logan was a 3rd Degree Mason at
Lodge #560, and Lifetime Member of AFM
Nashville Local 257.
Besides his daughter and son, he is survived
by Freeda (Ervin) Logan, his wife of
54 years; brother Ira (Bud) Logan; sisters
Charlotte Tate and Shirley Romonosky; and
grandchildren Tyler, Hannah, Ira and Matthew.
Mr. Logan’s services were conducted
at Forest Lawn Chapel in Goodlettsville,
with Brother Dallas Frazier officiating.
Friend John Conlee sang, with added support
from Steve and Bud Logan.
- Walt Trott
Uncle Dave Macon Heritage Award for Rhonda Vincent
Bluegrass Queen Rhonda Vincent, above
displaying her Uncle Dave Macon Days’
Heritage Award, while surrounded by the
Murfreesboro Cloggers, at Cannonsburgh
Village’s annual summer festival saluting
the pioneer Opry performer. (Tennessee
banjoist Macon died in 1952). Though Local
257’s Vincent, 44, hails from a younger
generation, she qualifies, having made her
performing debut at age 3 with her family’s
Music Performance Fund
needs sponsors . . .
For details,
call Kathy Shepard
(615) 244-9514, Ext. 239
Sally Mountain Show in her native Missouri.
Honored, too, was 99-year-old country
music pioneer James Buchanan, who was
immortalized via Mrs. Howard (Ruth)
White’s acclaimed biography “The Original
Goober” (Nova Books, Nashville, 2004).
- Photo by Patricia Presley.
Melody Writers!!
Clever titles, lucrative lyrics
await matching music. ASCAP
writer will give you 75-25 split if
you do leg-work. Expenses 50-50.
(757) 481-7792.
eric.stevens8@verizon.net
OUR READERS WRITE . . .
Dear Editor:
I have been intending to get this to you
since I received a copy of the April-June
2006 issue of The Nashville Musician,
which my good friend Les Leverett had sent
to me.
I always enjoy reading The Nashville
Musician and read every page from cover
to cover. I want to compliment you on your
work in the newspaper, and most especially
of the articles on Gordon Terry, Cindy
Walker and Buck Owens, all of whom were
good friends of mine. The content of these
(obituaries) revealed a lot of research on
your part, and I want ;you to know it was
greatly appreciated.
A few years ago, I was in Local 257’s
office visiting (former employee) Phyllis
Hill and happened to mention to President
Harold Bradley that I had been a member
of the AFM for over 50 years, and he asked
me where my 50-year pin was?
I said I didn’t know anything about a
50-year pin, and he went to the computer
and said, “You sure have been a member
for over 50 years,” and told me I would have
to go to the officers of my Local 75 in Des
Moines, Iowa, and they would get it for me
- and they did.
By now I have been a member for 60
years, having joined in the md-1940s in San
Diego, Calif. If there is any way I could get
a subscription to The Nashville Musician, I
would be glad to do so, as I really enjoy it,
since I have worked with and booked all
the older artists from the 1950s through the
1990s. Keep up the good work.
Sincerely,
Donald C. Smith
a.k.a. Smokey Smith
Des Moines, Iowa
MusiCares for Music People
Financial Assistance and Addiction Recovery Services
for music people in medical, financial or personal crisis.
Call toll free for information:
East: 1.877.303.6962
South: 1.877.626.2748
West: 1.800.687.4227
MAP Fund - Addiction Recovery:
1.888.627.6271
Happy
musicares.com
Insignia pin reminder
All members who may be eligible
for 25-year or 50-year membership
insignia pins, should notify
our office for assistance. Call
(615) 244-9514, Ext. 224.
Holidays!
Dear Walt Trott:
I just want to thank you for the nice article
on Emory (Martin) in The Nashville
Musician newspaper and Country Music
People magazine (in the UK). They were
both good articles and really appreciated.
They sure brought back memories, along
with the article about Hal and Velma Smith.
When I was 15 years old, I worked with a
girl band on WGST-Atlanta, worked package
shows with Pop Eckler, Jimmy Smith
(then his wife was Bonnie Jones, who
worked with our band), and also Uncle Ned.
This was in 1941.
Johnny (Wright) and Kitty (Wells) came
up for Emory’s funeral. They are special
friends. Emory will be missed. We were
married 62 years. Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Linda Lou Martin
Mt. Vernon, Ky.
Dear Walt:
Thank you so much for the newspaper.
Your thoughtfulness is very appreciated.
The articles (on Danny Patton, Billy Walker
and Charles Lilly) were well-written.
Thanks again.
God bless,
Teryl Peterson
Franklin, Tenn.
(Send your Letter to the Editor c/o The
Nashville Musician, P.O. Box 120399,
Nashville TN 37212. All letters subject to
editing in the interest of space and clarity.)
Centenarian Corrine Osborn,
a classical violinist, educator
Violinist Corrine Kirchmaier Osborn,
oldest member of the Nashville Association
of Musicians AFM Local 257, died Sept.
22, at Carlyle Place in Bedford, N.H. She
was 101 years old.
Born Feb. 12, 1905 to Georgia
(Cauthran) and Wesley Hull in Parkersburg,
W. Va., Corrine Hull attended schools in that
area, and later became a member of the Cincinnati
(Ohio) Conservatory of Music.
A highly accomplished violinist, Mrs.
Osborn was also a member of both the Cincinnati
Symphony Orchestra, and the Nashville
Symphony Orchestra. Mrs. Osborn had
taught violin herself at Sullins College in
Bristol, Va.
She was a member of Sigma Alpha Iota
Musical Society and of the Daughters of the
American Revolution. The former Corrine
Kirchmaier joined Nashville’s Local 257 on
Aug. 29, 1950.
A communicant of Grace Episcopal
Church in Manchester, N.H., she had resided
in Bedford for the past three years, and before
that lived in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Her first husband Carl Theodore
Kirchmaier died in 1981; and she later married
Leslie A. Osborn, who died in 1996.
Funeral arrangements were conducted by
Davis Funeral Home in Nashua, N.H. Survivors
include a son, Thomas W. Kirchmaier
of Manchester, N.H.; four grandchildren;
nine great-grandchildren; and seven greatgreat-grandchildren.
Memorial donations
may be made in her name to the American
Cancer Society, 30 Speen St., Framingham,
Mass. 01701.

14 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
King of the Dobro
Ex- Foggy Mountain Boy Josh Graves dies
Josh Graves
Three days after his birthday, dynamic
dobro master Uncle Josh Graves died Sept.
30 in Nashville’s Skyline Medical Center,
following a long illness. He had suffered the
loss of both limbs earlier, as a result of circulatory
problems.
The International Bluegrass Music Association
(IBMA) Hall of Honor member
(1997) had performed with such acclaimed
acts as Flatt & Scruggs’ Foggy Mountain
Boys, Mac Wiseman’s Country Boys, and
Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper’s Clinch
Mountain Clan.
A Lifetime Member of Nashville Association
of Musicians’ AFM Local 257, Josh
helped in defining bluegrass music, while
reviving interest in the dobro which first
found favor in the 1920s. His energetic
pickin’ style, including banjo-style finger
rolls and bluesy lead lines, influenced such
latter-day players as Jerry Douglas.
Graves’ performance on Sugar Hill’s
1994 set “The Great Dobro Sessions” earned
the IBMA Record Event of the Year award.
Another highly-acclaimed album, “Josh
Graves, Sultan of Slide,” was co-produced
for OMS Records by Hugh Moore & Billy
Troy (Josh’s son) in 2000.
Another son Josh Jr. once performed with
the Nashville-based rock group Ronny &
The Daytonas, scoring in 1964 with the pop
Top Five Billboard single “Little GTO,”
before becoming a Hendersonville, Tenn.,
policeman.
Burkett Howard (Buck) Graves was
born Sept. 27, 1927 (although some report
it as 1925) in Tellico Plains, Tenn., to
Elizabeth and Troy Graves.
At age 9, he heard and was inspired by
Cliff Carlisle playing the dobro while performing
Jimmie Rodgers’ songs. Later, he
and Cliff became close friends, and Josh
called his 1927 model dobro “Cliff” in tribute
to his mentor. Other instrumentalists who
influenced him later included George
(Speedy) Krise and Earl Scruggs.
In 1942, Graves began playing bass in
the Pierce Brothers band at Gatlinburg,
Tenn.; and by the late 1940s, while performing
with Esco Hankins’ band, recorded for
King Records. During his tenure with Wilma
Lee & Stoney Cooper he appeared on
WWVA’s Wheeling Jamboree broadcasts,
and later played WSM’s Grand Ole Opry
as a member of Flatt & Scruggs.
From 1955 thru 1969, Josh played dobro
with Flatt & Scruggs’ Foggy Mountain
Boys. After the duo split, he joined Lester
Flatt’s Nashville Grass band until ’71, but
also did sessions in the studio, supporting
such artists as Kris Kristofferson, Ferlin
Husky, Johnny Cash, Charlie McCoy and J.
J. Cale. Then after bowing out of Flatt’s unit,
Josh went with the Earl Scruggs Revue, re-
maining until 1974.
Although Graves went solo in 1974, he
soon linked up with fiddler Kenny Baker to
tour and record. The Uncle Josh and Cousin
Jake Tullock album “Just Joshing” (1975),
represented a reuniting of the Foggy Mountain
Boys, the two who had provided comic
relief for concert audiences. Come 1989,
Josh and Kenny also toured with fellow instrumentalists
Eddie Adcock and Jesse
McReynolds as The Masters.
Among Graves’ albums are “Alone At
Last” (Epic Records, 1974); “Same Old
Blues” (CMH, 1978), “Sing Away the Pain”
(with Vassar Clements, CMH, 1979) and
“King of the Dobro” (CMH, 1982). A collaborative
album with Bobby Smith, “Sweet
Sunny South” (CMH, 1978), also featured
The Boys From Shiloh and Benny Martin.
Graves’ sense of humor and faith - he
wrote "Come Walk With Me" - helped
him through a long and costly illness. Reportedly
the musician joshed that he expected
it would cost him “an arm and a
leg” to go in the hospital (financially
speaking), “but this is ridiculous (referring
to his amputations, actually done at
different times).” Despite his great losses,
he smiled and said he would play again:
“They didn’t operate on my hands . . . I
won’t quit.”
Survivors include his wife of 61 years
Evelyn Graves; daughters Linda Howell and
Bambi Lynn Broersma; sons Burkett (Josh)
Graves, Jr., Billy Troy Graves, and
Raymond Bryan Graves; sister Jewel Key;
brother Harold R. Graves; 18 grandchildren;
and 11 great-grandchildren. Funeral services
were held Oct. 3 at the Chapel of Madison
Funeral Home, with Eddie Stubbs giving the
eulogy, and The Reverend Bruce Lowhorn
officiating. Performances were offered by
the Dean Osborne Band, with a prelude by
Tim Graves, and other participants included
Ricky Skaggs, The Whites, Lance LeRoy
and Marty Stuart. Interment’s in
Hendersonville Memory Gardens.
Regular Pallbearers were Larry Perkins,
Hide Watanabe, Rick Keisler, Dan Hays,
Hugh Moore and Benny Boling. Honorary
Pallbearers: Earl Scruggs, Kenny Baker,
Lance LeRoy, Curly Sechler, Mac Wiseman,
Eddie Adcock, Jesse McReynolds, Jerry
Douglas, Gary Scruggs, Randy Scruggs,
Chris Sharp, Johnny Warren, Billy Pack and
Todd Wright . - Walt Trott
Josh Graves visiting Local 257, above
with Jimmy Capps and Billy Linneman.
Kirk Whalum performs Nov. 15, 17
Grammy-nominated saxophonist Kirk
Whalum will perform with the Nashville Jazz
Orchestra in concert at 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov.
17 in Vanderbilt University’s Martha Rivers
Ingram Center for the Performing Arts. Ticket
tabs are $15 adults, and $5 for students.
This follows a Master Class with Whalum
at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 15, which is free
and open to the public. For details, call Jim
Williamson, NJO director, at (615) 889-6335,
or contact NJO on-line via e-mail:
jim@nashvillejazzorchestra.org
A publicity shot for The Masters (from left) Eddie Adcock, Kenny Baker, Graves and Jesse McReynolds.
Nathan, Lewis Family, newest Hall of Honor inductees
Bluegrass group The Grascals, IBMA’s top winner
There were few surprises at the 17th annual
International Bluegrass Music Association
(IBMA) awards show, which again
saw Rhonda Vincent, Doyle Lawson and
Ricky Skaggs adding to their trophy cases.
Last year’s newcomer award winner The
Grascals accomplished the amazing feat of
taking home IBMA’s big one - Entertainer
of the Year - during the Sept. 28 show at the
Grand Ole Opry House.
The event, carried live over XM Satellite
Radio, was hosted by Marty Stuart, who
also performed on the program with his
Fabulous Superlatives. It was being syndicated
globally, as well.
Rhonda Vincent was voted her seventh
straight Best Female Vocalist statuette,
while Tim O’Brien repeated his 1993 win
as Best Male Vocalist. Tim also scored best
song honors for “Look Down That Lonesome
Road.”
A winning pair, Doyle Lawson and Rhonda
Vincent announced the IBMA nominees.
. . . Brouhaha broils backstage
As a result of a controversy brewing by
a performance of the U.S. Navy’s Country
Current bluegrass contingent at the 2006
International Bluegrass Music Association’s
annnual awards, Sept. 28, IBMA President
& Chairman of the Board David S. Crow
tendered his resignation.
Some in the Nashville-based organization
criticized the music selections of the
Naval musicians (sharing the stage with vocalist
Rhonda Vincent). Their music included
military anthems, even after the
IBMA board had cautioned them on this,
requesting they perform an original bluegrass
song instead.
When Crow, himself a bluegrass picker
and Nashville attorney, heard the selections
backstage, he resigned. Crow, also a member
of Local 257, pointed out, “It’s a dangerously
fine line between patriotism and
politics, and the line is so fine that trade organizations
probably need to avoid it . . .
Resigning was not a political statement, it
was a statement about losing control from a
leadership perspective.”
Meanwhile, Executive Director Dan
Hays also told The Tennessean newspaper,
“We’re encouraging David as best we know
how, to reconsider his resignation”
Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver earned
their sixth award in the vocal group category,
and also picked up another trophy,
best gospel recorded performance, thanks
to the disc “He Lives In Me.”
It was the eighth time Ricky Skaggs &
Kentucky Thunder carried home the best instrumental
group award, and Skaggs’ Family
Records proved victorious in winning
best album honors with the label’s worthy
all-star CD “Celebration of Life: Musicians
Against Childhood Cancers,” boasting bluegrass
notables Vincent, Lawson, The
Cherryholmes, Dan Tyminski, Bela Fleck,
Bryan Sutton, Alecia Nugent, Blue Highway,
Marty Raybon, Aubrey Haynie and
Tony Rice, among many others. It was coproduced
by Darryl Adkins, Jack Campbell
and Bob Kelly.
Instrumentalists honored were: Bryan
Sutton, guitar (see separate story on page
18); Michael Cleveland, fiddle; Rob Ickes,
dobro; Missy Raines, bass; Adam Steffey,
mandolin; and Jim Mills, banjo. Instrumental
Album winner: Michael Cleveland &
Flamekeeper for “Let ’Er Go Boys.”
Their album “One Day At a Time”
gained The Steep Canyon Rangers this
year’s Emerging Artist statuette. Announced
earlier were the 2006 Bluegrass Hall of
Honor recipients: Syd Nathan, who founded
the King Records label in Cincinnati, Ohio,
during World War II; and The Lewis Family,
gospel-bluegrass pioneers who also performed
at the 2006 awards gala.
Others entertaining included Lawson &
Quicksilver, Vincent & The Rage, Skaggs
& Kentucky Thunder, The Nashville String
Machine, Del McCoury, Vince Gill, The
Grascals, Steve Wariner, Cherryholmes,
Claire Lynch, Blue Highway, Curly Sechler,
Larry Sparks, 3 Fox Drive, U.S. Navy Band
Country Current, and The Isaacs with Sheri
& Jeff Easter, as well as reigning instrumentalist
winners. - Walt Trott
Best male vocalist Tim O’Brien with Sam Bush.

October-December 2006 The Nashville Musician 15
A World War II hero
Local 257’s John Bellar dies at age 83
John E. Bellar, 83, of Ashland City,
Tenn., died Aug. 8. Bellar, who sang and
played harmonica, had suffered from diabetes
and heart disease.
According to his son Johnny Wayne
Bellar, also a member of Local 257, his father
first underwent heart bypass surgery in
1993.
Born in Montgomery County, Tenn.,
John E. Bellar grew up in Port Royal. Starting
at about 9 years old, he began playing
harmonica, having admired DeFord Bailey’s
harmonica playing on the Grand Ole Opry.
He was also fond of the playing by Herman
Crook (of the Opry’s Crook Brothers) and
later became a fan of Wayne Raney &
Lonnie Glosson of “Why Don’t You Haul
Off and Love Me” fame.
In December 1941, Johnnie was next up
as a contestant in a radio talent contest when
the network interrupted to announce
America was at war with Japan (after the
bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii), and
thus the competition was cancelled.
Bellar, during World War II, served with
the Army’s 475th Infantry Regiment, assisting
the legendary Merrill’s Marauders (led
by General Frank Merrill) in the China-
Burma-India Theater of Operations. While
serving over there, Johnnie was wounded
in the right leg and hip by enemy fire in
1944.
“It took him three weeks to get to a hospital
by ox-cart,” explains the younger
Bellar. “Then he had to spend six months in
the hospital for treatment.”
In the immediate postwar era, Johnnie
took jobs selling appliances in and around
Clarksville, and worked as security on the
gates at Fort Campbell, Ky.
It was in 1948 that he began selling insurance
as a Life of Georgia agent, continuing
for over 36 years with the company, until
he retired at age 62.
“The computer age kind of run him off,”
says Bellar.
Throughout his life, Johnnie kept up his
chops, playing local events and dances, and
during the 1960s and ’70s, performed with
the Cumberland River Boys in Tennessee
and Kentucky.
“Dad enjoyed gospel music and hymns,
but among his favorite songs were ‘Wabash
Cannonball’ and ‘Today, I Started Loving
You Again.’ He also made some CDs he was
proud of,” says Johnny, adding that his father
had enjoyed performing until recently
at the former Fan Fair with the pioneer
Reunionaires.
He also recalls his dad saying he was
John E. Bellar
pleased by an audition he once did for Roy
Acuff, during which Roy praised his playing,
but in the interest of economics chose
Jimmy Riddle for his Smoky Mountain
Boys band, as Jimmy could play other instruments
than harmonica.
Son Johnny Wayne, who plays dobro,
bass, guitar, dulcimer and autoharp, made
pop proud by landing his first professional
gig at 15, with the Stoneman Family.
“But I think he was most proud when I
got to perform on the Grand Ole Opry with
Wilma Lee Cooper (and the Clinch Mountain
Clan) for four years.”
On his own part, Johnny Wayne says,
“Dad was my music hero, but I got all hung
up watching Josh Graves and (Bashful)
Brother Oswald (Pete Kirby) and chose the
dobro.”
John’s daughter Carolyn also played
autoharp and was blessed with a beautiful
voice, notes her brother. Johnny says their
parents were wed on dad’s birthday Aug. 2,
1946: “He kept hanging on, and hanging on,
waiting for that anniversary.”
Besides his wife of 60 years Martha
(Ingram) Bellar, and their son, survivors include
daughter Carolyn Baker of Ashland
City, Tenn.; brother Felix Bellar of Adams,
Tenn.; sisters Betty Smith of Allensville,
Ky., and Lucille Barlow of Littleton, N.C.;
grandchildren Valerie Broadway of Ashland
City, and Amy Ferry of Foley, Ala.; and
great-grandchildren Jonathan Broadway,
Daniel Broadway and Alan Wade Ferry.
Cheatham Country Funeral Home was
in charge of arrangements. Graveside services
with full military honors were held
Aug. 11 at the Highland Cemetery in
Guthrie, Ky., and officiated by Brother Paul
Robert Gupton. - Walt Trott
Ryman plaque denotes birth of bluegrass
During dedication of a marker commemorating the Ryman as the birthplace of bluegrass, Patricia
Presley snaps ceremony participants (from left) artists Ricky Skaggs, Earl Scruggs, Opry announcer
Eddie Stubbs and Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell. The downtown auditorium was the long-time home to
WSM’s Grand Ole Opry. Among the genre’s earliest Opry practitioners were Bill Monroe and his Blue
Grass Boys, in which the late Lester Flatt & Scruggs were early band members.
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16 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
. . . AFM award for Bradley
(Continued from page 1)
ley story, which includes contracts for
session leader, arranger, producer and solo
artist with his mid-1960s’ Columbia albums
“Harold Bradley’s Misty Guitar,”
“Bossa Nova Goes To Nashville” and
“Guitars For Lovers.” Harold quipped,
“Don Law hired me to be their answer to
(RCA’s) Chet Atkins . . . and was he surprised!”
Rear-screen projected images accompanying
Bradley’s humor-sprinkled narrative,
aided in depicting his musical beginnings,
including spending summer ’43
as a teen-aged touring Texas Troubadour,
when an Ernest Tubb regular was drafted
into World War II. (A rare shot showed
usually dapper Harold in cowboy regalia.)
His first recording stint was in 1946,
in Chicago, with Pee Wee King’s Golden
West Cowboys, after spending two years
in the Navy.
Under the GI Bill, Harold studied at
George Peabody College. Meanwhile, he
continued to perform and do occasional
studio work, while earning his degree.
Probably one of his more unusual sessions
was being the only caucasion in the
studio when Ivory Joe Hunter, legendary
R&B pianist and vocalist, recorded for
King Records in 1947. Lloyd played snippets
of Hunter’s rendition of “All States
Boogie” from that session.
Another audio medley by Bill Lloyd
featured Bradley playing on bandleader
Ray Anthony’s 1952 Capitol pop success
“The Bunny Hop,” as well as Patsy
Cline’s 1957 breakthrough hit “Walkin’
After Midnight,” writer Willie Nelson’s
demo leading to Cline’s classic “Crazy,”
Don Gibson’s 1958 charttopper “Oh
Lonesome Me” and Bradley’s banjo intro
for Johnny Horton’s 1959 #1 pop and
country million-seller “The Battle of New
Orleans.”
Lloyd selected a single page from
Harold’s vintage studio log: “Let me just
read from his session book, there’s Les
Paul & Mary Ford, Conway Twitty, Don
Gibson, Clyde McPhatter, Del Wood and
some fellow named Elvis Presley, this is
all in one week!”
“Between 1962 and 1967, I was fortunate
to play on 12 million-selling Elvis
records,” Harold added, including film
soundtracks such as Presley’s “Kissin’
Cousins” (1964), “Clambake” (1967), and
more recently Tom Hanks’ “You’ve Got
Mail” (1998).
Lloyd also pointed out that Harold
played on three of the most popular
Christmas recordings ever: Burl Ives’ “A
Holly, Jolly Christmas,” Bobby Helms’
“Jingle Bell Rock” and Brenda Lee’s
“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”
Helms’ and Lee’s were recorded in 1958
(though Lee’s wasn’t released until ’60).
Harold recalled that the first single
he played on to sell a million records was
Red Foley’s 1950 #1 pop-country crossover
“Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy.” It
also reminded Harold of an amusing incident
in the studio, involving drummer
Farris Coursey, who volunteered to create
a sound-effect of a shoeshine boy
poppin’ his polishing rag by beating his
hands rhythmically upon his lap. After an
hour-and-a-half of this personal abuse,
Coursey’s skin was smarting!
Known as the Dean of Nashville Guitarists,
Bradley paid homage to departed
A Teamers Hank Garland and Grady Martin,
also citing fellow players Buddy
Harman, Ray Edenton, Bob Moore, Floyd
Cramer, Pete Drake, Pig Robbins, Tommy
Jackson, Charlie McCoy and Boots
Randolph.
He also strolled into the performing
spotlight to demonstrate Bradley guitar
licks for the crowd which responded enthusiastically.
Bradley, a picker identified
with the innovative tic tac guitar style invented
in the late 1950s, noted it consisted
of muting the six-string bass to
double the bass part: “Everybody started
using that sound . . . I did it on Brenda
Lee’s, Patsy Cline’s, Eddy Arnold’s
(records).”
As the ‘Cats’ program wound down,
AFM’s Tom Lee took the podium addressing
the audience, acknowledging in part,
“What you have just (witnessed) is just a
short treasure of a phenomenal story that
Harold has to tell. He, his brother, Chet
Atkins, the A Team, they’re all responsible
for the country music sound of Nashville,
they’re all responsible for the roots that
took hold and without this group, you
probably wouldn’t have this building in
this city . . .”
Lee went on to praise Bradley as an
officer in both the Local and for AFM International,
and as a goodwill ambassador
for the Union and Nashville, then directed
his comments to his startled V.P.:
“We’d like to give you an award. There
are only three other individuals that have
gotten this award, that’s Willie Nelson,
Rod McKuen and Chet Atkins, so on behalf
of all your International Executive
Board (members) and on behalf of
100,000 brothers and sisters throughout
the United States and Canada, we want
to give you a Lifetime Achievement
Award for all the things you’ve accomplished.”
It was a fitting climax to an afternoon
of musical nostalgia for Nashville’s premier
picker.
Harold above with his AFM award.
Watch for our
Americana Music
Festival coverage
in your next issue
of The Nashville
Musician
newspaper!
Stopping by Local 257 Hq . . .
Dave Pomeroy with ‘Duke.’
Alison Prestwood and ‘Ruby.’
Anita Winstead with parents Bob
and Kathryn Ayers at Local 257.
Office assistant Tyler Allen.
Office staffer Christie Allen.
Barry Walsh and ‘Nigel.’
B. James Lowry’s pet ‘Lola.’
Janet Butler with daughter Tara
and grandson Landon.
Bryan Sutton at the Union (see page 18)
All photos by
Kathy Shepard

October-December 2006 The Nashville Musician 17
AFM Local 257 Member Status
NEW MEMBERS
MR JASON ANTHONY ALBERT
GTR VOC
117 CLUTTS ROAD
HARVEST, AL 35749
Hm-(256)-830-9511
MR CRAIG LEE ANDERSON
GTR VOC
18814 CYPRESS POINT DRIVE
ATHENS, AL 35613
MR TODD LEE ANDERSON
DRM
482 MT. ZION ROAD
MADISON, AL 35757
Hm-(256)-797-8633
MS VALERIE ANN BEMIS
PIA
3703 DICKERSON PIKE #618
NASHVILLE, TN 37207
Hm-(615)-860-5840 Wk-(615)-327-4324
LUCAS WAYNE BRADSHAW
(LUKE BRADSHAW)
BAS
1489 CLAIRMONT PLACE
NASHVILLE, TN 37215
Hm-(615)-269-8420
MR SPENCER TODD CAMPBELL
BAS
U-516 COVENTRY COURT
NASHVILLE, TN 37211
Hm-(615)-333-1090
MR MICHAEL A CAPUTY
DRM PRC
803 ASHLAWN PLACE
NASHVILLE, TN 37211
Hm-(615)-500-3838
MR CHARLES R. CRAWFORD
GTR
25 COUNTY ROAD 135
BREMEN, AL 35033
Hm-(256)-338-7574
MR JONATHAN TYLER CRONE
GTR
301 ROYAL OAKS BLVD APT # 3006
FRANKLIN, TN 37067
Hm-(615)-210-3250 Wk-(615)-371-8210
MR WILLIAM ROBERT-PAUL DOMANN
BAS
1430 ROSEBANK AVENUE
NASHVILLE, TN 37206
Hm-(615)-977-4744
MR NEIL HIDEYUKI KONOUCHI
SOU TBA
1711 18TH AVE. SO.
NASHVILLE, TN 37212
Hm-(615)-469-0300
MR WILLIAM CRAIG EDGAR
(W.C. EDGAR)
VOC STL GTR
PO BOX 15
MCPHERSON, KS 67460
MR ROBERT MICHAEL FLEMING
(MIKE FLEMING)
BAS
2608 WESTWOOD AVENUE
NASHVILLE, TN 37212-5216
Hm-(615)-269-3569 Wk-(615)-793-8787
MR STEVEN A FORD
PIA ORG KEY
364 EAST MAIN STREET #110
MIDDLETOWN, DE 19709
Hm-(302)-449-2268
JUDD W. FULLER
(JUDD FULLER)
BAS
1422 SHELTON AVE.
NASHVILLE, TN 37216
MR JOSHUA BURT GENTRY
(JOSH GENTRY)
DRM
1270 COUNTY ROAD 256
FORT PAYNE, AL 35967
Hm-(256)-845-8969
Give to TEMPO
DANIEL LEE HAGEN
(DAN HAGEN)
GTR
3112 LAKELAND DRIVE
NASHVILLE, TN 37214
MR JAMES DARRELL HEDDEN
GTR
1820 HICKORY LAWN COURT
ANTIOCH, TN 37013
Hm-(615)-501-9480
MS AMY SUZANNE HELMAN
VLN
4112 B NEBRASKA AVENUE
NASHVILLE, TN 37209
Hm-(615)-414-8066
MR RONALD RAY JAGGER
(RON JAGGER)
GTR
2844 COCHRAN TRACE DRIVE
SPRING HILL, TN 37174
Hm-(615)-261-4807
MS CAROLYN DAWN JOHNSON
(CAROLYN DAWN JOHNSON)
GTR
900 DIVISION STREET
NASHVILLE, TN 37203
Hm-(615)-242-2727
MR JAMES STEPHEN LAMB
(STEPHEN LAMB)
ARR COP
234 MOUNTAIN HIGH DRIVE
ANTIOCH, TN 37013
Hm-(423)-544-3028
MR JOHN WENDELL LANCASTER
SYN PIA KEY ORG
720 ROBERT BURNS DRIVE
NASHVILLE, TN 37217
Hm-(615)-366-9560
MR MATTHEW RYDER LEE
(RYDER LEE)
VOC
1700 HAYES STREET, SUITE 304
NASHVILLE, TN 37203
Hm-(202)-528-6237 Wk-(615)-329-9902
MR WILLIAM BENJAMIN MCILWAIN
(BEN MCILWAIN)
TBN
2315 MERCURY BLVD #K137
MURFREESBORO, TN 37127
Hm-(615)-364-8192
GARRETT KEITH MCREYNOLDS
(JESSE MCREYNOLDS & THE VIRGINIA
BOYS)
GTR
550 ZIEGLERS FORT ROAD
GALLATIN, TN 37066
Hm-(615)-451-2614 Wk-(615)-230-5494
MR MANUEL D MEDINA
(MANNY MEDINA)
BAS
527 8TH AVENUE SOUTH #303
NASHVILLE, TN 37203
MR MICHAEL DAVID MYERSON
(MIKE MYERSON)
GTR
162 DEXTER CIRCLE
MADISON, AL 35757
Hm-(256)-655-6718
MR BRADLEY CHARLES NAYLOR
(BRAD NAYLOR)
PRC DRM
1100 BERWICK TRAIL
MADISON, TN 37115
MR ANDREW BARRICK NIELSON
ORG PIA BAS
119 LEA AVENUE
NASHVILLE, TN 37210
Hm-(706)-254-2277 Wk-(830)-895-8820
MR GEOFFREY STOKES NIELSON
(STOKES NIELSON)
GTR
370 OAKLEY DRIVE APT #524
NASHVILLE, TN 37211
Hm-(678)-592-5436
MR SCOTT S. PARTRIDGE
(SCOTT PARTRIDGE)
GTR
385 CROSSWINDS DRIVE
MT. JULIET, TN 37122
Hm-(615)-758-2887
MR BRIAN EDWARD POTTER
TPT
1650 CASON LANE APT 713
MURFREESBORO, TN 37128
Hm-(423)-506-2265
MR JEFFREY DAVID POTTER
(JEFF POTTER)
DRM
200 PLUS PARK BLVD
NASHVILLE, TN 37217
KEVIN A RAPILLO
DRM
2529 BLAIR BLVD
NASHVILLE, TN 37212
Hm-(615)-297-6710
MR DWAIN H ROWE
KEY ORG PIA
1640 LATIMER LANE
HENDERSONVILLE, TN 37075-8711
Hm-(615)-822-0671
MARK T. SUTTON
VOC GTR
133 SANTA FE TRAIL
MT. JULIET, TN 37122
Hm-(615)-754-8538
MRS CAROLYN MARIE TREYBIG
PIC FLT
1737 WILKES LANE
SPRING HILL, TN 37174-9533
Hm-(615)-302-2251 Wk-(615)-460-6079
MR JOEL ANDREW TREYBIG
TPT
1737 WILKES LANE
SPRING HILL, TN 37174
Hm-(615)-302-2251 Wk-(615)-460-6079
MR DANIEL JOHN TYMINSKI
(DAN TYMINSKI)
GTR VOC
C/O SMITH, WILES & CO., PC
900 DIVISION STREET
NASHVILLE, TN 37203
Wk-(615)-385-3191
MICHAEL DEREK WELLS
(DEREK WELLS)
GTR
923 CLUB PARKWAY
NASHVILLE, TN 37221
MR ROBERT KEITH WEST
(KEITH WEST)
VOC BAS
182 DUNLOE DRIVE
MADISON, AL 35757
MR BRAD S. WILLIAMSON
(BRAD WILLIAMSON)
DRM PRC
142 SO 6TH
HOT SPRINGS, SD 57747
Hm-(605)-890-0530
GLENN C WILLIAMS
PRC PRG DRM
653 TYNEBRAE DRIVE
FRANKLIN, TN 37064-5333
Hm-(615)-790-4922
REMOVED BY FEDERATION
MICHAEL KENT WELLS
ACTIVE REINSTATED
TOM BAUGHMAN
ROBERT EUGENE BLAZIER
LARRY L BORDEN
MICHAEL A CAPUTY
RALPH STEPHEN COX
JESSICA GUINN DUNNAVANT
MARCUS EDWARD FINNIE
HERMAN EDGAR GOSSIEN, III
MICKEY GRIMM
RANDALL LEE HESS
THOMAS JOSEPH HOEY, II
STEPHEN KENT HORNBEAK
JASON HUTCHESON
KEN E ISHAM
RICHARD I KING
JAMES KENDALL LESTER
BOBBY HOWARD MINNER, JR
JIMMY RAY MURRELL
SETH GREGORY RAUSCH
CHARLES LLOYD ROSE
TAKEIO TAMEIN STROUD
REX THOMAS
APPLICATION REVOKED
RONALD C CATES
RONNIE E HUTTON
TOMMY RAY MILLER
BRIAN SHANE ROBERTS
JEFFREY JOHN SARLI
RANDAL DEWAYNE SMITH
Attention members
Any musician currently seeking work can
take advantage of a free listing, which actually
kicked off in the April-June 2006 issue of
The Nashville Musician.
An “At Liberty” column could continue
if we get additional entries for the October-
December 2006 edition.
There is no charge. Simply send name,
instrument(s) played, relevant gigs if pertinent,
and appropriate contact information, including
e-mail data.
Keep submissions brief. We reserve the
right to edit all copy received, in the interest
of space requirements.
Mail to: Editor, The Nashville Musician,
Local 257, P.O. Box 120399, Nashville, TN
37212.
AT LIBERTY
Top-notch & road-ready
Classic to new country lead guitarist
With back-up vocals
References upon request
Contact information
Brad Orcutt
Day (615) 797-6075
Evening (615) 797-9105
e-mail: singatune31@hotmail.com
Have Guitar, Will Travel
Lead Guitar
Bobby Vogel
Contact information
108 Dennis Road
Hendersonville TN 37075
Tel: (615) 826-0474
Cell: (615) 545-5801
e-mail: bv108@comcast.net
DECEASED LOCAL 257 MEMBERS
Lifetime Name Date Deceased Birth Date Date Joined
CAROLYN T AUSTIN 08/24/2006 01/20/1941 10/24/1984
JOHN E BELLAR 08/08/2006 08/02/1923 06/07/1973
Y CURTIS C GIBSON 09/16/2006 07/31/1926 08/29/1958
MACK P KING, JR 08/11/2006 04/22/1954 09/07/1977
Y JACK DALE LOGAN 07/24/2006 04/12/1928 07/14/1952
MICHELLE J MCTEAGUE 09/11/2006 05/07/1958 10/13/1982
Y JOHN BRYAN MILLER 08/08/2006 10/01/1912 09/01/1992
DAVID SCHNAUFER 08/23/2006 09/28/1952 08/26/1985
JAMES RICHARD UNGER 09/25/2006 07/20/1954 10/29/1990

18 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
One of Nashville’s first-call pickers has solo album
Guitarist Bryan Sutton pays his homage to heroes
By WALT TROTT
Session musician Bryan Sutton runs on
his own adrenalin.
This high-octane picker, who in the studio
has backed such high-profile performers
as Dolly Parton, Trace Adkins and The
Dixie Chicks, occasionally tours with the
likes of Earl Scruggs, Hot Rize and Béla
Fleck, and still finds time to release yet a
third solo album “Not Too Far From the
Tree” on Sugar Hill.
“I had to come to the realization that as
comfortable as it is to stay in Nashville and
do sessions, I have to go entertain and play
music for my sanity and to continue to grow
as a player.”
Sutton, reigning 2006 Academy of
Country Music instrumentalist of the year,
has also just been honored with multiple
IBMA award nominations: Guitarist of the
Year; Instrumental Album of the Year for
“Not Too Far . . . ,” which includes a best
producer nod; and for Best Recorded Event,
thanks to bringing together his music heroes,
such as dad Jerry Sutton, Doc Watson,
Jerry Douglas, Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs and
Scruggs. Bryan was IBMA guitarist of the
year in 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2005.
Despite the acoustic guitar recognition,
Sutton is also a pro on fiddle, banjo, mandolin
and electric guitar His skill playing
at high-speed got him dubbed “Bionic
Bryan,” but when he does so, it’s never at
the expense of clarity, tone or volume.
“I’m not sure where that nickname came
from, but I try to maintain the quality, no
matter how uptempo the tune,” he insists.
“I tell a lot of people, in workshops and
classes or whatever sort of teaching environment
I find myself in, that it’s mainly
about the clarity and tone before speed. Generally,
when you pick up speed, the volume
tends to go down, but I try to do just the
opposite . . .
“As far as the actual technique of
flatpicking goes in playing bluegrass guitar,
obviously a lot of that stuff is really fast,
but I would much rather hear somebody play
clear and clean at a slower tempo, than try
to play something fast and sloppy.”
A third generation player, James
Bryan Sutton was born Oct. 16, 1973 in
Asheville, N.C., a city steeped in musical
heritage, and raised in suburban Candler.
“Jerry, my dad, is a great rhythm guitarist,
but plays really good melodic banjo,
and is a good bass player, who reads music.
My grandfather Grover was an oldtime fiddler.
Later in life, he got into building and
fixing fiddles and trading fiddles back and
forth. Anything to do with fiddles on any
level, he was into. He played every day, and
was a big fan of Jimmie Rodgers and the
Delmore Brothers.
“Being around Asheville when he was
young, it was a hot spot for country music
back then. You have the old-time bluegrass
tradition there in the mountains. But
Asheville was also a standard stop on the
trail for the Carter Family and Rodgers and
that kind of sound in those days.”
Glen Duncan, equally adept on fiddle or violin.
Bryan Sutton helped headline the 7th annual American Music Festival at the Ryman, Sept. 22.
According to Bryan, WWMC-Asheville
was a powerful country station to listen to:
“Growing up there and not too far removed
from them time-wise, a lot of the same musicians
locally were still playing. I was of a
different generation, but I got to hear and
be around a lot of old-time musicians, who
were hallowed and revered there.”
Grampa Grover, who gifted 10-year-old
Bryan with an Ibanez guitar, had a brother
Hershel, who played harmonica. Bryan’s
mother Carol played piano, mainly as pastime,
while his older sister Leesa played
fiddle.
“And in my dad’s mother’s family there
were some grand uncles back in the 1800s,
of whom we have pictures with fiddles and
banjos, things like that. It was such a rich
area for music, kind of like Texas, where a
lot of not necessarily professional musicians,
but just active musicians on the scene,
never felt the need to leave there as far as
the enjoyment of playing was concerned.”
Bryan recalls that through his childhood,
his father and grandfather were in a group,
the Harmony Valley Stringband: “My earliest
memories were listening to them practicing,
through the late 1970s and early ’80s.
I would sit in my room with my little play
guitar and strum along with them.”
At 8, he started getting a chance to play
for real when dad began providing music
lessons on a Gibson L-00 that belonged to
his granddad.
“When we were kids, Leesa and I also
played in a family band with my dad and
another friend of ours. Leesa played all
through her elementary and high school
years, but didn’t have the same fire about it
that I did. She quit playing in college, and
since then doesn’t play anymore, though
she’s really involved behind-the-scenes on
a volunteer level handling planning and logistics
for things like festivals and events.
She actually has a job with the state in what
they call the Office of Tourism & Cultural
Heritage Development, some long title like
that . . . Good for her.”
“One thing about my mother, she made
lots of sacrifices, driving us all over the
place for lessons. I was taking guitar and
banjo lessons at one point from different
people on opposite sides of town. I studied
classical guitar and jazz. I always felt like
she and dad both were very supportive. I
think they thought Leesa and I had a talent
for music.”
Bryan also would “jam” at different
houses and places around Asheville: “It was
a great way to meet other musicians and to
learn about our area, and all the while I was
learning to play better. I liked that because
there was never any sort of pedagogue of you
learn this song, you learn the scale and you
apply certain theory . . . It was the basis of
my learning and ear training, I guess.”
In high school, Bryan even played in a
rock and roll band.
“It was a show choir backup band, with
probably 15 girls in the group, a singerdancer
ensemble thing, and we had two gui-
Bryan goes over a number with vocalist Dolly Parton.
tars, bass, drums and keyboards. I’d never
played anything much involved with pop
music and it was neat to have that opportunity.”
He still regards Eddie Van Halen as
a favorite guitarist.
During school days, pianist Anthony
Burger, one of the more renowned gospel
players (and late member of Local 257),
moved next door to the Suttons.
“He performed with The Kingsmen, a
Southern gospel quartet based out of the
Asheville area. As a senior in high school I
went to Anthony and told him I was interested
in getting into the music business. I
had a sense that being a sideman was what
I wanted. When I would see bands on MTV
or The Nashville Network I was more into
what the guys in the background were playing,
not the singer. I’d see the acoustic
player in Eric Clapton’s band or some guy
playing on the Grand Ole Opry, or different
bluegrass players, and knew that was
more what I wanted to do, as opposed to
being an artist or such.
“I also knew Anthony did a lot of session
work with Southern gospel groups,”
continues Sutton. “There was a studio that
not only did The Kingsmen’s records, but
had a stable of artists and different groups
that came in to do custom records. So they
were basically doing two or three records
a week there. I’d go over after school, hang
out and meet all the players.
“There were about six or seven
musicans who would get calls to do all
these records. Luckily, some of the best musicians
I ever heard were there including
Tony Creasman, a drummer who a lot of
guys here know about, and another named
David Johnson. Primarily on Asheville sessions
they used a drummer, bassist, pianist
- and David. David worked sessions in
Asheville, in East Tennessee, down towards
Charlotte, and around Greenville,
S.C., sort of in a 150-mile radius that was
his to work.

October-December 2006 The Nashville Musician 19
“I realized if I’m gong to even think about
dong sessions around Asheville, I can’t just
show up with acoustic guitar. I had been
playing some electric, but it was mainly jazz
and rock stuff, so I started learning more
country kinds of stuff and got to know the
work of Brent Rowan and Brent Mason and
got a Telecaster and started into that realm.
“David was what we call a utility player.
He would bring everything, steel, electric
guitar, banjo, dobro, fiddle and harmonica,
you name it, he played it, kind of like
Jonathan Yudkin, Bruce Watkins, different
people who do it here now.”
By honing his talents on a variety of
stringed instruments, including electric
guitar, Bryan set himself up to fill in for
David when he had an opening.
“Around Christmas, during my senior
year, I got a call to do a bluegrass session
and (gospel singer) Karen Peck was part of
this. With this label in Asheville there was
a real influential guy for me named Tim
Surrett, who was in the gospel world, but
grew up playing bluegrass like me. He and
I could talk a lot about the same things. Well,
he put this record together that basically had
all traditional songs like ‘I’ll Fly Away.’ I
think it was called ‘Gospel Music Salutes
Its Bluegrass Heritage.’ Big gospel names
would come in and play over these bluegrass
tracks.
“I met Karen there as she was putting
her band together. At the time I was trying
to decide whether to go on to college or
jump in professionally. My thought was after
four or five years of college, I could still
basically be looking for a gig.”
Following his 1991 graduation, Sutton
joined Karen’s New River gospel group,
based in Georgia. He toured with her band
for more than two years, but when possible
continued his session playing.
“Once I had a taste of being in the studio,
I’ve always harbored the thought that I
wanted to build as much of a session career
as possible. But working with Karen was a
‘Bionic Bryan’ joined Local 257, July 19, 1994.
great place to get your feet wet on the music
scene, because it was basically clean. I
was riding in a bus, putting up sound systems
and playing out in the heat in places
like Oklahoma and traveling all over the
country. I wasn’t making any money and
still living at home, but it was right for me
at the time - a wholesome experience versus
playing bars.”
Ever since high school, Bryan’s girl was
Lori: “I’ve known her since I was 15 or 16
years old, when I went to high school with
her in Asheville.”
Then in late 1993, an opportunity arose
for Bryan to work with contemporary Christian
country gospel group Mid-South, based
in Nashville.
“I knew that I wanted to move to Nashville
eventually, and Mid-South was at the
peak of their career at the time. They were
on the Christian division of Warner Bros.
(Alliance), and one of the first things I got
to do with them was cut a couple great
records. One was produced by Larry
Stewart, and the great steel guitar player Al
Perkins produced one. It was exciting to
work at that high a level. I was as green as
anybody when I moved here.”
Meanwhile, Bryan maintained his close
ties to Lori.
“She went to college when I first moved
here. I was still doing sessions over there,
and a lot of times I would make stops in
Greensboro where she was going to school.
We’d hang out a day or two, then I’d head
out for another session. We were actually
engaged most of that time, but she wanted
to finish college.”
So how did Bryan break into the Nashville
session pool?
“Through my gospel connections I knew
a few people here, such as (pianist) Otis
Forrest, whose son Shannon is one of the
great drummers here, and Bobby All, a fine
acoustic guitarist. I met him because I was
a huge fan of his playing. I learned that the
way the Nashville session scene works is
through networking. I was with Mid-South
less than a year and all that time I knew traveling
wasn’t what I wanted to do.”
Another session player he would “jam”
with locally was fiddler Aubrey Haynie, and
they soon became fast friends. Back in the
days with New River, however, he had met
bassist Mark Fain in the gospel group Gold
City at a package show in Alabama, and they
became buddies.
It was in July 1995, that Bryan had to
rethink his career plans: “I had made this
decision that I was not going to travel ever
again, that I was just going to do sessions.
That’s what I came here to do, and it was
starting to take off, so I had enough confidence
to make that statement.
“In the back of my mind I wondered,
since I was such a fan of Ricky Skaggs,
whose music I listened to so much as a kid,
what will I do if he ever calls? Then all of a
sudden there he was on my answer machine
. . . I thought OK here we go!”
Fain, who began with Skaggs’ Kentucky
Thunder early in ’95, had recommended
Sutton when a vacancy occurred. Bryan auditioned
for the job, which called for a utility
player.
“That was kinda scary. We went into this
room above his garage and we played for a
little while, but he hired me right then. I was
heavy into the days of wanting to be a utility
player, so all the work I’d done learning
to play different instruments paid off. At that
point, Ricky still had a country band exclusively.
I would play basically rhythm, acoustic
guitar and some mandolin, banjo and
fiddle, playing all the double parts with
Bobby Hicks.
“Then Ricky started fusing some bluegrass
into his country shows,” Sutton explains.
“He had this record ‘My Father’s
Son’ and was trying to make his transition
from country into bluegrass. So we’d do
about 30 minutes of country and then totally
reset the stage, come out, do a set of
bluegrass, then follow it with more country.
He had a neat way of doing that.
“Through that transition, the electric
guitar player Keith Sewell was leaving, so
I had enough experience on a Telecaster to
ask him to give me a shot. During the last
few months of Skaggs’ country touring, I
played electric guitar. Ricky hired another
guy Dennis Parker to do what I’d been doing.
I also felt like it would be the smart
thing to be lead guitarist in the country show
and lead guitar player in the bluegrass set.”
One of his first shows with Skaggs,
ironically, was playing in Asheville: “That
was a big outdoor street festival, and it
was really cool.”
Bryan garnered good reviews person-
At recent MerleFest in Carolina (from left): George Shuffler,
Jack Lawrence, Tony Rice, Bryan, Jerry Douglas and Jerry Sutton.
ally for his participation in Skaggs’ Kentucky
Thunder albums’ “Bluegrass Rules!”
and “Ancient Tones,” both award winners.
“It was weird because I had sort of gotten
away from playing bluegrass guitar and
my initial start was playing flatpicking
acoustic guitar. So playing in Kentucky
Thunder with Ricky was a great opportunity
to get that back out there. It took me
awhile to sort of brush up on all my chops.
But I was pretty much on fire to be at my
best, and really worked at it.”
Bryan found that his background in
bluegrass and Ricky’s were not too dissimilar:
“We had a great connection
within the bluegrass world, especially
working up arrangements. He does a lot
of double guitar kind of things, so he and
I would work out little grooves, and we
had a very good, natural musical relationship
because we grew up listening to a lot
of the same kinds of songs. So we would
just sort of fall in with each other. Ricky’s
got such a wealth of knowledge and just
to be around that and hear stories about
the Stanley Brothers and Bill Monroe was
great.”
He was also appreciative of Skaggs giving
players a chance to show what they
could do: “It’s part of the inherent nature of
bluegrass, which is kind of like jazz in that
respect, where you’ve got a basic form of
the tune, but everybody gets a solo. We did
a version of the old Bill Monroe tune ‘Get
Up, John,’ on that ‘Bluegrass Rules!’ record,
where everybody took extended solos. It
was almost a kind of be-bop jam thing, giving
us a great opportunity to really explore
and not just play within a 16- or 32-bar
framework.”
Despite a hectic touring schedule, Bryan
still did what sessions he could while with
Skaggs. He was being heard on solo discs
by pals Haynie (“Doin’ My Time”), Jerry
Douglas (“Restless On the Farm”) and
Bobby Hicks (“Fiddle Patch”) -- and it was
in 1996 that he and Lori were wed.
That, plus their desire for a family and
the fact he was losing money by missing
out on sessions being offered, prompted
Bryan to revisit his previous plan.
“It was a hard decision for me, because I
liked working with Ricky and playing live,
but I also knew I needed to stay put to build
my career here as strongly as I could, and I
knew we were going to have kids (they’re
now parents to Maggie, 6 and Lily, 2). So
in late 1997, I felt like I needed to stick to
my original plan and I let Ricky know.”
Sutton did do gigs with Skaggs through
the winter of ’97 and early ’98, but then reverted
to full-time studio work. Players like
Haynie, Jerry Kimbrough, Brent Rowan,
Glenn Worf, and producer-songwriter Frank
Rogers, were among those throwing work
his way early on.
“There’s such a great community of
players, producers and session leaders
around here that I feel so connected to, it’s
hard to pick any one as being more helpful
and I wouldn’t want to leave anyone out.”
Despite his ability to play a variety of
instruments, Sutton still feels more comfortable
on acoustic guitar. So what’s his favorite
instrument?
Well, he was carrying a 1940 Martin D-
28 Herringbone with him at the time of our
chat, and even brought it inside though we
hadn’t scheduled any pictures.
“It’s one I don’t leave in the car.”
There’s an interesting story behind it.
“That guitar belonged to Greg Luck, a
friend of mine over in North Carolina, who
had it a couple of years. I actually saw it
here when I was doing a show at the Ryman
with a band called Hot Rize featuring Tim
O’Brien. Greg let me play it - and I said I
wanted that guitar. But Greg wouldn’t sell.
Over the next year or so every time I’d see
it, I reminded him that when he was ready
to sell I wanted to buy it. Aubrey (Haynie)
kind of helped me out when he told me that
Greg might be ready to sell some stuff. So I
called, made an offer, and we got the deal
going. It’s now my primary instrument.”
So what’s its value?
“They did that particular trim from
1934 or ’35 up to ’46, for about 10 years.
The ones before World War II are easily
the most sought-after. A ballpark figure?
. . . It’s probably worth $30,000 or more.”
Sutton’s also a fan of Maine guitar
builder Dana Bourgeois, as is Ricky Skaggs.
“I first bought one of Dana’s guitars
back when I first started playing for Skaggs.
I wanted an all-purpose type guitar that I
(Continued on page 20)
Bryan in Kentucky Thunder with Ricky Skaggs and Mark Fain.

20 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
. . Sutton salutes guitar
heroes on his latest CD
(Continued from page 19)
could play on bluegrass sessions and live
stuff, and also play on country sessions. At
Gruhn’s downtown, I discovered one of his
and was just blown away by its clarity and
its volume. It seemed to sound the way I
wanted to sound. I could hear exactly what
I wanted to hear.
“Then I found out how to contact him,
so when Ricky took us up to Maine (January
1996), we got a chance to meet him. He
lives in Lewiston (near Portland, where they
were gigging). We bought two guitars from
him. He brought along two dreadnoughts,
and I chose the one for me (Bougeois Slope
D, a slope-shoulder dreadnought) and the
other went to Ricky. That started our relationship
and both of us have been playing
his guitars a lot in the last 10 years. To me,
he’s the best Luthier currently out there.”
(Dana and Ricky later collaborated on a new
Ricky Skaggs’ model guitar.)
So what’s the difference between playing
the acoustic and the electric guitars, and
can one be equally skilled on both?
“There obviously is a difference. When
I play electric I try to sound like an electric
guitar player, not an acoustic guy playing
an electric guitar. Basically when you hear
an electric guitarist playing acoustic, they
generally don’t have the strength that most
acoustic pickers do. On the other hand, a
lot of acoustic players tend to overdrive the
thing when they play electric guitar . . . ”
Has your earlier training on jazz and
classical guitars helped in studio work?
“It has. Obviously there are certain
theory things about jazz chords and relationships
as a rhythm acoustic guitar player that
helps. I like to get inside what a keyboard
player’s playing for certain extensions to the
chord. I can pick up on that stuff rather easily.
As far as chart reading, we’re more on
the Nashville Number System for country
sessions, yet there are instances where I read
a standard lead sheet or a jazz chart or standard
notation kind of thing and I can pull
from that knowledge, to be able to get
through that sort of stuff. With a classical
bit, a lot of it is just acoustic guitar with a
real sensitive mic, you’ve got to basically
produce a really clean sound. A lot of the
basic technique of playing classical guitar
is producing a loud clear tone that can be
heard over an orchestra.
“I apply a lot of that basic approach to
technique, no matter what I do, especially
in bluegrass playing, where again you’re totally
acoustic, and you’re still trying to produce
this clear tone and as strong a tone as
possible. Just a lot of left and right hand
technique, techniques that apply to anything
you do based on that knowledge. You know,
left hand positions especially, just learning
to get three-chord changes and different
lines cleanly with the best sort of efficient
use of yourself.”
How important to you is tone?
“To me, it’s a good part of everything.
I’ve got specific guitars that sound a certain
way. I like a lot of different kinds of
sounds. I feel like there are certain acoustic
guitars that are great for particular things.
Again, it all comes back to having the right
tone for the right song. A session player always
carries lots of stuff around for various
purposes. I put a lot of stock into the tones
of guitars.”
He’s also hung up on D’Addario strings,
specifically their phosphor bronze EXP17s.
Regarding picks, “I’m a pick experimenter,”
but has relied on Dunlop Delrin 500s of
various thicknesses, and sometime a Wegen.
Sutton did more than “experiment” with
a new mobile recording rig he utilized in
his Ralph Peer-style field recording stint to
help make possible his 2006 album “Not
Too Far From the Tree.”
Bryan enjoys doing occasional gigs with banjo god Earl Scruggs, who plays guitar on Sutton’s new CD.
Bryan used the mobile studio to capture
the traditional sounds of his guitar heroes,
where they could be more comfortable, such
as recording “Give Me the Roses” with Earl
Scruggs in his and late wife Louise’s living
room; Norman Blake and Bryan recorded
“Bully of the Town” at Norman’s home in
Rising Fawn, Ga.; “Billy in the
Lowground,” one of the first tunes taught
Bryan by his dad, was the selection they cut
for the CD in his parents’ living room back
in North Carolina; and his and Doc Watson’s
take on “Whiskey Before Breakfast” was
accomplished in a Colorado hotel room.
The idea for the heroes concept came to
Bryan in 2004, while on a trip: “The reason
the artists were chosen for the record was
because of some specific influence they had
on me musically. Doc Watson inspired me,
though I didn’t try to mimic him. He’s a
clean flatpicker, and I’ve always loved the
rhythmic groove of his playing. But I still
try to sound like me. In showcasing the guest
artist, I would hope that somebody listening
would hear the connection between my
style and his style.”
Sutton’s duets included additional icons
like Tony Rice, David Grier, Russ
Barenberg, Jerry Douglas, Jack Lawrence
and Ricky Skaggs.
So how did they pick a particular song?
“Some had a specific idea like Dan Crary,
who was a big early influence and the song
we played ‘Forked Deer’ was neat, because
it was one I learned off a teaching series he
had out when I was a kid.”
Sutton points out: “Now like with
George Shuffler, I didn’t have a clue. That
song was just chosen when we were sitting
there and I asked what his favorite song was
to play, well we had the mic on and there
we go. It’s on the record (‘The Nine-Pound
Hammer’). I actually had another tune in
mind. Other songs were chosen because I
felt they would highlight what stylistically
was going on. ‘Give Me the Roses’ was one
Earl played guitar on with Lester Flatt and
that was a big influence on bluegrass players
in general. And I didn’t want to do something
that had been done a lot.”
Did he get a yes from all his heroes he
had in mind?
“No. As I said in the liner notes, Mark
O’Connor didn’t do it. Now he was one of
my flatpick guitar heroes and he just doesn’t
play guitar anymore. That was a decision
he made kind of like I decided to quit playing
fiddle,” Bryan says, smiling. “It’s one
of those things that if you want to play at a
certain level on something you can’t expect
to apply that to several different instruments.
Some people can, I suppose, but I know that
I wanted to focus on acoustic guitar just like
he wants to focus on the violin. Just picking
up the guitar and playing it wouldn’t do
it justice. I can totally understand that.”
Has he played for audiences abroad?
“I’ve gone over a couple of times. I
played Ireland last year with Béla Fleck. I
also went to Slovakia once with Jerry Douglas
for a dobro festival over there. I think
European audiences are maybe even a little
more attuned to musicians and more interested
in the deeper side of what’s going on
musically than Americans are as a whole.”
How was it performing with Parton?
“One of the good things that came out
of time spent with Ricky was that shortly
after I left I did a solo record on Sugar Hill
called ‘Ready To Go’ and have done two
more since then (‘Bluegrass Guitar’ and
‘Not Too Far From the Tree’), and I guess
because of some of the good critical reviews
and that successful time with Skaggs, it garnered
me a little bit of a profile in the bluegrass
community . . . ”
As a result, Parton engaged him for a trio
of CDs: “The Grass Is Blue,” “Little Sparrow”
and “Those Were the Days.”
“Working with Dolly was great, fairly
effortless. I have heard her say she feels real
comfortable with me. She made the comment
that I can play what she’s hearing in
her head, you know musically what she’d
like to have there as an accompaniment. As
a session player you learn to try to fit what
you do into somebody else’s sound. That’s
a big part of the job and having a good attitude
about it. I try to sound as confident as I
can.”
A satisfied Parton invited Sutton to
play in her band when she made the TV
rounds to promote her music, on such as
Jay Leno’s Tonight Show, David
Letterman’s Late Show and Austin City
Limits.
Another high-profile stint came touring
with The Dixie Chicks: “I think they are
very talented. If anything, they’re not yet
exactly what they want to sound like, which
is nice. On a personal level, we live in an
era where people are sometimes afraid to
make a decision or to say anything. They’re
not afraid to speak their minds, obviously,
politically. Even if they didn’t know what
they want ncessarily in the studio, they were
willing to work and try stuff out.
“It was a great time and opportunity to
work with them. We all had a lot of input
on that first record with them, their ‘Home’
album, the acoustic thing they had. We did
‘Home’ recordings down in Austin (Texas)
over a week or two, working with (Natalie’s
father) Lloyd Maines, a legendary Texas
producer. I played some solos on their ‘Fly’
album, but that was it.”
More recent recordings have been with
Trace Adkins, Randy Travis, Dierks Bentley,
Phil Vassar, Rhonda Vincent, Trent Willmon
and Trisha Yearwood.
“Today I’m doing a tune or two for a new
band on RCA. They’re called Due West. I
think it’s a developmental deal, so we’re
doing some production demos. Hopefully,
they’ll get more of a record going later on.”
Any plans?
“Yes, I’ve got some upcoming dates with
Earl (Scruggs). He doesn’t have a specific
band and so a lot of times there will be different
calls for different shows. I’m still
playing some with Hot Rize, and I’ll also
do some playing this fall with the mandolin
player Chris Thile of the Nickel Creek band.
He’s got a solo album out and Nickel
Creek’s not doing anything much. We’re big
pals. I’ve known Chris quite awhile, back
when he was just coming up on the scene.”
Does he lose money by passing up sessions
to do the occasional tour?
“It balances out. I’ve found that performing
live is something I can’t live without.
I’m very blessed and fortunate to have the
opportunity to do both. It’s a hard balance,
but I’ve looked to people like Jerry Douglas,
Stuart Duncan, musicians throughout
the years, who have managed both ends of
it. I’ve tried to learn from people like that.”
Alias Chamber Ensemble
approaches fifth season,
with trio of Blair concerts
The Alias Chamber Ensemble marks its
fifth anniversary via an innovative 2006-’07
concert season, with its first program in the
group’s Double Take Series, launched Oct.
13. That concert at Blair School of Music’s
Turner Recital Hall boasted Chamber Works
By Acclaimed Living Composers Stephen
Paulus, Gabriela Lena Frank, Michael
Daugherty and Kevin Puts.
According to Alias’ Artistic Director
Zeneba Bowers’ announcement, works performed
included Paulus’ Air on Seurat for
cello and piano; Frank’s Leyendas An
Andean Walkabout for string quartet;
Daugherty’s Paul Robeson Told Me for
string quartet; and Puts’ And Legions Will
Rise.
Bowers, also Assistant Principal Second
Violin for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra,
noted that the non-profit group earmarks
its performances to benefit fellow
non-profit partners. The season’s Oct. 13
concert benefitted Better Decisions.
Alias aligns itself with educational organizations
in Middle Tennessee, in an effort
to present its unique chamber music offerings
to students across the spectrum. Two
more charitable performances by the ensemble
are scheduled for March 7 and May
12, also in Turner Recital Hall.
In addition to Bowers, participants include
violinists Alison Gooding and Jeremy
Williams, clarinetist Lee Carroll Levine,
harpist Licia Jaskunas, horn player Leslie
Norton, oboist Roger Wiesmeyer, percussionist
Christopher Norton and cellists
Michael Samis, Christopher Stenstrom and
Matt Walker.
The next concerts and their dates feature
the following:
Wednesday, March 7, 2007 - Leonard
Bernstein Three Meditations from MASS for
cello and piano; Gabriela Lena Frank’s
Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout for string
quartet; Johannes Brahms’ Trio for horn,
violin and piano. This concert benefits the
Martha O'Bryan Center.
Saturday, May 12, 2007 - J. S. Bach’s
Cantata, BWV 199, Mein Herze schwimmt
in Blut; Michael Daugherty’s Paul Robeson
Told Me for string quartet and tape; Kevin
Puts’ And Legions Will Rise for violin, clarinet,
and marimba; Amy Beach’s Piano
Quintet in F sharp. This concert benefits Big
Brothers, Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee.
All concerts start at 8 p.m. Tickets for
Alias’ Double Take Series are $5 and $12
for students (with ID). For details, call 1-
800-838-3006 or visit www.aliasmusic.org
Are you moving?
Report any changes in address or
beneficiary, to your Local,
(615) 244-9515, Ext. 240.

October-December 2006 The Nashville Musician 21
By WALT TROTT
This reporter was fearful the Pirates of
the Mississippi might order “walk the
plank,” after arriving 15 minutes late for our
interview.
“Hey, it’s show business,” boomed Rich
(Dude) Alves, who fortunately seemed in a
jolly mood that a.m. when we met at their
p.r. agency Aristo/Media.
Fellow “Pirate” Bill McCorvey seemed
less hearty, as he glanced with what looked
like the evil eye.
“Blame Harold Bradley,” the coward in
me called out, indicating my meeting with
Local 257’s chief took longer than anticipated.
“I’ll bet he doesn’t even know who we
are,” scowled “Wild Bill,” lead vocalist.
“You’d lose, because he sends his greetings.”
McCorvey’s concern may have to do
with the fact that the original Pirates abandoned
ship several years back, leaving him
and Alves to hoist their new banner - a new
album “Heaven & A Dixie Night” - under
the colors of Evergreen Records.
With Alves and McCorvey as the crew’s
main songwriters, the five first scored via
their self-titled 1990 Capitol country-pop
crossover album, and such singles as
“Rollin’ Home,” “Speak of the Devil” and
“Til I’m Holdin’ You Again.”
And after copping the ’90 Academy of
Country Music’s Best New Vocal Group
Award, they hit with what’s now their signature
song “Feed Jake” (#15, 1991), a tune
that also generated a best video award.
It’s been a baker’s dozen years, however,
since the Pirates last charted, so what
spurred the comeback CD (released Aug.
29)?
“One of the songs on the album’s called
‘Fish Bait,’ it’s about hard times. Bill and I
feel it’s self-biographical as we were between
writing stints at the time,” explains
guitarist/vocalist Alves. “I just had this wild
idea about fishbait. Economically like many
people today, we were just living from paycheck-to-paycheck,
just getting by. My big
cuts had dwindled down to hundreds of dollars
instead of thousands. I thought, ‘God, I
need a big cut. I feel like fish bait with sharks
circling all around me.’ So it kinda came
from that.
“Bill and I had seen each other from
time-to-time, but hadn’t done anything creative
together. So I said, ‘I have this idea
for a song. Why don’t you come over to the
house, and let’s see what happens.’ We wrote
that song in about an hour. And I thought,
‘Man! This is great!’ So we decided to play
a couple of gigs and see whether the chemistry
was still there. We went out of town,
and found that it felt really good again . . . ”
McCorvey, who also plays banjo and
guitar, adds, “It was great to get back out
there to see the reaction of listeners. I was
surprised at how easy it was to jump back
in there and start singing again . . . You don’t
realize how much you like it, until you get
back on it. So yes, ‘Fish Bait’ was the song
that brought us back together.”
Augmenting the duo now are Ross Sermons,
bass; Pasi Leppikangas, drums/percussion;
and Gordon Mote, keyboards. Filling
in has been Dan Nadasdi, ex-Michelle
Wright pianist.
Alves and McCorvey have written hits
for such acts as Alabama, Sammy Kershaw,
Rascal Flatts, Jamie O’Neal and Mark Wills.
Part of the reason they initially banded together
as Pirates of the Mississippi, insists
Wild Bill, “Was that we were writing stuff
that really wasn’t mainstream, so we had to
perform it ourselves to get ’em out there for
people to hear. It was an outlet for our writing.”
“Kickin’ Up Dust,” their new CD’s first
single, apparently is shaking things up a bit,
according to Bill, “It’s been out only a few
weeks, but it went from 61 to 54 and now
to 44. So the initial response has been positive.”
Rich: “That business is a whole other
deal. I can’t think about that and try to be
creative and write songs . . . but we’re very
appreciative of anyone that cares enough to
play it.”
They’re also thankful to Evergreen’s
Johnny Morris, who heard a demo of their
newly-penned songs and suggested recording
the album, which hit the street a year
later.
“Bill and I co-produced this new album
with John Kelton, and did it together our
way. A lot of times I hadn’t heard what Bill
had done, or he might be off doing his thing,
but we’d call each other at night and maybe
say ‘I love that guitar portion’ or ‘That banjo
part, it kills!’ It’s a natural thing for us, and
that’s how focused we are.”
While their album was in production,
Morris asked the artists, “Can you guys
come up with a Christmas song? We’ll put
that out (December ’05) there and kind of
let them know the Pirates are starting up
again. Otherwise, people might think that
the Pirates were dead - or sunk at sea.”
Thus Alves and McCorvey, who wrote
or co-wrote all 12 tracks, joined regular contributor
Don Goodman to collaborate on
“Snowman in Birmingham” (on the CD).
“Rich had this title that he kept running
by me, so I came up with a (guitar) lick that
we liked and the rest just kinda flowed.”
So without fanfare, Evergreen released
it as a holiday single, says Alves, “It got
good airplay and did OK. Mainly, it got
some things stirred up for us.”
Since the other three original Pirates
were out of the picture, why not just call
your act Bill & Rich?
“(Ha! Ha!) Probably Big & Rich
wouldn’t like that, replies Alves. “I think
mainly because it’s the way we were known
before and that’s the way we are. The Pirates
is basically our sound. The only change
is we took the steel out for the keyboards.”
Former drummer Jimmy Lowe is now
a computer programmer and fully involved
in a career outside music, says Alves, “but
he says he misses the Pirates and if our
drummer ever gets sick to call him, as
Jimmy’s got plenty of sick days coming.”
Meanwhile, steel guitarist Pat Severs is
playing guitar for “American Pie’s” Don
McLean: “He always wanted to be a guitar
player anyway . . . and Dean (Townson) is
living in town, and not playing bass anymore.
But he’s doing fine.”
Pirates Alves and McCorvey.
Starting over, how do they hope to compete
against such younger hotshots as Rascal
Flatts?
“We’ll just do what we do,” answers
Bill. “But I’d love to open for ’em, I’ll say
that. Ours has always been a band thing, not
a big image thing. The music is our image.”
Could all the hoopla about “The Pirates
of the Caribbean” movie trilogy transfer interest
from a new generation of fans?
“We didn’t have a clue that would be
going on,” grins Rich. “But it’s cool!”
Bill muses, “We don’t have a generation
gap at all. We’ve got the same people
that came to our 1990s’ shows. I mean we’ve
got parents, grandparents and children.
Yeah, they’re older now, but we’re not.”
Then Rich points out, “When we did
the CMA Riverfront Park festival this summer,
which was sort of our official comeback
into country music, we didn’t know
what to expect or whether fans would even
know who we are.
“But there was this little girl, like about
5 or 6, and she was singing along with our
song when we did ‘Feed Jake.’ Then she
comes through our autograph line and hands
me this little scribbled piece of paper she’d
ripped from a Spiral notebook, and calls
‘Rich! Rich!’ She even knew my name - and
it said on that paper, in a big heart, ‘I love
the Pirates of the Mississippi!’ I said,
‘Dang! That must be some kind of a sign
from someone on high.’
“All we need this time is to keep our
wits about us, and our focus now is on the
album. I think the best thing now is that Bill
and I are back together again, and having
fun. I’m actually enjoying doing this . . . As
you can tell, we don’t take ourselves too
seriously.”
Since they no longer qualify as best new
group, what award would they aim for this
time out?
Wild Bill’s response: “Best new career
award, how about that?”
New Music award nominees
New Music Weekly magazine has announced
the nominees for its 2006 music
awards, including the best in country
sounds.
Nominees for Country Female Artist of
the Year are Taylor Swift, Carrie
Underwood, Sara Evans, Danielle Peck and
Miranda Lambert; And for male artist:
Collin Raye, Eric Church, Todd Fritsch, Tim
Murphy and Joe Nichols.
Other categories include Country Group/
Duo of the Year: Well Hungarians,
Sugarland, Blue County, Hometown News
and Emerson Drive; Best New Country
Group/Duo: Pirates Of The Mississippi,
Heartland, Lantana, Poverty Neck Hillbillies
and Hot Apple Pie.
Nominated for best country single: "I
Loved Her First" Heartland; "Bring It On
Home” Little Big Town; "Findin’ A Good
Man" Danielle Peck; "Leave The Pieces"
The Wreckers; and "Why" Jason Aldean.
Local 257’s Bill Wence and his firm
Wence Promotions competes in the category
of Country Promoter/Company of the Year,
with Alan Young (Alan Young Promotion);
James Williams (James Williams Promotion);
Debbie Green (BGM); and Nancy
Tunick (Grassroots Promotion).
Winners will be announced Nov. 18,
2006, at the Avalon Theater in Hollywood,
Calif., during a live program co-hosted by
American Idol artist Carmen Rasmussen and
syndicated radio personality Buck McCoy.
New Music Weekly, a trade publication,
boasts more than 500 reporting radio stations
as a source for its lists. - WT
Curt Gibson, guitarist, dies
Local 257 Lifetime Member Curt
Gibson, 80, died Sept. 16 in Nashville, following
a heart attack. His son Steve Gibson
is also a union musician.
Curt Gibson
The senior Gibson underwent heart surgery
about 10 years ago, his widow Mary
explained. In his last week he suffered from
pneumonia and a stroke.
Curtis Clarence Gibson was born July
31, 1926 in Missionary Grove, near
Cullman, Ala. He attended West Point, Ala.,
schools, and became interested in music
from an early age.
At age 6, a dynamite accident resulted
in the loss of fingers on his left hand. According
to Curt, his brother restrained doctors
from amputating his hand at the wrist.
His greatest feat was that he noted his guitar
strings with only two-and-a-half fingers
on his left hand. King of Country Music Roy
Acuff later commended Curt for “doing
something that couldn’t be done.”
In 1945, Curt came to Nashville to perform
on WLAC radio, having performed on
radio in Birmingham with the Johnny
Sullivan Band. Sullivan, just discharged
from the military, would later replace Ken
Marvin (as Lonzo) when he left John’s
brother Rollin (Oscar) Sullivan’s act Lonzo
& Oscar, to go solo in ’50.
Indeed during the early 1950s, Curt
toured as a solo act on a bill with the Opry
comedy duo Lonzo & Oscar, now consisting
of brothers John and Rollin. Gibson
liked to tell of how he had the distinction
during a gig in Indianapolis of receiving top
billing over newcomer Elvis Presley.
During the latter 1950s, Curt became associated
with George Morgan of “Candy
Kisses” fame, and later played rhythm guitar
for the Grand Ole Opry great. He remained
a picker and right hand man with
Morgan 13 years.
Starting in 1973, Gibson also worked
for Opry comedian-banjoist David
(Stringbean) Akeman, a regular on the Hee
Haw TV series. On Nov. 10, 1973, Akeman
and wife Estelle were murdered, Curt had
sung harmony on the Opry with Stringbean,
for a novelty number “Hot Corn, Cold
Corn,” something he always remembered.
Another sad, but ironic twist was that
Gibson rehearsed with Akeman a song they
planned for their next appearance, “Lord,
I’m Coming Home,” before the beloved
comic left for his fatal encounter.
Gibson next became a Rainbow Ranch
Boy with Canadian Hank Snow, who took
Curt on his 1974 tour Down Under in Australia.
Snow had just scored his #1 RCA
comeback hit “Hello, Love.” Gibson
claimed proudly that he also had a #1 single
of his own in Australia.
After 12 years with the Opry legend,
Gibson retired from touring in 1986. He
liked playing the occasional Music Performance
Trust Fund show in later years with
son Steve, who can play drums or guitar.
Gibson, who joined Local 257 on Aug.
29, 1958, recently enjoyed chatting about
his George Morgan era with the late singer’s
daughter Lorrie, fondly recalling the hilarious
skit the duo did on stage pretending to
argue about their respective home states Alabama
and Ohio roots.
Survivors include Mary his wife of 55
years; son Steven D. Gibson; and grandsons
Jimmy, Matthew and Curtis Gibson.
Arrangements were handled by Phillips-
Robinson Funeral Home, with a memorial
service highlighting Mr. Gibson’s country
music career, conducted on Sept. 19.
- W.T.

22 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
The three faces of Ferlin - a dynamic entertainer
By WALT TROTT
Ferlin Husky, who recorded a trio of million-selling
country-crossover singles, is back
after heart surgery with a brand new album
“The Way It Is (Is the Way It Was).”
A happier Husky, now in his 80th year,
claims he’s feeling better and even boasts a
new beauty on his arm, vivacious vocalist
Leona Williams.
Ferlin says the first time he had heart surgery
was in Minnesota, “I had four bypasses.
The next one was when they flew me in from
Cody, Wyo., and it was at Baptist Hospital here
in 1990. Then while working in Branson, I had
another heart attack. I’ve had nine bypasses
in all.”
Perhaps best known by fans for his soaring
rendition of the inspirational ballad “Wings
Of a Dove,” Husky’s also celebrated for
“Gone” one of the first signature songs marking
the birth of the late 1950s’ revolutionary
Nashville Sound. It was followed by Ferlin’s
Top 10 cover version of Jimmy C. Newman’s
1957 hit “A Fallen Star.”
“It’s Leona’s idea really that I did the latest
album . . . I didn’t really look forward all
that much to going back into the studio. I just
had eye surgery, wasn’t feeling all that well,
and had given up on recording,” Husky muses.
“For one thing, I had shortness of breath.
Then while we were still in the midst of pulling
it together, I had to go in for my heart again
. . . and I got back in the studio about three or
four weeks after that. But in the end, it came
out pretty good.”
In addition to the title tune written by
Leona, Ferlin sang four of his own compositions:
“We included some songs I’d done years
ago. Leona sang on ‘A Dear John Letter’ and
‘As Long As I Live,’ the old Kitty Wells-Red
Foley duet, with me.”
“A Dear John Letter” earned Ferlin his first
Gold Record in 1953, featuring newcomer
Jean Shepard singing, while Husky as a heartbroken
Korean War GI read a tear-stained farewell
letter from a former sweetheart. It stayed
#1 six weeks on Billboard’s country charts (out
of 23 weeks) and simultaneously scored Top
Five on pop lists.
Its success prompted Capitol Records to
follow up within 90 days a popular answer tune
“Forgive Me, John,” in which Jean Shepard
renounced the brother she spurned him for. By
its seventh week, it was a #4 country click -
and also Top 20 pop. Briefly it appeared Husky
was doomed to recitations, including “The
Drunken Driver,” then cut songs that failed to
chart, among them “Hank’s Song,” “Homesick”
and “I Wouldn’t Treat a Dog Like You’re
Treating Me.”
It was 15 months after his second duet
single that he again charted, this time with a
solo two-sided hit, the upbeat “I Feel Better
All Over, More Than Anywhere Else” (#6) and
(about newsboy) “Little Tom” a tearjerker (#7,
1955). That same year, Ferlin’s rube creation
Simon Crum stormed the charts via the Top
Five novelty number “Cuzz Yore So Sweet.”
With his newly-formed Hush Puppies
band, Husky charted - one week only - with
“I’ll Baby-Sit With You” (#14, 1955). It was
nearly two years before Ferlin returned to the
Billboard charts, this time with a much bigger
bang: “(Since You’ve) Gone,” #1 country 10
weeks (out of 27 weeks’ charting), and yet
another pop entry (#4, 1957). This time critics
were in tune with the powerful baritone,
which boasts a melodic but tearful vocal catch
that captivates listeners.
Ferlin in 1962 with then-wife Bettie, and their
children: Dana, Denise, Danny and David.
Husky: ‘When I seen anybody who had
talent, I tried to help them . . .’
The million-selling “Gone” was written by
veteran entertainer Smokey Rogers, and first
recorded by Husky (1952) when performing
under the stage name Terry Preston. Rogers,
who recorded a Capitol Top 10 himself in 1949
“A Little Bird Told Me,” also wrote or cowrote
the hits “Tho I Tried” for Wesley Tuttle
(#4, 1946), “You Can’t Break My Heart” (#3,
1946) with Spade Cooley, and “Spanish Fandango”
with Bob Wills (flipside to Bob’s
“Bubbles In My Beer,” #4, 1948).
During a hit-and-miss 20+ years with the
Capitol label, Husky charted 41 songs on Billboard:
“I don’t know just how many years I
was on there, but they did about 40 albums on
me.”
After his Capitol departure in 1972, he
added another 10 singles for ABC; out of 51
chartings, Ferlin totaled some 30 at or near
Top 20. Although the trade weekly didn’t chart
country albums until 1964 - thus ignoring
Husky’s many earlier hit LP’s - he still managed
to chart 14 Top 40 albums, notably “I
Could Sing All Night,” “Just For You” and
“Your Love Is Heavenly Sunshine.”
Husky discussed these chartings and his
60-year career, including successes, business
associates, latest album and about being beset
by health and personal problems in a twohours-plus
interview at Shoney’s in suburban
Hendersonville.
“When troubles surround us, when evils
come/The body grows weak, the spirit grows
numb . . .” penned Bob Ferguson in his composition
published by Husky Music in 1959.
“When these things beset us/He doesn’t forget
us/He sends down his love/On the wings
of a dove . .”
The lasting success of that song, and its
eternal message, has sustained Ferlin Husky
throughout a long and problem-prone life
which included the loss of a son and multiple
divorces. Fellow Missourian Ferguson, who
10 years later wrote “The Carroll County Accident,”
once explained “. . . Dove’s” inspiration:
“This is a personal expression of faith
and joy in achieving a goal. When I wrote it, I
had just completed 13 films on wildlife (for
the Tennessee Game & Fish Commission), and
I was elated that the job was done.”
Ferlin Husky was born Dec. 3, 1925 on a
farm in Missouri, near the communities of Flat
River, Hickory Grove and Cantrell, some 50
miles south of St. Louis. (Various biographies
have listed as his hometown one or the others,
none of which are shown on our map.)
The youngster received his musical inspiration
from his mom, whose front parlor was
a rehearsal hall for boys and girls with guitars.
An uncle named Clyde Wilson taught
Ferlin to play guitar, which he found under
the Christmas tree shortly after his 9th birthday.
In appreciation, he later gave Clyde a
touch of celebrity by putting his name on songs
that Ferlin wrote (notably the Top 10 “Little
Tom”).
“I loved Clyde. He passed away and was
so proud that I put his name on them. He’d
come to see me and I introduced him around.
Another name I used on songs was Billy Cole.
He was my cousin who died of cancer. I’ve
used 17 different writer names.”
Growing up in the Great Depression, and
coming of age during World War II, helped to
strengthen Husky’s character. He had a big
heart and would help such struggling entertainers
as Tommy Collins, Billy Mize, Dallas
Frazier, Buck Owens and Roy Drusky.
The latter’s son Roy Jr., nicknamed
“Twig,” told us that shortly before dad’s death,
Ferlin came up to the hospital to visit. Twig
said he was unaware of Ferlin’s role in Roy’s
early career: “After he left, my dad told me
that Ferlin had helped him out back when he
needed it, by letting him perform (and also recording
Drusky’s ‘I Will’ in 1958). We were
glad to see him.”
“When I seen anybody who had talent, I
tried to help them,” smiles Husky, recalling
his early Bakersfield days. “Dallas Frazier was
like my adopted son, just as Tommy was. They
stayed at the house. When Tommy or Leonard
Sipes (his real name) came out there to Bakersfield,
I changed his name to Tommy Collins,
taking it from a drink (Tom Collins). Buck
Owens? I dressed him up, putting some decent
clothes on him and got him with Capitol,
and also Chester Smith, who wrote the hit
‘Wait a Little Longer, Please Jesus.’ He had a
great little run.”
Husky himself would push the boundaries
of country music, taking it in different directions
simultaneously, stretching it by the
sophisiticated balladry of “Gone,” then turn
around and gently antagonize the era’s honky
tonk stylists via his near-chart-topping parody
“Country Music Is Here To Stay” as mimicked
by alter ego Simon Crum.
A versatile showman, Ferlin developed a
unique ability to impersonate fellow entertainers,
notably Roy Acuff, Jimmy Dickens, Eddy
Arnold, Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, Lefty
Frizzell and even pop crooner Bing Crosby.
Simon also managed the feat of singing a duet
with himself, imitating Red Foley and Kitty
Wells, then a popular recording duo. His was
truly a one-man show.
In fact, Ferlin/Simon’s sets were so dynamic,
it got so other artists balked at following
him in the spotlight, and bookers had to
schedule Husky last, which didn’t phase him
as that’s the traditional star spot. During
Ferlin’s peak period, a beginner named Elvis
Presley opened shows on tour with the headliner,
from whom it’s said Elvis picked up
pointers as an entertainer.
With a 1957 summer replacement stint for
CBS’ legendary Arthur Godfrey, Ferlin became
one of the first country stars to host a
network TV show. He also appeared in a 1957
dramatic role on the Kraft Television Theater,
and guested on numerous top-rated programs
like Ed Sullivan’s Toast of the Town and Steve
Allen’s Tonight Show.
Ferlin appeared in Alan Freed’s 1957 romp
“Mr. Rock & Roll,” then Capitol labelmate
Faron Young and Ferlin co-starred in a 1958
take-off threatening to set the movie business
back on its ear, titled “Country Music Holiday,”
featuring Zsa Zsa Gabor and June Carter.
These achievements resulted in Husky being
the first country artist having a star in his honor
placed on the 1950s’ Hollywood Walk of
Fame.
Not bad for a kid who dropped out of
The veteran star’s 2006 album.
Ferlin in his hey-day.
school after the eighth grade, and who later
joined the Merchant Marine, shipping supplies
and troops abroad.
“I began entertaining on ship. We were
transporting troops and to entertain them I had
an old guitar I’d play on and sing songs. When
we’d have a sub alert or an air raid, I’d tell
stories, and all them boys would gather ’round
me ’cause they were scared, ’n’ hell, truth is, I
was scareder than they were. I’d make up the
stories.”
What sort of stories were they?
“They were true stories to start with, but
I’d tell ’em like I was somebody else and in
this different voice,” explains Husky, adding,
“You see, our neighbor across the creek back
home in Missouri was named Simon Crump.
I would tell stories about him out there in the
country. Most of my shipmates were Yankee
boys - oh, there were a few blacks who were
my buddies, because like me they were from
the South - and they all called me ‘Country.’
“They would say, ‘C’mon Country, tell us
some of those Simon stories.’ I told them Mr.
Crump was a big tall guy, sort of like Gary
Cooper when he played ‘Sergeant York’ and
that was the type of man Simon was. Actually,
he was like an uncle to me, and his daughter
still writes to me. Anyway, they got to
where they enjoyed hearing me tell stories.”
With World War II concluded, Ferlin returned
to the St. Louis area seeking an opportunity
to put his talent to use: “Roy Queen was
a gentleman who used to be on KMOX radio
there, and had been like Happy Cheshire and
Uncle Dick Slack, who were radio personalities
when I was a kid working on the farm.
Roy was a big DJ later for years and years. He
passed away about three years ago . . . But
Roy got me started . . . ”
Ferlin took a stage name of Tex Terry and
gained a radio slot on KXLW-St. Louis: “After
I left home, the reason I never used my
own name is because my parents never wanted
me in the music business. So when I started
working the honky tonks in St. Louis, I used
Tex Terry as I didn’t want to disgrace them.
After I became a success they were proud.”
In 1947, Ferlin relocated to the West Coast
where he worked in radio and met up with a
name artist who himself had “graduated” from
radio to movie stardom, playing sidekick to
cowboy king Gene Autry.
“Smiley Burnette helped a lot of people. I
got a job working with Smiley at the Big Barn
when he had a four or five-piece band workin’
that place. He talked to me backstage and
asked me to go on tour with him. Well, I went
on the one tour and when we got back, he got
rid of all them and just kept me. I worked with
Smiley about two years.”

October-December 2006 The Nashville Musician 23
After arriving in California, Ferlin discovered
every club and station had their own Tex
somebody. Capitol Records had two Tex’s
signed, Ritter and Williams. He recalls it was
Smiley who urged the name change: “The film
actor Preston Foster was one of his favorite
people. Smiley always liked him and so that
was one of his favorite names. We were on
tour in upstate New York, Buffalo actually,
with a guy by the name of Foster Brooks (later
famed for a comedic drunk act), whom Smiley
and Gene Autry both knew. Foster Brooks had
a hell of a speaking voice, a good announcer.
“So Smiley said ‘Tex Terry. There’s already
a Tex Terry.’ I had met him and later
worked with him. He had a bullwhip act.
Smiley says, ‘You can keep the name Terry,
that’s a good name. What’s your real name?
Ferlin Husky! That’ll never do.’
“Smiley gave me the actor’s first name as
my last name and I became Terry Preston. His
friend Brooks already had the name Foster
anyway. One of the first times I performed as
Terry Preston was doing Spade Cooley’s TV
show, which Smiley set up. That was back
when TV was just gettin’ started. I remember
Foster Brooks and I walkin’ down the street
in Hollywood when I turned to Foster and
asked, ‘Foster, do you think we’ll ever amount
to anything?’ Without a pause, he said, ‘I will,
but I don’t know about you.’ Well, Foster
worked with me about 10 years ago in Branson
at the Cristy Lane Theater and we got to talkin’
about old times. He reminded me of when we
were walkin’ and talkin’ that day in Hollywood,
and had a good laugh. You know we
have a lot of memories.”
Ferlin said he has fond memories of Gene
Autry, another of his boyhood heroes: “Gene
was a gentleman and I thought the world of
him. He and Smiley helped me to get into the
Durango Kid film series (as an extra). Durango
was Charles Starrett. I think Gene later bought
Four-Star Records (with Joe Johnson).”
In 1948, Bill McCall saw Ferlin’s potential
and signed him to Four-Star: “I was Tex
Terry, then Terry Preston on Four-Star. Smiley
was a good entertainer and a better writer than
people knew (with songs such ‘It’s My Lazy
Day’). He had a deal with Four-Star, his band,
doin’ some recordings and had people singin’
on them. I did the singin’ on a couple.
“I wrote ‘Remembrance of Franklin D.’ on
ship when I heard the President (Roosevelt)
had died (1945). So I recorded that and I believe
it’s in FDR’s archives at Hyde Park
(N.Y.). Another was ‘Ozark Waltz,’ which is
on the back-side. Really, that’s why Four-Star
signed me because of my songs. I’d go down
the road and write one song, then I’d take a
line out of it and make another. I’d take one
song and make 10 out of it.”
Regarding Bill McCall, Ferlin stresses,
“You hear all these negative stories about Bill
McCall later gypping different artists. I’ve
heard it and didn’t realize it until after that
Capitol Records and the people I met since
were worse than he ever was. It’s the gospel
truth! He’s one of the best gentlemen I ever
met. Yes sir, Bill helped me more than anybody
in the business. I’ll tell anybody. I give
credit where credit is due.”
McCall stepped aside for Husky to sign
with Central Songs and subsequently Capitol
Records, a major label with Ken Nelson as its
country A&R.
“Cliffie Stone got my contract from Four-
Star. (Stuart) Buzz Carlton, who helped run
Central Songs for Cliffie, and (promoter) Steve
Stebbins talked to Bill to buy my contract. Bill
knew it was for Central Songs. I was young
and new to the business, so I went with Capitol
in 1951.”
Ferlin with friends Don Pierce (left) and Tommy
Hill a few years ago at ROPE. - Patricia Presley photo
Husky emphasizes that Four-Star was a
great training camp for future stars: “Lord oh
mercy, he had some of the classic artists on
his label first. Acts like the Maddox Brothers
(& Rose), Webb Pierce, Slim Willet, Hank
Locklin, Patsy Cline and Carl Belew. Don
Pierce came in (as an investor) and at first I
didn’t like him because he seemed young and
cocky. I had been there about a year before he
came aboard. But, I’ve known him the longest
of anybody I know in Nashville, and I just
loved Don Pierce.”
Did Husky and Cliffie Stone get along?
“I liked Cliffie, and a lot of the songs I had
written, he got them published for me. He
hosted Hometown Jamboree (KCOP-TV Pasadena)
and gave us a chance to perform, you
know Tennessee Ernie (Ford), Molly Bee,
Johnny Horton and me. Of course, he also recorded
and co-wrote some songs with others
like Merle Travis.”
Ferlin signed with Capitol as Terry
Preston, releasing such singles as “Time,”
“I’ve Got a Woman’s Love,” “Watch the Company
You Keep” and “Gone,” first cut in 1952.
Shortly after another of Ferlin’s heroes
Hank Williams died on Jan. 1, 1953, he wrote
a tribute tune, “Hank’s Song,” marking the first
time to use Ferlin Husky professionally.
“The reason I put my real name on that
was because I had a little following as Terry
Preston, and I didn’t want them saying,
‘What’s Terry Preston doing, trying to ride on
Hank Williams?’
“So I read later on one of my albums that
Ken Nelson takes credit for that (the name
change), too. But when my dad was talking to
’em, he said, ‘If he’d used his real name first,
he would’ve been heard of a long time ago.’
You know a lot of that stuff they wrote on the
backs of my records was fictitious. I looked at
’em one time and wondered, Where did they
get that? It ain’t true. So much of it was made
up - and that’s part of what turned me against
the damn business.”
When “A Dear John Letter” was first issued,
it credited Terry Preston for the recitation,
what happened there?
“Well I didn’t want any name on there but
Jean Shepard’s. I didn’t want to take anything
away from her. Actually, I was a disc jockey
and Bonnie Owens and Fuzzy Owen had put
it out on an independent label. It made the local
jukeboxes and I got to thinkin’ it was a
pretty good song, so when Ken Nelson asked
me to get some material for Jean, I suggested
that one, and first he said, ‘No!’ But I told Ken
to just listen to those lines and convinced him.
“Well, when we got in the studio, I was
there to play bass, or maybe it was rhythm
guitar, on the session, and Ken said, ‘Who are
we going to get to do the recitation?’ I said,
‘You, I guess.’ He said, ‘Why don’t you do
it?’ Well, I remembered when Jean did her first
record, Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant were
on the record and got equal billing to her.
That’s because back then they said girl singers
didn’t sell records. Miss Kitty (Wells) was,
but that was it. Anyhow, I was told do the recitation.
But in the end Ken said everybody
wanted to know who was the guy talking, so
he made the decision to use my name.”
Coincidentally, it was during this time that
Capitol was changing Terry Preston’s billing
to Ferlin Husky, so when the next pressing
came around, Terry was changed to Ferlin.
Why did Capitol record Simon Crum?
“When I was working on radio in Bakersfield,
I called on this character to help me read
the news and I found I was more comfortable
letting Simon do it, and he was good at doing
Simon kids with Kitty & Smiley Wilson on the bus.
Here’s how an early magazine depicted Husky, who has had several personalities a la Preston, Crum, etc.
commercials. He was becoming more popular
than I was . . . ”
Why didn’t Ferlin fire Crum to eliminate
the competition?
“Oh, I’d done that, too. We were in Vegas
at the radio station and got in a row and they
had the sound effects gong as Simon took off
outa there and slammed the door! Well, everybody
was asking me afterwards ‘Where’s
Simon?’ Kids would ask about him. It was
news all over town that he had left me.”
Capitol-izing on the character’s popularity
Nelson recorded Crum (who lost the ‘p’
from shipboard days). His faith was rewarded
when Simon charted Top Five with “Cuzz Yore
So Sweet” in 1955, and then spent 24 weeks
on the Billboard charts with the self-penned
“Country Music Is Here To Stay” (#2, 1959).
Hush Puppies bandsmen have alleged that
Ferlin stopped the tour bus sometimes to duke
it out with Simon on the roadside! And their
bossman doesn’t deny it. Husky’s proud of his
Hush Puppies alumnus: “There were some
great musicians, including Don Helms, Randy
Hughes, Pete Wade, Ike Inman and Red Hayes,
among others (like Sammy Pruett, Howard
White, Smiley & Kitty Wilson).”
In the mid-1960s, Ferlin did additional
movies, among them “Country Music On
Broadway” featuring an all-star cast with Hank
Snow and Stonewall Jackson; “Las Vegas Hillbillies”
with Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van
Doren; and its sequel “Hillbillies in a Haunted
House” with Joi Lansing, Merle Haggard,
Sonny James, Molly Bee and Basil Rathbone..
Which celebrity most impressed Husky?
“I would have to say (former heavyweight
boxing champ) Jack Dempsey. He was my
referee back when I was boxing with the Merchant
Marine. You see he was in the Coast
Guard while I was with the Maritime. There
was a fence between us and we shared the
same sickbay and a lot of things connected
with our training. I was boxing against them
and he refereed and even gave me some pointers.
I was so proud that he always called me
‘Champ,’ until I learned later he called everybody
champ,” Husky said, laughing aloud.
“When I came back, I was walkin’ down the
street in New York City’s Times Square where
he had a restaurant and was seated in the window.
I went in and talked to him, and he re-
membered me.”
Isn’t Ferlin a Life Member of the Nashville
Association of Musicians AFM Local 257?
“Oh sure! That’s because I’ve been there
forever, since George Cooper was president
(for 36 years) - me and Simon both! What happened
there is Don Helms and Randy Hughes
and them boys backstage used to pull jokes on
George, to kid him because they knew how he
liked to be the authority figure. So they started
tellin’ him about this guy Simon working with
me and wanted to know how come he didn’t
have to join the union. Well, ol’ George was
ready to can me for not havin’ Simon Crum in
the Local, since he played guitar! Once he
found out the joke, he was a good sport and
every year when he gave me a new union card,
he’d always have one made out for Simon, as
well. George was a good old man.”
Husky said he first joined the Opry in July
1954, but was summarily sidelined for accepting
a national network TV offer.
“They said I couldn’t leave the Opry to sub
for Godfrey on national television. Somebody
in the higher ups said it, ‘He can’t go because
that’s CBS and we’re NBC.’ It’s a long story,
but it’s true. That’s why I left then, though I
came back. But back then they wouldn’t let
you guest on Smilin’ Eddie Hill’s TV show as
he was on WLAC here, or work clubs right
around town because you were on the Opry.”
According to a 1961 WSM-Opry handbook
Husky was a member that year, until finally
on Dec. 6, 1964 he was again dismissed from
the Opry roster, along with other acts for failing
to appear on 26 shows annually.
“But you know I done as much to promote
the Opry as anyone who was ever on there.”
Harking back to his California days, did he
and the other artists realize that they were pioneering
the fabled Bakersfield Sound?
(Editor’s note: Stay tuned . . . Ferlin
Husky’s story will be concluded in the
next issue of The Nashville Musician
newspaper. Read about his associations
with Tommy Collins, Buck
Owens, Dallas Frazier, and Ken
Nelson, and how he recorded “Gone”
and “The Wings Of a Dove” in Nashville.)
A proud Dad welcomed youngest son Terry as a member of the Local 257 several years back.

24 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
Recording
Musicians
Association
a.k.a. RMA’s
^ . . . Corner Dave Pomeroy, RMA President
By now, almost everyone who is not living
under a rock knows that technology is
changing our world at an ever increasing pace.
The Internet has forever changed the way that
the world gets its news, how it does business
and especially, how it entertains itself. New
business models are being developed every
moment of every day all over the world, and
any one of them could alter the landscape of
the music business forever.
The major record labels are owned by large
corporations who are frantically trying to figure
out how to turn these new technologies
into revenue to help them survive in a market
that has been invaded by TV, movies, DVDs,
videogames and many other forms of entertainment.
Do you think that these companies
care about the artists, musicians and
songwriters who create the music they sell?
They consistently don’t want to pay us
properly or include us in the “found money”
generated by these new technologies. I have
participated in every round of the latest Phono
Agreement negotiations, which have been
prolonged and often contentious, and unfortunately,
the end result is that we STILL do
not have a deal, even though we THOUGHT
we had a tentative agreement last May. Because
of this, the pay raises for Master and
Low Budget Scales that we negotiated for this
year have not taken effect. (Limited Pressing
and Demo Scales are local and set by Local
257.)
Assuming we can finally agree on terms,
the cumulative bump up in pay and pension
next year will be larger, but that won’t bring
back the lost wages and our share of the income
these new technologies are already
bringing in. Many of the issues that are unresolved
relate to the exploitation of “new media”
- Ringtones, ringbacks, and rates for audio
and video downloads. I have been trying
to stay on top of the latest developments, and
I can say cautiously that we ARE moving forward,
but at a much slower pace than I would
like to see.
Hopefully we will have good news to report
in the near future and an Agreement that
incorporates the new technologies in a way
that we can live with. These Agreements are
not perfect by any means, but they are still
the best protection we have against unauthorized
use of our work.
Something else that has come up this year
is a Videogame proposal from another Local
which allows videogame work to be done as
a “buy-out” at a scale that corresponds roughly
to our Demo scale. To make matters even
worse, this proposal would allow music made
for a videogame to be used for ANY other
purpose wihout any additional payments to
musicians who worked on the recording! It’s
not hard to imagine how a major artist could
record a “Soundtrack to a Videogame” and
subsequently decide to release it as an album
and/or license it for film or television work,
ALL WITHOUT ANY ADDITIONAL NEW
USE PAYMENTS!
This proposal is very short-sighted and
dangerous, and if adopted, could easily and
severely compromise, if not eliminate, New
Use and Re-Use payments and our participation
in the Phono and Film Special Payments
Funds. The RMA has offered our own very
fair and reasonable Videogame proposal that
is very well researched and preserves the New
Use and other payments that we deserve.
Rest assured, the RMA is doing all we can
to convince AFM Leadership to do the right
thing and reject any type of buy-out proposal.
It should be noted Local 257 President and
AFM Vice President Harold Bradley has supported
our “no buy-out” position in AFM
meetings on this issue. Thanks, Harold, and
congratulations from all of us on your selec-
tion as the first session player to enter the
Country Music Hall of Fame!
I wish that there was not a need for the
Recording Musicians Association. Those of us
who are fortunate enough to be in the position
of getting paid to do recording work are typically
too busy to keep an eye on the inner workings
of the AFM and its relationship with its
own members and with Industry. However, if
we don’t pay attention and keep working with
our heads in the sand, the rug can be pulled
out from under us in a heartbeat, and how and
why it happened won’t even matter.
For many years, the RMA has brought its
collective knowledge to the bargaining table
and helped protect our ability to make a living.
The RMA is a watchdog for the concerns
of recording musicians, which at times may
differ greatly from the majority of the AFM,
and even its leadership. While it is understandable
that those who do not “do what we do”
may have a different viewpoint on what our
important issues are, that single fact gives us
all the more reason for to stick together and
get involved. It is a healthy part of any decision
making process to have honest, knowledgeable
feedback and opinions on the issues
that affect us everyday, and that is what the
RMA brings to the AFM’s table.
If you are a recording or touring musician,
you should know that the RMA is working tirelessly
on YOUR behalf and protecting YOUR
rights. It’s easy to do nothing, and think that
as long as you are busy, everything is OK. The
reality is that NOW, more than ever, we have
to stand up for ourselves and speak with a unified
voice. The RMA is that voice and if you
are a member, you can help change OUR
Union for the better. It’s your future - Join the
RMA!
Musically Yours,
Dave Pomeroy
President - RMA Nashville
P.S. The long rumored RMA Nashville Directory
will be a reality next year. This will be
made available as an invaluable resource for
producers, publishers, and songwriters who
want to quickly locate the best of Nashville’s
recording musicians. Be sure and renew for
2007 early at so you
will be included!
Writer-musician-promoter
Tillman Franks dead at 86
Bassist-songwriter-manager Tillman
Franks died Oct. 26 in Shreveport, La., following
a long illness. He was in a hospice at
the time of his death.
Franks was well known in Shreveport, especially
during the historic KWKH-Louisiana
Hayride era, and was involved with the careers
of many of its earliest stars, among them Hank
Williams, Johnny Horton, Webb Pierce, Kitty
Wells, Johnnie & Jack, Red Sovine, Faron
Young, Claude King, Goldie Hill, Jim Reeves,
Slim Whitman, Elvis Presley and David Houston.
At one point, he led his own band the Rainbow
Valley Boys, and was with Pierce’s Southern
Valley Boys, where he was referred to by
the nickname “Radar.” He later managed
Pierce, who was soon signed to Decca Records
and onto WSM’s Grand Ole Opry program.
He was born Sept. 29, 1920 in Stamps,
Ark., and he was 2 years old when his family
moved to Shreveport. At 14, he taught himself
to play guitar. While attending suburban Byrd
High School, Tillman formed his first band,
the Rainbow Boys.
During World War II, Franks served with
distinction in the Army Air Corps, including
service on Saipan in the Pacific. While in the
military he also formed a band, this time in-
cluding fellow GI (and future folk star) Pete
Seeger as a key member.
When the Hayride premiered April 3, 1948,
Franks performed, playing bass for the Bailes
Brothers. In time, Tillman co-wrote Webb’s “If
Crying Could Make You Care,” Kitty Wells’
“How Far Is Heaven,” Claude King’s “The
Comancheros” and several for Johnny Hortom,
most notably “Honky Tonk Man,” “I’m a One
Woman Man,” “When It’s Springtime in
Alaska” and “Sink the Bismarck,” the latter
two #1 country singles that crossed over.
Franks served as manager for such key
artists as Claude King, Jimmy C. Newman and
Horton, with whom he was riding when a car
crash claimed Johnny’s life (Nov. 5, 1960).
As an artist himself, Franks charted Billboard
with two Top 30 tunes he co-authored:
“Tadpole” (1963, co-written with Merle
Kilgore) and “When the World’s On Fire”
(1964).
Mr. Franks is survived by his widow Virginia,
two daughters, two sons, eight grandchildren
and a great-grandchild.
Freddy Fender’s
fight finally over
Freddy Fender a.k.a. Baldemar Huerta
Cancer has claimed Tex-Mex icon Freddy
Fender, 69, who waged a courageous battle
against the deadly disease over the past several
years.
Fender, best known for his #1 million-selling
country cross-over singles “Before the
Next Teardrop Falls” and “Wasted Days and
Wasted Nights,” died at his home in Corpus
Christi, Texas, Oct. 14, with his manager-wife
Vangie Huerta by his side.
A veteran of hard knocks, Fender was
grateful on Jan. 24, 2002 that his daughter
Marla Garcia donated a kidney (transplant) for
him, helping to prolong his life. In 2004,
Fender had a successful liver transplant.
“Freddy was an icon for country music and
the American dream. While recording a duet
of ‘Before the Next Teardrop Falls’ with
Freddy this year, it was evident that he still
had the fire that burns in the belly of ‘true’
artists. It was the first time I have ever had
chill bumps in a studio. He was a champion
and a warrior and now he has become my
hero,” says singer Clay Walker in a prepared
statement. “Thank you my friend - save a spot
in heaven for me in your angel band.”
Born Baldemar Huerta, June 4, 1937, in
Benito, Texas, he was the son of immigrant
Mexican parents and grew up in a “Barrio,”
the term for a poor Hispanic neighborhood.
Baldemar worked side by side with his parents
in the fields during picking season in the
Rio Grande Valley, where he heard fellow laborers
entertaining themselves by singing.
Music became his life-long love, and at age
10 he won an amateur talent contest singing
“Paloma Querida” at the Grand Theater in
Harlingen. His prize was a tub-full of food (valued
at $10). He also sang “Paloma Querida”
when in 1947 he made his broadcast bow on
KGBT-Harlingen radio.
A decade later, he recorded in Spanish under
his real name for the Falcon and Mission
labels. Baldemar took time out to join the U.S.
Marine Corps in 1954, serving for three years.
As an artist, Huerta actually tried various
music styles, including country, conjunto,
rockabilly, R&B, playing under different stage
names, among them El Be-Bop Kid (1957),
Eddie Medina (1961) and Scotty Wayne
(1962). Then in the mid-1970s he returned to
the Anglicized Freddy Fender, a nom de plume
he utilized briefly in 1958, taking the surname
from the guitar he played, and “Freddy” be-
cause it flowed well with Fender.
It was in 1959, for Duncan Records in San
Antonio, that he first recorded his then-poporiented
cut “Wasted Days and Wasted
Nights” (which he co-wrote with label owner
Wayne Duncan). Early the following year, it
registered nationally after being picked up by
Imperial Records (home to such legends as
Fats Domino).
Arrested on a marijuana possession
charge, however, Huerta's career was sidelined
as he spent nearly three years of a five-year
sentence in Angola State Prison (1960-’63).
Country Music Hall of Famer Jimmie Davis,
then Louisiana Governor, helped Fender obtain
an early release. After being paroled,
Freddy did session recordings in New Orleans,
and also performed regularly at Papa Joe’s on
Bourbon Street.
From 1969 on, except for weekend gigs,
he dropped out of music professionally while
furthering his education at Del Mar College,
thanks to earned military benefits. During this
period, Freddy also became friends with Houston-based
producer Huey P. Meaux.
In 1974, he returned to the recording scene
to cut the Ben Peters-Vivian Keith ballad “Before
the Next Teardrop Falls,” on Meaux’s
Crazy Cajun label. Picked up by ABC/Dot,
the single charted country Jan. 11, 1975, and
shot to the top of the country chart March 15
(for two weeks), then also went #1 pop on May
31. It won the CMA Single of the Year award.
In turn, Fender was voted the Academy of
Country Music’s Best New Male Singer
(1975).
His signature was singing portions of the
lyrics in English and Spanish, which made
them seem all the more romantic to female
fans. As a result, Fender enjoyed a diverse fan
base, ranging from country to pop to Tejano.
Freddy’s follow-up single “Wasted Days
and Wasted Nights” also went #1 country on
Aug. 9, 1975, and peaked at #8 pop. Those
two country-pop hits earned Fender the trade
weekly Billboard’s Artist of the Year award, a
well-deserved honor because before the year
was out Fender hit #1 country again (Dec. 6)
with “Secret Love,” via his cover of the 1954
#1 Doris Day disc (his also hit Top 20 pop).
Indeed from 1975 thru ’79, Freddy’s
chartings were impressive, including another
#1: “You’ll Lose a Good Thing,” which
peaked pop at #32 in 1976.
Covers were his refuge as he scored with
his Top 10 version of “Since I Met You Baby,”
an Ivory Joe Hunter classic; followed by successes
on “The Wild Side of Life,” Hank
Thompson’s top seller; and “Vaya Con Dios,”
a #1 pop recording by Les Paul & Mary Ford.
Writer Ben Peters had furnished “Living
It Down,” yet another near-charttopper for
Fender in 1976; and producer Meaux encouraged
Freddy to cut Meaux’s “The Rains
Came” (#4, 1977), an earlier hit for Sir Douglas
Quintet.
On May 17, 1977, Freddy sang with Hank
Thompson, Roy Clark and Don Williams in a
performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall, recorded
live for ABC/Dot as “Country Comes
to Carnegie Hall.” His own solo #1 albums
were “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” and
“Are You Ready For Freddy” in ’75. That
same year he had a Top 10 LP “Since I Met
You Baby.” Other Top Five albums: “Rock
’n’ Country,” “If You’re Ever in Texas” and
“The Best of Freddy Fender.”
Fender is heard on the 1982 soundtrack for
the Jack Nicholson film “The Border,” and
appeared in the Robert Redford 1988 movie
“The Milagro Beanfield War.”
Freddy and friends Flaco Jimenez, Doug
Sahm, and Augie Meyers became The Texas
Tornados in ’90, earning a best performance
Grammy for their Latino recording, “Soy de
San Luis.” In 1998, he, Sahm and Jimenez
joined Joe Ely, Cesar Rosas, Ruben Ramos
and David Hidalgo as the Los Super Seven,
and another Grammy was awarded for the new
group’s self-titled album debut (1999).
Climaxing an amazing comeback era,
Fender was honored with yet a third Grammy
in ’02, for a solo effort “La Musica de
Baldemar Huerta,” featuring him paying homage
to the songs he heard while growing up.
(Continued on page 35)

October-December 2006 The Nashville Musician 25
Leona Williams, a new life, a new love . .
Leona Williams at her peak.
By WALT TROTT
Leona Williams is a survivor..
She’s also a classy lady we first met at
Fan Fair 20 years ago, one who licks her
wounds and comes out smiling.
Today, Leona’s still a charmer who
doesn’t care to dwell on hard times, which
includes a troubled teen-aged marriage, a
second ill-fated union with a man afraid of
commitment, and a third hubby, who
brought her happiness before being cut down
by cancer, the dreaded disease that also
threatened her life.
During our chat, the blue-eyed singer
was nursing a sprained ankle suffered as
she misstepped while trying to accommodate
a fan’s request for a picture with her
days earlier: “Oh, it’s a lot better now.”
Leona, known for such numbers as “Yes
M’am, He Found Me In a Honky Tonk,”
“Once More” and “The Bull & The Beaver,”
has been keeping company of late with
Ferlin Husky.
Earlier this year, Leona celebrated the
release of a new album, “I Love You Because,”
which Canadian music critic Larry
Delaney summed up in the July 2006 issue
of Country Music News: “If you like a lot
of soul and hurt in your country music,
Leona Williams is the lady to listen to. On
‘I Love You Because’ she pours her heart
out on a number of new original songs, with
truly outstanding efforts . . . Do not miss
this album, it’s a modern day country classic.”
Likewise, veteran reviewer Al Moir of
the UK’s Country Music People magazine
proclaimed Leona’s latest: “A solid country
album, packed with strong original songs
from a lady who knows what country is all
about, backed by a group of musicians who
share the knowledge. Those who yearn for
good country music should do themselves a
big favor and check this out.”
Justin Trevino produced that album, as
well as “Honorary Texan” her Heart of Texas
debut CD a few seasons earlier, which also
earned them upbeat reviews.
“Until then, I just kinda stopped my career
and tended to my husband Dave
(Kirby). I learned how to push a wheelchair
and pull that little oxygen tank behind, to
get him to all his doctor appointments and
everything,” recalls Williams, whose husband
of nearly 20 years died on April 17,
2004 at age 65.
“Everywhere I went with him, even at
the hospital, there would be fans or people
who had seen me performing in the Grand
Ladies of Country Music Show there in
Branson (at 76 Music Mall Theater), who
would ask, ‘What theater are you working
at this year?’ I’d say, ‘Well, I’m not at one
right now. This is the first day of my new
job.’ I quit everything to take care of Dave
. . . He was a great player and a terrific
songwriter.”
Kirby, born in Brady, Texas, home of
Leona’s new label, was indeed an accomplished
session picker and songwriter, having
penned hits for such as Ray Price (“You
Wouldn’t Know Love”), Charley Pride
(“Anybody Goin’ To San Antone”), Merle
Haggard (“Sidewalks of Chicago,” “What
Have You Got Planned Tonight, Diana?”),
Gene Watson (“Forever Again,” “Memories
To Burn”), Jo-el Sonnier (“No More One
More Time”) and Johnny Cash & Waylon
Jennings (“There Ain’t No Good Chain
Gang”). He was also nephew to Big Bill
Lister for whom Hank Williams Sr. wrote
“There’s a Tear In My Beer.”
“I was married longer to Dave - 19 years
and some months - than to any of my husbands.
He was the best guy in the world.
He got throat cancer . . . ” Leona relates,
wistfully. “Then 14 months after Dave died,
we lost my only son-in-law Jack Lee to cancer
(at age 48). Jack had that real fast kind
that spread to his kidneys, his brain, just
everywhere. He got so that he didn’t want
anybody to see him.”
Jack’s widow, Cathy Lee, Leona’s firstborn,
can be heard singing harmony on
mom’s “I Love You Because,” while
Leona’s vocalist son Ron Williams co-wrote
mom’s CD track “It’s Tearing This Ole
Heart Right Out Of Me” with her (and Leon
Rhodes). She also has a younger son Brady
Williams, who lives in Ozark, Mo., where
he’s an auto firm’s finance manager.
When did Leona learn she had cancer?
“Before Dave died, back in 2001, I was
diagnosed with breast cancer,” she replies.
“It was on my left side and I had to have a
mastectomy. No one in my family had ever
had that before. It was a bad deal and I had
no idea I’d live five more years and be sitting
here for an interview with you. I was
scared to death . . . ”
As most tabloid readers know, Merle
Haggard was her second husband, from
1978-1984, during which they recorded together
and she either wrote or co-wrote several
songs for Merle, who had just ended a
long association with Capitol.
“We did that (Top 10) duet ‘The Bull &
The Beaver’ (1978, MCA), then I sang harmony
on “The Way I Am” (#2, 1980, MCA)
(Continued on page 28)
Leona and her new companion, legendary Ferlin Husky, strike a pose for Patricia Presley.
Sonny James
. . . Country Hall of Famers
(Continued from page 1)
of Austin Local 433. These and CMA’s 40th
annual awards will be presented Nov. 6 at
the Gaylord Entertainment Arena in Nashville.
Hosting the ABC-TV event will be
Brooks & Dunn, who are also nominees.
Brooks & Dunn, vying for best vocal
duo (have a record 13 wins in that category),
are up against Big & Rich, Montgomery
Gentry, Van Zant and The Wreckers.
Sara Evans, Faith Hill, Martina
McBride, Carrie Underwood and Gretchen
Wilson are nominated as best female vocalist;
while their male counterparts seeking
a win in their respective division are
Dierks Bentley, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson,
Brad Paisley and Keith Urban.
The competion for best vocal group:
Alison Krauss & Union Station (featuring
Jerry Douglas), Little Big Town, Lonestar,
Rascal Flatts and Sugarland. Seeking to take
home the newcomers’ Horizon Award:
Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town,
Sugarland, Josh Turner and Carrie
Underwood. (It would seem that if an artist
qualifies for best female vocalist or best
vocal group honors, they shouldn’t be competing
for a Horizon Award.)
Instrumentalists voted best nominees for
this year are: Eddie Bayers, drums; Jerry
Douglas, dobro; Paul Franklin, steel guitar;
Dann Huff, guitar; Brent Mason, guitar; and
Randy Scruggs, guitar.
Nominees in remaining divisions are as
follows: Best Single: “Believe,” Brooks &
Dunn; “Better Life,” Keith Urban; “Jesus
Take the Wheel,” Carrie Underwood;
“Summertime,” Kenny Chesney; and
“When I Get Where I’m Going,” Brad Paisley
& Dolly Parton. Best Album: “Hillbilly
Deluxe,” Brooks & Dunn; “Me & My
Gang,” Rascal Flatts; “Precious Memories,”
Alan Jackson; “The Road & The Radio,”
Kenny Chesney; and “Time Well Wasted,”
Brad Paisley.
Best Song (writers): “8th of November,”
Big & Rich; “Believe,” Craig
Wiseman & Ronnie Dunn; “Jesus Take the
Wheel,” Hillary Lindsey, Brett James &
Gordie Sampson; “Tonight I Wanna Cry,”
Keith Urban & Monty Powell; and “When
I Get Where I’m Going,” Rivers Rutherford
& George Teren; Music Event: Brooks
& Dunn with Sheryl Crow & Vince Gill,
“Building Bridges”; Faith Hill & Tim
McGraw, “Like We Never Loved At All”;
Gretchen Wilson & Merle Haggard, “Politically
Uncorrect”; Brad Paisley & Dolly
Parton, “When I Get Where I’m Going”;
and Bon Jovi & Jennifer Nettles, “Who Says
You Can’t Go Home”;
Best Video (artist & director): “8th of
November,” Big & Rich, directed by Robert
Deaton, George Flanigen & Marc
Oswald; “Believe,” Brooks & Dunn, by
Deaton & Flanigen; “Jesus Take the
Wheel,” Carrie Underwood, by Roman
White; “Kerosene,” Miranda Lambert, by
Trey Fanjoy; and “When I Get Where I’m
Going,” Brad Paisley & Dolly Parton, directed
by Jim Shea.
Dean of Nashville Session Guitarists
Harold Bradley becomes the first inducted
into the Country Music Hall of Fame’s new
instrumental division, although last year
Grand Ole Opry harmonica player DeFord
Bailey was named, following picker Chet
Atkins (also a major producer) and pianist
Floyd Cramer (who became a recording star
thanks to his “Last Date” single).
Bradley, of course, has spent the last 15
years as Local 257 President, and was the
first president of the National Academy of
Recording Arts & Sciences’ Nashville
branch. He is also currently Vice President
of the American Federation of Musicians International,
the first Nashville official to ever
hold office in the international organization.
Bradley, one of the esteemed A Team session
players helping to launch the renowned
Nashville Sound, also joined big brother
Owen Bradley (inducted into the Country
Music Hall of Fame in 1974) in pioneering
Nashville’s recording and film scene in the
early 1950s. In 1955, the brothers Bradley
opened a recording studio on 16th Avenue
South, which they augmented with a quonset
hut, inaugurating what has since become
Music Row. Additionally, Harold recorded
his own solo albums, and produced such stalwarts
as Slim Whitman and Eddy Arnold.
“For the past 60 years I've been focused
on playing the guitar in the Nashville recording
studios. I never thought about being inducted
into the Country Music Hall of Fame
because it seemed to be reserved for famous
artists,” says Bradley. “I want to thank the
CMA for putting studio musicians on the ballot,
and I want to accept this honor on behalf
of the pioneer studio musicians, the A-
Team studio musicians and all recording musicians
everywhere, because they're all in my
Hall of Fame. Somewhere my brother Owen
is smiling.”
Sonny James’ career began with a family
band, playing regional radio stations
throughout the Southeast. He went on to
record for Capitol Records, scoring his biggest
hit with the #1 country-pop crossover
single “Young Love.” Hailed as “The Southern
Gentleman,” he set a record on the Billboard
charts early on with 16 straight #1
singles (1967-’71), giving him a total of 23
charttoppers, out of an overall total of 43 Top
10s.
In addition to his own recording successes,
James produced other artists, most
notably Marie Osmond, including her #1
million-seller “Paper Roses.” He also cowrote
many of his own hits, among them
“You’re the Only World I Know” (with Bob
Tubert), “Room in Your Heart” (with Frances
Long) and “Don’t Keep Me Hangin’ On”
(with Carole Smith), and appeared in several
movies. James was named Artist of the
Decade by Record World, a trade publication
of the 1960s. Of this latest accolade, he
says: “It's a great honor to join many of my
friends in the Hall of Fame.”
George Strait recently set a new record
of #1 country singles (41) with “Give It
Away,” surpassing the late Conway Twitty’s
Billboard record of 40 #1s (though Twitty
also had a pop #1, “It’s Only Make Believe”).
Strait’s enjoyed a 25-year career of Top 10
successes, since his chart breakthrough “Unwound”
(#6,1981), all for MCA.
From 1986-’89, he had 11 straight #1
records, among them “Ocean Front Property”
and “Ace In the Hole.” He starred in
the 1992 movie “Pure Country,” and was
twice voted CMA Entertainer of the Year.
- Walt Trott
George Strait

26 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
Trottin’ about the music scene
Dolly Parton to be honored.
Local 257 member Dolly Parton is the
country pick this year for the Kennedy Center
(KC) For the Performing Arts’ annual honors
in Washington, D.C.
“I am thrilled and humbled to be receiving
the (KC) honors this year. When I look at
the list of past recipients, it is hard for me to
believe that a poor, country girl from the hills
of Tennessee could be included in such distinguished
company,” she said in a prepared
statement.
President George W. Bush and First Lady
Laura Bush will help pay their respects to
Dolly and fellow honorees Andrew Lloyd
Webber, Zubin Mehta, Smokey Robinson and
Steven Spielberg for this career achievement
recognition, Dec. 3
Bits & Pieces: The Hollywood pair who
scored with the award-winning “Hustle &
Flow,” director Craig Brewer and actor
Terrence Howard, are reteaming for a planned
film bio on Country Music Hall of Famer
Charley Pride. Oscar-nominated Howard (who
portrayed a pimp in “Hustle & Flow”) would
play Mississippi-born Pride, who placed 29
#1 hits on Billboard, the trade weekly. Among
these are “Is Anybody Goin’ To San Antone,”
“Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’,” and “Mountain
of Love” . . . Vivendi SA’s Universal
Music Group agreed Sept. 6 to pay $2.09 billion
to buy BMG Music Publishing Group
from the German media conglomerate
Bertelsmann, making it the largest music publisher
in the world. The French company (Vivendi
) will now own the rights to international
song hits by such artists as Coldplay, Barry
Manilow, Nelly, and the Beach Boys, as well
as country successes recorded by the likes of
Rascal Flatts, Trace Adkins, and Martina
McBride . . . The latter country singer has recorded
a “duet” with Dean Martin, “Baby It’s
Cold Outside,” thanks to the wonders of electronics.
Of course, “Dino’s” original track was
cut in Hollywood’s Capitol Records studio in
1959 (he died Christmas day 1995). The
Martina-Dean Martin coupling appears on a
16-track CD “Christmas With Dino” in time
for yule holiday sales. Waxing enthusiasm,
McBride says, “It’s an honor to be able to be
a part of this. Dean had such a great voice and
to be able to sing with him all these years later
is a thrill.” She’ll include the song on her
Buddy Killen
fourth annual 16-city Christmas tour starting
Nov. 24 . . . RCA’s legendary 1950s’ act The
Browns - Maxine, Bonnie and Jim Ed - reunited
for a Sept. 10 performance in
Russelville, Ark., their first home-state appearance
in 40 years. It was a fund-raiser for a proposed
$6 million hospice center there. The
family trio’s best known for their #1 pop-country
crossover hit “The Three Bells” in 1959.
Big sister Maxine bared all in a provocative
bio titled “Looking Back To See,” after their
first hit she co-wrote in 1954 (the University
of Arkansas Press published her book in 2005)
. . . KZLA-FM-Los Angeles, the city's only
country station, has changed its format to adult
contemporary music. So now there are no
country stations in L.A., San Francisco or New
York City hubs.
Legal File: A Sept. 25 order by the Supreme
Court of Tennessee disclosed upholding
the Jan. 20 ruling by the Middle Tennessee
Court of Appeals denying PolyGram
Records’ and Legacy Entertainment Group’s
petition for ownership of Hank Williams’ performance
tapes of the WSM Mother’s Best
radio program, most of which were broadcast
in 1952. This marks another victory for Williams’
heirs - Hank Jr. and Jett Williams - who
brought a joint lawsuit claiming ownership of
their dad’s works. Many songs he performed
on the radio show were covers of other artists’
hits, among them “On Top Of Old Smoky”
(The Weavers) and “Blue Eyes Crying in the
Rain” (Roy Acuff).
More News Items: Tim McGraw is the
latest superstar to start up his own record label,
StyleSonic Records, this in partnership
with longtime producer Byron Gallimore. Reportedly,
StyleSonic will work in liaison with
Tim’s current major label Curb Records (to
which he owes several more albums). The
indie’s first release? The movie soundtrack to
the McGraw starrer “Flicka,” with a CD streetdate
of Oct. 17. McGraw, also executive producer
on the film, stated, “I am so excited to
officially announce the new label. We also
have several new artists that we are in the studio
working on.” By the way, Tim and wife
Faith Hill’s Soul2Soul II current concert tour
has been labeled the highest-grossing North
American country tour ever by Billboard, taking
in some $89 million ($27 million more than
pal Kenny Chesney’s previous high).
Soul2Soul II also ranks as the top-selling show
among all genres. Other country acts currently
ranking in the all-genre Top 10 for ’06 are
Kenny Chesney and Rascal Flatts, each scoring
over a million tickets sold to fans across
the nation . . . Meanwhile, “Time Marches On”
hitmaker Tracy Lawrence is another star
launching his own label - Rocky Comfort
Records - in a partnership with brother Laney
Lawrence. Laney is president, while Tracy’s
A&R chief. Lawrence’s first single “Find Out
Who Your Friends Are” is out, while the first
album’s due by early ’07 . . . A Dixie Chicks
documentary titled “Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and
Sing” was screened to favorable reviews at the
recent Toronto International Film Festival. The
documentary deals with the trio’s career ups
and downs since lead vocalist Natalie Maines
blasted President George Bush during a concert
appearance in Great Britain in 2003. It’ll
be unspooled next at the London Film Festival.
Honors: Singer Emmylou Harris received
Leadership Music’s Dale Franklin Award, during
a filmed tribute in the new Schermerhorn
Symphony Center, Sept. 19, hailing her contributions
to music. She was praised by exbandsman
Rodney Crowell as an “arbiter of
integrity,” and by yet another former sideman
Tony Brown as having “her handprint all over
Nashville.” British star Elvis Costello, acting
as emcee, described Harris’ voice as “a wonder
of both the air and the earth.” Leadership
Music is a Nashville-based charitable organization
dedicated to promoting educational
projects . . . Ronnie Milsap is this year’s Lifetime
Achievement artist recipient durng the
International Entertainment Buyers Association
awards banquet, Oct. 17, in the Nashville
Hilton Hotel downtown. Earning the 2006 In-
Patricia Presley snaps The Cherryholmes family
band at the recent IBMA Festival in Nashville.
- Photo by Patricia Presley
At the proposed Nashville Walkway of Stars - note sample sidewalk plaque - are (from left) Sam Bush,
Pam Tillis, Earl Scruggs, Steve Cropper, Megan Mullins and Gunnar Nelson, singing son of Ricky Nelson.
dustry Achievement award is manager-guitarist
Narvel Blackstock, husband of singer-actress
Reba MeEntire . . . ASCAP will honor
veteran songwriter Jimmy Webb with its prestigious
Voice of Music Award at the 44th annual
ASCAP Country Music Awards, Oct. 23,
in the historic Ryman Auditorium. Webb wrote
such winners as “By the Time I Get To Phoenix,”
“MacArthur Park,” “Wichita Lineman,”
“Honey, Come Back” and “Didn’t We.” The
Grammy-winning writer from Oklahoma is
only the sixth to receive the Voice of Music
honor, joining previous recipients Garth
Brooks, George Strait, Diane Warren, Amy
Grant and Kenny Chesney . . . Incidentally,
ASCAP recently revealed it will award some
$2.68 million to writer-members during 2006-
2007, as part of the performing rights
organization’s ASCAP-Plus program, which
seeks to reward composers whose works possess
a unique prestige value for which adequate
compensation would not otherwise be received.
ASCAP boasts over eight million copyrighted
works among more than 250,000 members.
Star Bright: Gibson Music, the Country
Music Foundation and the City of Nashville
combined forces to announce a new Walkway
of Stars slated for Music City USA, come November
2006. Mayor Bill Purcell was on hand
Aug. 10 to give the city’s official endorsement
of the pending walkway (which will stretch
from near the Country Music Hall of Fame up
close to Music Row), along with such celebrities
as Hall of Famer Earl Scruggs, singers Joe
Cocker, Pam Tillis and Gunnar Nelson, son of
late rockabilly legend Ricky Nelson, and various
other music VIPs . . . Steel Guitar Hall of
Famer Don Helms will be showcased in the
next quarterly program of The Nashville Cats
series, sponsored by the the Country Music Hall
of Fame & Museum, 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11.
Helms’ career retrospective, conducted in the
hall’s Ford Theater, will be hosted by curator
Bill Lloyd. Helms, one of Hank Williams’ Drifting
Cowboys, can be heard on such classic
MGM Hank Sr. cuts as “Your Cheatin’ Heart,”
“I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love With You),”
“Kaw-Liga” and “Cold Cold Heart.” Don also
played steel for other legendary singers like
Lefty Frizzell, Ferlin Husky, Ray Price and
Patsy Cline. The program covers an
instrumentalist’s career, highlighted by Lloyd’s
interview with the spotlighted artist, augmented
by audio-visual elements, such as recordings,
rare pictures, film clips and sometimes playing
by the artist. The audience is invited to ask questions.
Previous honorees: Lloyd Green, Charlie
McCoy and Harold Bradley. For details, call
(615) 416-2001.
Get Well Wishes: To Local 257 Lifetime
Member W. D. (Buddy) Killen, bassist-producer-publisher,
who’s been suffering from
pancreatic and liver ailments. Killen, of
course, is the fellow who helped build Tree
Music into one of the world’s major publishing
houses (sold to Sony in 1989), and produced
acts like Joe Tex, Exile and Ronnie
McDowell. Killen also wrote the pop hit “Forever”
and recorded with singer Bonnie (“Dark
Moon”) Guitar on such duets as “A Truer
Love You’ll Never Find.”
Final Curtain: Rocky Morales, 65, tenor
sax man best known for his work with Doug
Sahm, died Aug. 2 of lung cancer. He was a
member of the West Side Horns, with fellow
sax player Louis Busto and trumpeter Charlie
McBurney. They toured and recorded with
Sahm and the Grammy winning Texas Tornados
. . . Mississippi-born singer-songwriter
Jumpin’ Gene Simmons, 73, died Aug. 29.
He’s best remembered for his Halloweenstyle
pop hit “Haunted House” (#11, 1964).
The rockabilly artist once recorded for the
historic Sun Records (with little success) and
also opened shows for fellow Tupelo-born
Elvis Presley. Another of Simmons' songs is
the novelty hit “Indian Outlaw” (co-written
with John D. Loudermilk and Tommy
Barnes), which launched the career of Tim
McGraw in 1994 . . . Nashville author and
photo-journalist Jerry W. Langley, 71, died
Aug. 17, following a lengthy illness. He cowrote
the 2005 books “Number One Country
Hits: 1944-2004” and “Many Tears Ago:
The Life & Times of Jenny Lou Carson” (both
with Arnold Rogers), published by Nova
Books. Mr. Langley once worked with
Nashville’s WSMV-TV Channel 4, an NBC
affiliate . . . Charles Derrington, 51, a master
mandolin maker with Gibson Music, died
Aug. 2, after his motorcycle was hit head-on
by an illegal immigrant Julio Villasana. Witnesses
stated Villasana was driving the wrong
way on Briley Parkway in Nashville when
his car collided with Derrington’s 2005
Yamaha, knocking the victim into the median
strip. The car’s driver attempted to flee on
foot, but police arrived in time to apprehend
Villasana, allegedly driving under the influence.
He was being held on immigration-hold
until authorities could ascertain his situation.
Derrington built and repaired instruments for
many artists, most memorably restoring Bill
Monroe’s celebrated 1923 Gibson F-5 - now
valued at more than $1 million - after an intruder
had smashed it into pieces . . . Norman
(Gene) Clark, 66, of Chattanooga, Tenn., died
Aug. 10. In 1962, he relocated to Nashville,
where he became a WMAK personality, who
helped raise over 100,000 toys to benefit the
Marine Corps’ Toys For Tots’ fundraiser.
Clark was also founder of Spotland Productions
in Nashville, producing numerous commercials,
while also training potential ad producers
during his tenure. In turn, Clark received
many Addy, Clio and Silver Mic
awards. He moved back to the Chattanooga
area in 1997. Among his urvivors are daughter
Vikki Shumake; son Jay G. Clark; and
grandchildren Jacob Hamby, Zachary Hamby,
Rebecca Hamby and Meagan Stone. - WT

October-December 2006 The Nashville Musician 27
Heartland: ‘I Loved Her First’
By WALT TROTT
No more playing for free, as Heartland's
all over the music map these days.
This Alabama-based band played for
Jerry’s Kids, the annual Labor Day
fundraiser by comic Jerry Lewis to benefit
Muscular Dystrophy victims; they’re opening
shows for the likes of Gretchen Wilson;
and their debut single “I Loved Her First”
is inching its way into Billboard’s Top 10
singles chart.
As we write this, it’s already at #7 on
iTunes’ country download list, its hot video
is #9 on CMT’s Country Chart USA, and
it’s fast becoming a wedding favorite, all of
which makes Heartland the new flagship act
of the Lofton Creek label.
What other differences have occurred
careerwise for Heartland, since signing with
Mike Borchetta’s indie record company?
“Well, we’re sitting in the William Morris
(Talent) Agency, aren’t we? We’ve visited
with CMT, WSM and other great folks
here in Nashville and we’re talking to you!,”
exclaims lead vocalist Jason Albert. “And
opening shows for Brad Paisley is a far cry
from playing a bar with chicken-wire (to
protect the band from bottles thrown by
unruly patrons).”
Besides Albert, boys in the band are
Mike (Mikey) Myerson, lead guitar; Craig
Anderson, rhythm guitar; Keith (“Wild”)
West, bassist; Charles (Chuck) Crawford,
fiddle; and Todd Anderson, drums. These
musicians are fun-filled, but focused.
Do they expect to be victimized by Brad
Paisley’s penchant for practical jokes?
“No, but we’ve heard it’s coming,” says
Todd. “We play our first date with him in
Lake Tahoe, and then in Atlanta and Birmingham.
We cut up quite a bit, so he better
watch out.”
Hard to believe Heartland only signed
with Lofton Creek on May 3, put their first
single out in time for Father’s Day, and saw
it hit #12, after only 10 weeks’ charting.
“You can attribute that to a couple of
things,” says Craig. “One being the strength
of the song itself, it’s a legitimately good
song, and second to the people at Lofton
Creek, who are really working hard to get it
out. I hope that we can match their work
ethic. If we can do as a band what they’ve
done as a label, then we’ll do well.”
The new signees’ introductory song was
co-written by Elliott Park, an illustrator from
Texas, collaborating with veteran Walt
Aldridge, a native of Muscle Shoals, Ala.,
whose prior penned hits include Ronnie
Milsap’s “No Getting Over Me,” Reba
McEntire’s “The Fear of Being Alone” and
Earl Thomas Conley’s “Holding Her and
Loving You.”
“We were soliciting material for demos
to record to pitch to industry people, and
heard that Walt was having a songwriter
showcase and we went to listen and he
played ‘I Loved Her First’ in his acoustic
set,” explains Mikey. “I have a daughter
myself and to hear him play that song, I just
got chilled, it tore me up.
“We introduced ourselves and said we
were looking for material and he agreed to
send us a CD of songs. Well, that happened
to be on it and we couldn’t believe that nobody
had recorded it yet. After we had
signed with Mike we recorded the single . .
and it was just a natural thing to have Walt
produce it.”
Aldridge, who’d worked with the likes
of Tim McGraw, Lou Reed, Alabama and
was once lead singer for The Shooters,
passed the acid test.
“When Walt speaks, everybody listens,”
insists Craig. “You have to, whether you
agree with what he’s saying or not, because
he’s been there, he’s done it. He was in a
group situation. He’s high on our list, a
mentor. We’ve never turned down any of
his advice. As far as that goes, he took a
chance on us, too.”
Aldridge put the finishing touches on
their self-titled album, in time to hit the
street on Oct. 1.
Looking around at the assemblage,
none of the bandsmen seem of an age to
have a grown daughter, considering their
song’s about a father’s acceptance of his
grown little girl’s groom.
“From the first breath she breathed/
When she first smiled at me/I knew the love
of a father runs deep . . . And I prayed that
she'd find you someday/But it's still hard to
give her away . . . I loved her first.”
“We understand,” continues Craig.
“None of us obviously are old enough to
have a child get married, but we never even
thought about it like that. We just interpreted
the song to tell the story. A good song is a
good song, and we’re not pretentious
enough to worry about whether someone
thought us too young or too old to do it or
whatnot. It’s just a great tune.”
Mikey, who also has a son, says, “Between
us we got four little girls ourselves,
so we kind of related to that . . .”
“It’s just one of the most moving songs
I’ve ever heard,” notes Borchetta, who with
wife Martha launched Lofton Creek three
years ago. Incidentally, he was the suit who
first signed Tim McGraw to Curb Records.
(His son Scott Borchetta heads up a competing
label, Big Machine Records.)
“Mike wears Hawaiian shirts all the
time,” chuckles Todd, “that inspires us, too.”
Heartland’s not your typical country
act. Among their number are college boys
who hold varied degrees.
“Todd, Craig (who are brothrs) and I
met in fifth or sixth grade and went all the
way through college together, and I think
getting this band together stemmed from our
mutual love of music,” recalls Jason. “Todd
was playing since he was like 3 or 4 years
old, and I’d been singing in my first band
for awhile. Craig just started playing guitar
like two or three years before we actually
started the band. But we got together just
talking and said, ‘What about starting a
band?’ I had a little experience, so we felt
let’s give it a shot.
“Well we started and we were pretty terrible
for a time. Then we ran an ad in the
Huntsville newspaper and got Keith and
Mikey. We all started jammin’ together, and
a couple years later, after we put an ad on
an internet site for a fiddler, Charles answered
it and here we are.”
The unnamed garage pickers entered a
Battle of the Bands’ talent contest in Huntsville
on the spur-of-the-moment, and when
the host demanded a name to introduce them
by, they became Runaway. They lost both
the contest and the name.
“We had heard that (#1) song ‘Heartland’
which George Strait had on his ‘Pure
Country’ soundtrack, so we leaned towards
that, but about a half-mile from where we
practiced is a housing development called
Heartland Sub-division. We decided that
would be a really cool name - and it represented
Huntsville - so we decided let’s go
with that.”
So who among Heartland handles the
songwriting?
“Everyone’s a writer, but we didn’t select
any of our songs to go on the album
this time around,” says Craig. “We were really
impressed because being as new as we
were, we didn’t expect that the writers
would give us any of their best material. Yet
when they came in there was one great song
after another.”
Mikey chimes in, “We actually had to
cut out some really great songs because
Heartland as captured by Patricia Presley at the William Morris Agency.
there were too many. We simply wanted to
put the best album out there possible, and
since ours didn’t stand up to the ones we
were getting from the songwriters here, we
went with the ones they had.”
Jason remembers the process they went
through in making contact with Borchetta:
“We cut some demos with Walt and went
out there like always, hustling it and taking
it to radio stations, doing anything we could
do to get some attention. Then we ran up on
a guy named Dan Hollander (WLLX-
Lawrenceburg, Tenn.), a program director,
who took an interest. He called Mike and
said he heard these guys from Alabama who
had been at it a long time and suggested he
hear us . . . That was on Friday and Mike
called us on Monday and said, ‘Let’s talk
about some stuff,’ and it kind of grew from
that.”
Before the big break, the boys had recorded
an earlier album in 1996, which Todd
says, “We thought it was going to be the
next big thing ever . . . now it’s locked away
in a safe place.”
Collectively their main music heroes
and influences include Alabama and Hank
Williams, Jr.
“We are huge Hank Jr. fans,” says
Chuck. “Absolutely, when we do a live
show, we’ll close with some of his stuff because
we enjoy his music so much.”
Jason continues, “A lot of our inspiration
came from the group Alabama. They’re
like our heroes. We got to play their last June
Jam (1997) and that’s one of the coolest
things we’ve done. That was awesome!”
Since playing their share of honky tonks
in the Southeast, they’ve built up a big fan
following, acknowledges a grateful Todd:
“The folks back home have always been
very supportive, but I can remember when
we first started out and did shows where we
literally played for the door (cover charge)
and only four people showed up, our mom
and dad and Jason’s mom and dad. The last
few years we’ve got a throng of people who
come out and give us a really good fan
base.”
“Yes, it’s been blood, sweat and tears
for over a decade now,” agrees Jason. “But
we’re guys who genuinely care for each
other. There’s never been anything that’s
been that much of a crisis between us that
we couldn’t sit down together and within
30 minutes we’re done with it.”
Craig emphasizes, “We have a philosophy
that we can agree to disagree, but you
have to make compromises like anybody
does.”
Hey girls, two bandmembers are still unmarried.
At least Todd is a single parent. Bachelor
Chuck joshes that maybe the reason
they’re still available is no one wants them.
As opening act, what sort of songs do
they perform?
“We do mostly original stuff from our
new album,” explains Craig. “But we also
do an Alabama medley that includes their
songs, you know like ‘My Home’s in Alabama,’
‘Tennessee River,’ and it goes over
well. We’ve been doing that for years.”
What’s a Heartland concert like?
“We try to have a good time,” says
Mikey. “We’re like a country version of
Motley Crue on stage. It’s an ’80s rock and
roll-meets-country thing. We like to run
around a lot . . . ”
Craig picks up on this, “We’ve all got
wired systems and we can jump around.
Even when we couldn’t afford it, we always
had pyrotechnics and stuff like that at some
club shows, like smoke machines and lights.
We have a big vision of us being on the
grand stage with stuff blowing up here and
there, with elevators and all kinds of neat
things. That’s what we’re about.”
Jason emphasizes, “The album’s gonna
reflect that, too. There’s some that’s really
rockin’ country music, AC/DC influence,
Muscle Shoals blues, that sort of thing. We
enjoy the ballads though, and there’s another
like ‘I Loved Her First,’ so we feel it’s a
pretty good representation of Heartland.”
Mikey says “Play Hurt” may be their
next single, “It’s almost a testament of what
we’ve been doing, it’s about persevering . .
and continuing with what we’re doing.”
Does each get a moment in the spotlight?
Keith, dubbed “The Quiet Man” since he
wasn’t as forthcoming, finally answers a
question: “If we prefer to, we do. But I guess
speaking for myself, I feel more comfortable
when I’m interacting with all these
other guys on stage. I think I shine when
I’m up there doing my thing. If I get up there
next to Todd - he’s the drummer - and I’m
playing bass and we’re each working to do
our own thing, we’re gonna put on a show
that means more to the people out there than
if I’m playing the funk on my instrument.
People don’t care about how fast you can
play your guitar, they’re gonna like that (ensemble)
bit better.”
Drummer Todd grins and adds, “I think
the day of the 10-minute drum solo is gone.
We’re definitely a band, and we orient ourselves
around a good song.”
Mikey says, “We’re not a put-together
band by a record label in Nashville. We’ve
been struggling along together for years and
had we not made the album here, we’d probably
still be back practicing in Huntsville
for a showbar somewhere in Birmingham.”
Craig continues, “We just want to come
across as who we are, just downhome regular
guys who enjoy music and want to get
together and play our own music, which we
feel is unique. We don’t sound like anybody
else and we actually got to play about 80
per cent of the instrumentation on our album
- and that’s rare in Nashville for the
most part. So that works out well for us.”
What unusual experiences stand out?
“I actually came off the stage two years
in a row at the same venue,” reflects Jason.
“Actually, it rained one year after the Big
Spring Jam and they lowered the lights to
(Continued on page 35)

28 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
. . Local 257’s Leona Williams’ new life
Leona today, in Patricia Presley photo.
(Continued from page 25)
‘Big City’ (a 1982 #1 for Epic, which she
helped write but got no credit - ‘That was a
husband-wife thing, I guess’), and we had
‘We’re Strangers Again’ together (as cowriters
and duet partners in ’83) on Mercury
Records.”
That was then Leona’s label, and the
tune’s title proved prophetic for the couple.
Nonetheless, Haggard also enjoyed a pair
of #1 Epic discs with Leona songs: “You
Take Me For Granted” (1983) and “Someday
When Things Are Good” (1984).
Only a few years after Leona and
Merle’s wedding, The Hag was admitting
to journalist Peter Guralnick that his marriage
was already rocky. He insisted he had
recently given up drinking, but not “carousing.”
Perhaps Leona chalked it up to midlife
crisis, but she was finding it harder coping
with his mood swings, and living on his
Lake Shasta houseboat where he partied
with band buddies. Shortly after their divorce,
Merle married his maid Debbie
Parret, though it was short-lived and he’s
now wed to fifth wife Theresa.
Throughout their marriage, his ex-wife
singer Bonnie Owens (with whom Merle
achieved a career breakthrough in 1964 via
their duet “Just Between the Two Of Us”)
performed with the Haggard Show. (Merle’s
first wife was also named Leona.)
“I liked Bonnie. She stood up for us at
our wedding. I even recorded ‘Starting
Over,’ which she wrote. Bonnie was such a
big supporter of Merle’s. She’d really get
out there and promote him with the fans. I
tried that, too, for awhile, but that wasn’t
me . . . I was saddened by her recent death,”
The former Leona Belle Helton was
born in Vienna, Mo., Jan. 7, 1943, one of a
dozen children: “I’ve got seven brothers and
four sisters, a whole bunch of us. Comin’
from such a large family was one of the
greatest things that ever happened to me. I
learned the meaning of love and togetherness,
and how to sing.”
Leona says she would often awaken in
the morning to her dad playing fiddle. Her
mother played the organ and played 4-string
banjo. “Somebody asked my dad one time:
‘You’ve got 12 kids and they all play the
guitar or fiddle or something. How did you
get them motivated to play, anyhow?’ He
said, ‘I just cleaned all of ’em up, those guitars
and fiddles, laid ’em all down there on
the bed and said, ‘Now you kids leave ’em
alone!’ That’s our little family story. We
grew up with a lot of love, a lot of kids and
good parents.”
Innate talent and a little arm-twisting by
big brother aided the pretty 15-year-old in
making her performing bow and landing her
own radio show on KWOS-Jefferson City.
“Warren was the brother I’m talking
about. He used to play fiddle in this little
band that came to Jefferson City, and the
guy who led the band was also a DJ on the
radio station there. They were called The
Johnny Boys, and were playing at this fun
place near home.
“Anyway, Warren asked Johnny if I could
get up and sing. He said sure. So I sang and
Johnny thought I was great. He said we’d
maybe get some sponsors and I could have my
own radio show. We did and it was called
Leona Sings every Saturday morning.”
What was the song she sang?
“It would’ve been a Kitty Wells’ song for
sure. I just loved her singing. Kitty was my
hero. I loved her songs, especially ‘Makin’ Believe’
and ‘Whose Shoulder Will You Cry On,’
and a bunch of those songs like that.”
How did Leona land her sponsors?
She said the whole town rallied, adding,
“And would you believe our biggest backer
was the local pool-hall?”
Little did she know that someone was taping
her program to send overseas to a sailor
from the Show Me State, stationed in a region
where his favored country music was scarce.
In an earlier interview she’d told us, “Ron
wrote me a letter and that started our relationship.
When he came back from the service, we
met each other and got married. That was when
I was 16.”
Leona was barely 17 when baby Cathy arrived.
But it wasn’t an end to performing, as
she and Ron, who played bass, formed their
own band and even lived in St. Louis. It was
there she met Dave Hooten, a St. Claire, Mo.,
native, who later worked with the Grand Ole
Opry’s Lonzo & Oscar, little dreaming that he
would become the last Lonzo when Rollin
(Oscar) Sullivan’s brother John (Lonzo)
Sullivan died in 1967.
After the Willliams’ move to Nashville, the
couple soon landed in Loretta Lynn’s touring
troupe, in which Leona played stand-up bass
fiddle.
“We worked for almost a year with her, and
I would sing harmony with her Blue Kentuckians’
band. That’s what she called ’em then.
We logged a lot of miles riding in her Cadillac,
sittin’ back-to-back. Loretta was real countrified.
We’d stop at the store and buy some bologna,
bread and we’d get green onions (ha!
ha!) and put ’em on sandwiches.”
Taking a leaf from brothers Wayne and
Roger Helton (who have cuts on her latest CD),
Leona began developing songwriting skills:
“First time I had a song cut, Loretta changed a
line or two, and did it.”
Leona’s “Get What’cha Got and Go” appears
on Lynn’s first #1 Gold album “Don’t
Come Home-A Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your
Mind)” released in 1967. She later had cuts by
divas Tammy Wynette (“Broad Minded”) and
Connie Smith (“Dallas”).
“When I moved to Nashville, I was a
beauty operator. I signed as a writer over there
with the Glaser Brothers and hoped to get
myself set up as an artist in the music business.
Then I met John Hartford and his wife
Betty. John’s from Missouri, too. At the time
they lived not too far away and we all got acquainted
through the Glasers.
“I would carry on, telling people ‘I’m John
Hartford’s hair stylist!’ My kids always said,
‘Mom, you know how to do everything!’ You
know one story leads to another, but Oscar
Sullivan had Dave Hooten in his group and he
used to play in my little band in St. Louis. He
got Oscar (and Redd Stewart) to take my tape
to Wesley Rose (of Acuff-Rose publishing) and
they wanted to sign me. Oscar joked he
played my tape at slow speed and Wes
said, ‘I’ve got to sign her, she sounds like
Roy Acuff!’ (Another hearty laugh).”
Thus Leona Williams was signed to
Acuff-Rose’s company Hickory Records,
where her first charting was a remake of
Dusty Owens’ “Once More,” which had
been a hit for Acuff a decade earlier. Before
leaving the label four years later, she
charted the titillating title “Country Girl
With Hot Pants On.”
Was she concerned about losing her
wholesome country girl image with that
tune and other suggestive songs like
“Since I’m Not With the One I Love (I’ll
Love the One I’m With)” and “Yes M’am,
He Found Me In a Honky Tonk”?
“I didn’t really think about the image
of it. Conway Twitty wrote ‘Since
I’m Not With the One I Love,’ and Glenn
Barber, who was also on Hickory, wrote
‘Yes M’am, He Found Me In a Honky
Tonk’ and I didn’t write ‘Country Girl
With Hot Pants On’ (by Jim Mundy) either,
so they weren’t my creations. In fact,
I didn’t want to cut that song at all. I
didn’t sleep a wink the night before I recorded
that, because I was so worried.
Hot pants were the style at the time, and
I was, after all, a country girl at heart and
didn’t care to show my legs. Believe it
or not, I was bashful.”
Although shapely, Leona wasn’t anxious
to be typecast a la Jeannie C. Riley,
forever linked to the mini-skirted mama
dressing down the “Harper Valley PTA.”
“But yes, I got some positive publicity
out of that song and in that way, it
was good because my shows started paying
me more after that.”
A memorable tour in that time period
took her to Vietnam where she spent 10
days entertaining troops during hostilities
in that war-torn country.
“You know while I was with Hickory,
Wesley wanted me to also sing some duets
with Don Gibson. Lord, I would’ve
loved that, as I was always a big fan of
his. We even learned a couple of songs
together, but it never happened. They
brought in Sue Thompson (of ‘Sad Movies’
fame) instead.”
Did her career disrupt home-life?
“No, I got married really young and
had Cathy, but I don’t think being married
or having children hurt (my) career
all that much. But sometimes the music
business won’t let you have a good thing
in your life; though it’s not the music, it’s
just the way it is when you’ve got to be
gone on the road . . . whatever.”
Why didn’t she hit gold status?
“Hey, some people get lucky,” she
retorts. “You really have to have all the
right people behind you. I tried and I recorded
with the big labels (MCA, Elektra,
Mercury), but I think they saw me as
competition to their acts, like Loretta or
Tammy, and they already had them on
their labels. So they let me get pushed
back. I’d written a lot of songs back then.
I told Wesley Rose when I wrote ‘Dallas,’
if I’m ever gonna have any kind of a
big hit, this is going to be it. All he said
was, ‘No, it needs another verse.’ Connie
Smith cut ‘Dallas’ and it did good for her.
“Then when I wrote ‘You Take Me
For Granted,’ Merle heard it and recorded
it right away. But still I love writing songs
and I like the way it makes me feel after
I write ’em. Oh, I finally cut ‘Dallas’ on
my new CD.”
In 2004 and again in ’05, that last time
with son Ron, she did some gigs in Ireland,
which gave her a lift emotionally:
“That was really fun going with him. We
played some of the big hotels, where they
had the big rooms. We got good crowds.
This last time, there was a guy named
Barry Doyle and he had this really great
band! Ron and I think about them all the
time. They were the best backup band, and
we had such a good time over there.”
Newly-widowed Leona busied herself
helping the Missouri Country Music
Assocation as a board member, which in
turn inducted her as a charter member of
MCMA’s Hall of Fame in 2004, along with
Leroy Van Dyke and younger veteran
Rhonda Vincent.
The fledgling MCMA enlisted her aid
in trying to schedule future Hall of Fame
inductions, and one of those she nominated
was Missouri native Ferlin Husky.
“Leona was asked to get in touch with
me, so she called Jean Shepard to ask how
to reach me. Then Jean calls me to tell me
Leona Williams was going to call, and to
answer the phone,” grins Husky, living in
Haines City, Fla. “I heard later Jean called
Leona right back to give her my number and
said, ‘Now’s a good time to call him, because
he’s answering his phone’.”
Leona picks up the story, “I was halfnervous
about calling. I’m always hesitant
about calling up any artist. I was at (son)
Brady’s down in Ozark and when he answered
I asked how he was doing and all
that stuff, before getting to the point. I told
him this group in Missouri had started up
an association that would include a Hall of
Fame & Museum eventually. I said that they
would like to induct him in 2005.
“Being from Missouri, Ferlin’s always
been special. Of course, I had met him earlier
on shows, but we never really got to
know one another. The first time I was able
to be there in Nashville to accept a BMI
award was for my song ‘You Take Me For
Granted,’ and I was seated at this big table
and was going through my divorce from
Merle. Seated on my left was Hank Cochran
and his wife Ann, while on the right side
was Ferlin. We all had a lot of fun talkin’.”
Leona also encouraged Ferlin to return
to the studio after a 10-year absence: “I
knew Tracy Pitcox, the young fellow who
owns Heart of Texas Records, well enough
to know he would like to have Ferlin record
on his label. He owns a Country Music
Museum there, and had done recordings on
me, Dave, Floyd Tillman (with whom Leona
sang ‘Let’s Make Memories’), Norma Jean,
Darryl McCall, Justin Trevino, Big Bill
Lister, and they’re now fixing to do Hank
Thompson.”
A reluctant Husky agreed, if Williams
and Trevino co-produced, and she sang with
him on re-recording his first chart hit “A
Dear John Letter” (which originally featured
Jean Shepard) and a remake of the Kitty
Wells-Red Foley hit “As Long As I Live.”
Ferlin recorded her song “The Way It
Was (Is the Way It Is),” which also serves
as the CD’s title track. The couple have since
been inseparable, sharing the stage together
on the road and she was there for him when
he went through his latest heart surgery Dec.
27 in Springfield, Mo.
Husky’s name remains conspicuously
absent, however, from the Nashville-based
Country Music Hall of Fame. He muses,
“When my time comes, I don’t think St.
Peter’s gonna ask whether I made it into the
Hall of Fame or not.”
Pressed regarding their relationship,
Leona smiles, tongue-in-cheek, saying there
are no marital plans: “We’re going to be like
the young couples today, just live together.”
So how does Ferlin feel coming full
circle, once again residing in (Vienna) Missouri?
“Yeah, it’s better- and I can understand
some of the words they’re sayin’ up here.”
One of Williams’ favorite albums was
the 1976 MCA live recording “San
Quentin’s First Lady,” which she recorded
with Merle’s band The Strangers inside the
prison, making her the first female to do so.
(It had also been home to Haggard for nearly
(Continued on page 35)

October-December 2006 The Nashville Musician 29
Vaughan, Crowell among Americana’s best
- Patricia Presley photo
Will Kimbrough and Rodney Crowell, previous
winners, performed at 2006 Americana awards.
By WALT TROTT
Americana is somewhat of an anomaly,
at least as celebrated during the 2006 Americana
Music Association awards and honors
presentation, Sept. 22, at the historic Ryman
Auditorium in Nashville.
Personally, we’re a bit bored with those
trying to “define” what Americana is; suffice
it to say, it’s music outside the mainstream,
apart from the neatly-boxed genres
of pop, rock, country, bluegrass, jazz, gospel
or R&B.
Obviously, it has roots of any of those
categories, dependent on your particular
favorite’s influences. What it isn’t or
shouldn’t be is a refuge for failed or burntout
performers from one of the other genres.
Perhaps the truest representatives of this
alternative Americana music are artists such
as Bob Dylan, Nanci Griffith, John Prine,
Mary Gauthier, Todd Snider, James
McMurtry (who scored multiple wins this
year) and Buddy Miller, who again led the
Americana All-Star Band at the Ryman.
Despite its sobriquet, Americana also
embraces artists from abroad whose music
is worthy but not necessarily welcomed by
U.S. mass-market radio conglomerates, notably
Australia’s Anne McCue, Ireland’s
Kieran Goss, Canadian Corb Lund and
Britain’s James Hunter (performing here
with funk group The Dynamites).
AMA awards’ show host Jim Lauderdale,
repeating last year’s chore, did his utmost
to maintain a brisk pace, while tossing in
touches of humor, a la an announcement of
Americana Bling, a planned publication
promising “at home with the stars” features
on genre artists in their RVs or motor homes.
Jim, who played George Jones in a local
stage production, exposes his own leanings,
singing “She’s in a Honky Tonk Mood
Again.” In introducing Marty Stuart, he proclaims,
“If George Strait’s the king of country
music, then Marty Stuart’s its prince . . .
a national treasure.”
Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives performed,
and Marty paid his own respects to
Instrumentalist of the Year Kenny Vaughan,
as “The coolest cat in this town.” In accepting
the AMA award, Kenny had noted in
part, “They always say it’s not about the
money . . . It’s about the friggin’ money!”
Cool cat Vaughan also received a Lifetime
Achievement plaque, while Gibson
Guitars offered yet another prize, a special
model guitar in recognition of his pickin’.
Vaughan joined the other instrumentalist
nominees - Jerry Douglas, Bryan Sutton
and Tim O’Brien - to play a salute to Barry
Poss, recipient of the Jack Emerson Visionary
Award for Lifetime Achievement as
founder-producer at Sugar Hill Records. All
have recorded for the label.
Another Lifetime Achievement plaque
went to performer Alejandro Escoveda,
whose successes include “Velvet Guitar,”
“Pyramid of Tears” and “She Doesn’t Live
Here Anymore.” Escoveda, born in San
Antonio, Texas, is one of 12 children born
to Mexican immigrants. No Depression
magazine called him Artist of the Decade.
Unlike other play-it-safer music awards
shows, Americana doesn’t shy away from
outspoken artists, having presented its Spirit
of America Free Speech Award (jointly with
the Nashville-based First Amendment Center)
to past anti-establishment recipients
Johnny Cash, Steve Earle, Kris
Kristofferson and Judy Collins. This year’s
honoree, Charlie Daniels, though equally
verbal, leans further right in his stance.
“Thank you, ladies and gentlemen,”
smiled Daniels. “I am deeply honored, especially
anything to do with free speech,
because I exercise mine quite often . . . ”
Performing his ’73 song, “Uneasy
Rider,” he says, “It was a different era in
1973. We had two distinct societies - hippies
and rednecks. I won’t tell you which
side I was on . . .”
Shortly after 9-11, Charlie penned his
“This Ain’t No Rag, It’s a Flag” anthem,
giving the boot to terrorists, and coming on
strong in support of Presidential policies.
Sounding a bit more conciliatory in his acceptance
speech, however, he acknowledged,
“Patriotism is not blind allegiance
to any ideology or political party. Nobody
is right all the time. Reasonable people will
sit down and work together.”
Another of the evening’s winners Neil
Young as Best Artist of 2006, has a song
with a self-explanatory title “Impeach the
President,” much in the news this election
year. (Young was unable to attend.)
Still another anti-Bush act, the controversial
Dixie Chicks were nominated for
best song with their saucy “Not Ready To
Make Nice,” but were edged out by James
McMurtry’s winning entry “We Can’t Make
It Here.”
Going off stage, McMurtry took a long
break, leaving emcee Lauderdale slightly
speechless after announcing James also
copped best album award for his “Childish
Things” - and no McMurtry. Following a
few minutes of awkward silence, surprised
winner McMurtry rushed on stage, muttering,
“They faked me out this time . . . ,”
then in an aside told any thirsty listeners, “I
recommend Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge across
the alley.”
McMurtry, son of Pulitzer Prize-winning
author Larry McMurtry (“Lonesome
Dove”), thanked dad - especially for loaning
him a sportcoat for the night - then acknowledged
another writing champion of
his sounds, novelist Stephen King: “Hey,
Bangor, Maine is my biggest market!”
Actress Ronee Blakely, who won the
1975 National Board of Review’s supporting
actress accolade - and an Oscar nomination
- playing ailing country chirp Barbara
Jean in Robert Altman’s searing screen
satire “Nashville,” presented AMA’s Emerging
Artist honor to The Greencards, an
acoustical but contemporary bluegrass band,
scoring with their CD “Weather & Water.”
Ronee recalled having opened shows
early on for Hoyt Axton and Bob Dylan,
who later engaged her to act in his film
“Renaldo & Clara.”
Among the presenters was singersongwriter
Chip Taylor, no stranger to Oscar
winners, being brother to Jon Voight and
uncle to Angelina Jolie. He had a near miss
for AMA Best Duo/Group (a new category
this year), thanks to a duet album with Carrie
Rodriguez (“Red Dog Tracks”). Winning,
however, was The Drive-By Truckers,
a Georgia-based psychobilly band
boasting a trio of souped-up guitars, heard
on their CD “A Blessing & A Curse.”
It’s worth noting that another act nominated
as best group, the Kieran Kane-Fats
Kaplan-Kevin Welch trio, put their unique
mark on a riveting “Postcard From Mexico”
(off their “Lost John Dean” album), garnering
plenty of applause.
Singer-songwriter Kacey Jones trooped
on stage along with AMA President Tamara
Saviano to annouce the recipient of the annual
President’s Award, given posthumously.
Accepting for this year’s honoree -
singer-songwriter Mickey Newbury (who
died Sept. 28, 2002 at age 62) - was his mom
Mamie Newbury.
Among Mickey’s memorable compositions
are “Here Comes The Rain Baby”
(Eddy Arnold), “Time Is a Thief” (Solomon
Burke), “She Even Woke Me Up To Say
Goodbye” (Jerry Lee Lewis), “Sweet
Memories” (Andy Williams), “Just Dropped
In” (Kenny Rogers) and the illiterative
“Funny, Familiar, Forgotten Feelings” (Don
Gibson). His own milestone recording of
“An American Trilogy,” was covered by
Elvis Presley (though we prefer Newbury’s
version).
Regarding Mickey as a mentor, Kacey
Jones recently recorded a Newbury tribute
album. She cited his reply when asked why
didn’t he write happier tunes? “When I’m
happy, I play golf, when I’m sad, I write
songs.”
In another of AMA’s tribute moments,
Grand Ole Opry star Vince Gill, accompanied
only by his guitar, mesmerized the
crowd with his interpretation of Rodney
Crowell’s “Til I Gain Control Again,” then
proceeded to chat him up before presenting
Crowell a Lifetime Achievement
Songwriter Award. Alternating between
praise of Crowell’s talents and tales of their
early escapades, Gill grinned, “One thing
he taught me is when you’re eating magic
mushrooms, you don’t drive . . .”
(Incidentally, 12 days earlier we witnessed
vocalist Vince, accompanied only by
a pianist, stun a crowd of classical music
lovers, singing “Feels Like Love” at the
weekend opening of Nashville’s $123.5
million acoustic marvel Schermerhorn Symphony
Center, earning a standing ovation.)
Other magical compositions Crowell
created include four #1 numbers on his 1988
million-selling “Diamonds & Dirt” - “I
Couldn’t Leave You If I Tried,” “She’s
Crazy For Leaving,” “After All This Time,”
“It’s Such a Small World” - an album which
boasted an astounding fifth #1, Harlan
Howard’s “Above and Beyond.”
Crowell confided that award winner
Newbury was a music hero: “I was really
transformed by Mickey, and for many years
I emulated Mickey Newbury.” Others he
praised for their influence were Guy Clark,
Townes Van Zandt and Emmylou Harris.
Rodney then pointed out, “My family’s
here tonight,” prompting a knowing crowd’s
chuckle, as his ex- Rosanne Cash was also
performing that evening. “Yeah . . .we set
aside Monday for therapy a long time ago,”
a tongue-in-cheek Rodney responded.
Assisting him musically on stage was
Will Kimbrough as they lit into Crowell’s
melodic composition boasting haunting lyrics
that seem to come from soul deep: “What
we had was not enough/I saw it coming from
the start . . . She’s as smooth as she is smart
. . . a moving work of art . . .”
British entertainer Elvis Costello expressed
amazement at being invited to honor
New Orleans’ producer-pianist-arranger
Allen Toussaint with an AMA Lifetime
Achievement award: “I don’t know how it
is an English guy got up here at the Americana
awards . . . ,” then proclaimed, “It’s
one of the greatest pleasures of my career”
honoring Toussaint, pointing out Allen lost
his home and more to Hurricane Katrina.
Two decades earlier, Costello called on
Toussaint to produce a song for him, noting
how the Crescent City artist had captured
the soul of New Orleans. They reunited after
Katrina to record an album (“River in
Reverse”) in the Piety Street Studio, which
somehow had survived destruction in the
then-nearly deserted Ninth Ward.
Toussaint accepted his award sans
speech, but instead sat at the piano and was
joined by Costello to play one of their collaborations,
receiving a standing ovation
amid calls for an encore. Their poignant
“Ascension Day” recording recalls the eerie
aftermath of the hurricane-devastated
city, “Not a soul was stirring/Not a bird was
singing . . .”
Others gracing the stage either as performer
and/or presenter throughout the
three-hour program included Kim Richey,
Delbert McClinton, Sam Bush, Uncle Earl,
James Hunter, Robinella, and Rosanne
Cash, who had been nominated as best artist
and also best song, “Black Cadillac,”
which ironically put her in competition with
Rodney Crowell, cited for “Don’t Get Me
Started.” As fate would have it, they lost to
“We Can’t Make It Here” by McMurtry.
Sam Bush and Buddy Miller launched
the show’s finale, a rousing rendition of Bob
Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind,” as all the
participants still there were invited back on
stage to join in. It was refreshing not having
to hear "I Saw the Light" or "Will the
Circle Be Unbroken" as a closer. Thankfully,
Dylan had the last word this evening.
Reportedly, simultaneous broadcasts of
AMA’s awards were airing via Sirius and
XM Satellite stations, as well as worldwide
by Voice of America, and abroad to Europeans
by BBC Radio 2.
Anderson, Shepard, Hall,
Louvin and Cash compete
for ’06 ROPE trophies . . .
The 19th annual Reunion Of Professional
Entertainers (ROPE) awards banquet
is slated Tuesday, Nov. 7, at the Nashville
Airport Marriott Hotel (off Briley Parkway).
“We just outgrew our previous places,”
says ROPE’s Executive Secretary Leslie
Elliott. “We didn’t even have room to walk
between the tables at last year’s dinner.”
Entertaining this year’s crowd will be
Tommy Cash’s Tribute to Johnny Cash, featuring
the Cash Crew. Leslie also points out
that doors will open at 5:30 p.m.
Nominees for the 2006 awards are as
follows:
Entertainer of the Year - Jean Shepard,
Bill Anderson, Tommy Cash, Tom T. Hall
and Charlie Louvin;
Best Musician - Ray Edenton, Ray
Emmett, D.J. Fontana, Doyle Holly, Chris
Parker and Don Warden;
Best Songwriter - Red Lane, Dickie Lee,
Jeannie Seely, Glenn Sutton and Kent
Westberry;
Business Person - Patsy Bradley, Rose
Drake, John A. Hobbs, Frank Oakley and
Gene Ward;
Media Person - Bill Littleton, Bob
Oermann, TomCat Reeder, Hazel Smith and
Walt Trott.
Other awards presented at the ROPE
show usually include the Ernest Tubb Humanitarian
Award, and the Mac Wiseman
Nightingale Awards given to caregivers for
those within the music community. In addition,
announcements will be made on the
election of new Executive Board members,
according to John E. Denny, president.
Deadline for ticket sales ($45) is Friday,
Oct. 27. For details on the show or how to
become a ROPE member, telephone (615)
860-9257.
Union
music is
best!

30 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
Hitmaker Johnny Duncan dies
Singer-songwriter Johnny Duncan, 67,
died of a heart attack Aug. 14, in his home
state of Texas. Best known for the #1 hits
“Thinkin’ Of a Rendezvous,” “It Couldn’t
Have Been Any Better” and “She Can Put
Her Shoes Under My Bed (Anytime),” he
charted 39 singles on weekly Billboard.
Hailing from a talented Texas family,
Johnny was a cousin to fellow artists Jimmy
Seals (of soft-rock duo Seals & Crofts), Dan
Seals (formerly of England Dan & John
Ford Coley), Troy Seals (wrote such as
“Seven Spanish Angels”), Chuck Seals (cowriter
of the Grammy Hall of Fame song
“Crazy Arms”) and Brady Seals (lead vocalist
of Little Texas).
Born John Richard Duncan on Oct. 5,
1938 in Dublin, Texas, he grew up on a farm
near Stephenville. His mother Minnie
taught Johnny how to play guitar, and influenced
by such pickers as Les Paul and
Chet Atkins, he hoped to be a professional.
“About that time, a guitar became a
magic thing to me. It meant everything. All
of a sudden the whole world became a guitar,”
he said in an earlier interview.
In his teens, Johnny’s vocals convinced
him he might consider a singing career. In
high school he also had played basketball.
Johnny once performed in a band with his
fiddlin’ uncle Ben Moroney, as did cousins
Jimmy and Dan. He also attended Texas
Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.
In 1959, shortly after his marriage to
hometown sweetheart Betty (Fisher), he
moved to Clovis, New Mexico, where he
worked with producer Norman Petty (think
Buddy Holly), who made some pop demos
on Duncan, though little came of it. He also
worked as a DJ in the Southwest.
Like idols Eddy Arnold and Jim Reeves,
his vocals were smooth and romantic.
In 1963, the six-foot, four-inch Texan
relocated to the Nashville area, working at
odd jobs, and as a DJ on WAGG-Franklin.
“We had some bad times,” he recalled,
regarding his family. “But my babies never
went hungry. When I came to Nashville, I
was laying concrete and making like $1.40
an hour.”
Duncan also appeared on Ralph Emery’s
Al Casey succumbs in Phoenix
Pop music guitarist Al Casey, 69, died
in his hometown of Phoenix, Sept. 17,
where he returned after years as a hit maker
in Los Angeles. Among those whose records
he played on were the Beach Boys, Duane
Eddy, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Cash, The
Monkees, Ricky Nelson, The Everlys and
both Nancy and Frank Sinatra.
According to Nashville producer
Ronnie Light, “Los Angeles studio players
told me Al gave Duane Eddy the low,
tremolo sound that was on all of Duane’s
hits . . . I got to work with Al in L.A. and
can say he was a nice man and a great
picker.”
Unsung Al worked with Eddy to create
a twangy, echoing guitar sound that led
to such successes as “Rebel Rouser” and
“40 Miles of Bad Road.”
Casey can be heard on numerous other
hits, such as “Good Vibrations” (Beach
Boys), “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”
(Glen Campbell) and “These Boots Are
Made For Walkin’” (Nancy Sinatra). Other
career highlights include playing guitar for
Elvis Presley’s comeback concert televised
in 1968, and performing on the haunting
ballad “Everybody’s Talkin’,” for the
and Bobby Lord’s WSM-TV shows in 1966.
Columbia A&R chief Don Law spotted him,
recognized his talent and suggested the signing
of Duncan to the label that year. Johnny’s
first chart single to was “Hard Luck Joe” in
1967.
According to Duncan, “It tried like hell
to be a hit, but didn’t quite make it.”
Johnny was headlining at The Town Towers
in Bowling Green, Ky., when Charley
Pride’s manager Jack Johnson convinced
Pride to take him on tour as an opening act.
In appreciation, Duncan later wrote two #1
songs for Pride, “I’d Rather Love You” and
“She’s Too Good To Be True,” as well as “I
Ain’t All Bad” (#6, 1975).
Duncan’s own first successful charting
was a 1968 Top 20 duet with June Stearns
on “Jackson Ain’t a Very Big Town,” a cover
of Norma Jean’s RCA single, and it charted
eight weeks. Johnny confided that when he
was about to ask the label to release him
from their contract, his next record proved
a winner.
Once linked up with production ace Billy
Sherrill, Duncan enjoyed a string of hits,
among them Kris Kristofferson’s “Strangers”
(#4, 1976), a song he first heard on a
Billy Swan album: “The record started
slowly, but it kept on moving up the charts
week by week.”
It was while doing backup vocals on
Duncan’s recordings that Janie Fricke was
asked to step out of the group to sing a line
on “Strangers,” a single that changed her life,
and helped make her a star in her own right.
He and Janie had a full-fledged duet success
on “Come a Little Bit Closer” (#4,
1977).
Other Duncan hits were “A Song In the
Night,” “Hello Mexico (And Adios Baby To
You),” “Slow Dancing” and in 1979 his last
Top 10 “Lady In the Blue Mercedes.”
During the early 1980s, Duncan moved
back to Texas to live the life of a Gentleman
Farmer. He married again, tying the knot
with longtime companion Connie.
Throughout the years, Duncan continued
to accept bookings and reportedly had just
completed a new recording project, his first
in many years. The Harrell Funeral Home
in Dublin handled arrangements, with a memorial
service at First Baptist Church in
Stephenville, Texas, Aug. 17. Besides his
widow Connie; and daughters Angela,
Lezlie and Lori; survivors include his and
Connie’s son Ike Duncan; grandson John
Dewey Haggard; sister JoAnn Black; and a
brother Tommy Duncan. - Walt Trott
highly-acclaimed movie “Midnight
Cowboy’s” soundtrack.
Early in his Phoenix career, Al hooked
up with the Sunset Riders band, which performed
on the 1955 TV series The Arizona
Hayride. Noted producer-composer Lee
Hazlewood helped give him studio recognition,
and in turn Casey introduced him to
singer Sanford Clark, who recorded
Hazlewood’s “The Fool” for Dot Records,
taking it into the Billboard pop Top 10 in
’56. Part of its success was attributed to
Casey’s blues guitar riffs.
After relocating to Phoenix, Al taught
guitar. In recognition of his many career accomplishments,
Casey was inducted into the
Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of
Fame last year, and is an instrumental member
of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
The musician has since suffered from
lung and kidney ailments, prompting his
being cared for in a nursing home.
A memorial was scheduled at the AFM
Phoenix Local 586, Sept. 23, conducted by
Dionne Hauke, a friend who runs Ziggy’s
Music store in Phoenix. - WT
Give To TEMPO
Mack King, Jr. in 1990.
Guitarist’s spirit soared
despite crippling illness
As a newcomer, he was playing backup
lead guitar for Alice Cooper on the shockrock
superstar’s “Welcome To My Nightmare”
tour, but Mack King, Jr.’s first instrument
was drums, according to dad Mack,
Sr., himself a member of the Rockabilly Instrumental
Hall of Fame.
Sad to say, King Jr. died Aug. 11 at the
University of Tennessee Medical Center in
Knoxville, where he was being treated for
complications resulting from a transplant
and his longtime diabetes affliction. Earlier
his right leg was amputated.
A member of Local 257, King also
played bass, though his passion was guitar.
He became a Nashville studio musician,
playing on a variety of recordings, ranging
from rock and roll to country.
Reportedly, the heavy metal band Foreigner
wrote their cut “Headknocker” after
witnessing an incident involving young
Mack in a Tampa nightclub: “He’s a dedicated
rocker/a real headknocker . . . He’s
got an old Fender Strat/Plays behind his
back/While he sings out ‘Louie, Louie’ . . .
He might like to fight/Oh, but boy, does he
love to play . . .”
The only child of Bette Jean and Mack
King, he was born April 22, 1954 in Florala,
Ala., but moved with his family to Tampa,
Fla., when 14 months old. At age 16, Mack
won a Battle of the Bands contest in Florida,
which helped him decide on his life’s work.
“Jimmy Bryant (noted for his ‘Flaming
Guitars’ partnership with Speedy West)
taught him to play guitar,” recalls King Sr.,
who says his son had suffered from diabetes
since age 11.
Nonetheless, the young musician also
went on to earn a Sixth Degree Black Belt
in Karate, the martial art, which he also
taught for several years.
In February 2001, Type 1 diabetic King
became a double (pancreas/kidney) transplant
recipient. For a short time, he lived
free of insulin and dialysis, and once again
could play guitar. Prior to his death, he had
wed his childhood schoolmate Bonita Barja.
“I knew Mack since I was 9 years old.
We were married on Valentine’s Day 2005,”
says his widow, a.k.a. “Bonnie.” “We were
very close and I am glad I got to be with
him . . . We were in the process of building
a studio here.”
The here she refers to is Rock King
Ranch on Pick Mountain, near Gainesboro,
Tenn.
“We bought this l’il old farm here so
he’d be closer to Nashville,” recalls Dad,
who calls himself a “minor musician,” who
hasn’t performed professionally since 1960.
“But somehow I ended up in the Rockabilly
Hall of Fame. I think the main thing there
was my early association with Elvis
(Presley), before he got his drummer (D.J.
Fontana).”
Senior, who once headed up his own
band The Western Hayriders in Tampa, even
remembers a time Elvis playfully tossed tiny
Mack Jr. up in the air.
Mack Sr. recorded for Starday Records,
and joshes, “We had a lot of trouble selling
them for 90-cents, and I hear now they’re
worth over $400 (among collectors).”
“My son liked Nashville, but he also
loved Colorado and went out there to work
for a while. B. J. Thomas became a good
friend to him. He knew a lot of people, particularly
musicians, including Nashville
pickers like Josh Graves, Ernie Rowell, Walt
Cunningham, Clyde Phillips, and some of
the original Outlaws. His friend Mark, I
think, was soundman for Martina McBride.”
When he was a teen-ager, country singer
Ruby Wright (of “Dern Ya” fame) offered
to hire Jr. to perform in her backing band,
but the Kings felt he was too young to tour.
Mack Jr. relished the session scene, but
also headed up his own Mack King Band,
and performed some with Frank Evans’ The
Homesteaders, and Randy Hatfield’s The
Real McCoys, among others.
In 1985, Mack’s illness slowed him
down, necessitating frequent hospitalization,
all of which left him too weak to play
guitar. Following his transplant, Mack had
high hopes of returning to the music scene.
Mack Jr. & Sr. more recently.
Bonnie says, “He was inspired by the
idea of building a recording studio, and said
the Rock King Ranch will rock once again!”
Mack, however, suffered a light stroke,
says Mack Sr., “But he was always a fighter,
and his spirit remained strong . . . ”
Proud of his Native American Indian
heritage, he asked that he be cremated and
his remains scattered in Colorado Springs.
Mack King, Jr. was preceded in death
in 1995 by his previous wife, Patricia Reed;
and by his mother Bette Jean King in 2001.
Besides his widow Bonita King, survivors
include a daughter Christina Nicole Foye;
and stepsons Robert Mack King and Jeffrey
Montgomery Walker. At his services,
led in prayer by Don Bryant and John Barja,
songs played were “Go Rest High On That
Mountain,” “Headknocker,” “When I Get
Where I’m Going” and “Go Ahead,” the
latter performed by his father. A video was
shown of the deceased playing a benefit in
Venice, Fla., and Bonnie King delivered the
Eulogy. - Walt Trott
Cover boy Mack King in his heyday.

October-December 2006 The Nashville Musician 31
Dulcimer champ David Schnaufer dies
Dulcimer champion David Schnaufer, 53,
died Aug. 23 at Nashville’s Alice Hospice of
cancer. The transplanted Texan was credited
with reviving the use of the all-but-forgotten
dulcimer, and recorded with such acts as The
Judds, Johnny Cash, June Carter, Albert Lee,
Kathy Mattea, Mark Knopfler, Chet Atkins,
Mark O’Connor, Dan Seals and Emmylou
Harris.
For the uninformed, the dulcimer’s a fourstringed
instrument used in Appalachia at
least since the 18th century, and no doubt
derived from zithers first brought into the
country by German immigrants. While the
oldest known surviving U.S. dulcimer dates
back to 1816, it’s believed to have been
around even in Colonial days.
Schnaufer, who once toured with the
Everly Brothers, explained, “It's the simplest
of all the stringed instruments, but can be as
complex as anything else . . . I’ve always felt
that if people heard the dulcimer, they would
love it. It creates such a beautiful sound. I
knew that the thing that attracted me to it
would attract others, as well.”
In 1976, Schnaufer was named the first
national dulcimer champion. He recalled the
first time he heard the instrument played on
stage was at a ’60s’ Rolling Stones’ concert.
He also pointed out that other rock bands
known to use the dulcimer included
Aerosmith, R.E.M. and Led Zeppelin.
Since July 1, 1995, Schnaufer had been
an adjunct associate professor at Vanderbilt
University's Blair School of Music. According
to a prepared statement by Mark Wait,
dean of Blair School, “David was one of the
first teachers in the Blair School’s folk music
program, along with Mark O’Connor and
Butch Baldassari . . . He was a wonderful
artist and teacher, one whose influence will
be felt for many, many years.”
I first started hearing about David
Schnaufer, the dulcimer artist who passed
away on Aug. 23, when he was a Cactus
Brother. He and the rest of the group used to
“pick the splinters” out of “Fisher’s Hornpipe”
and other assorted alt-country tunes.
A few years later, after we’d become acquainted,
he said that he’d seen me playing
with Bill Monroe and the Nashville Mandolin
Ensemble at one of the Country Music
Foundation’s New Artists Christmas parties—David
was a New Artist, we were the
hired help.
The first tune we ever sat down together
and played was “Wild Rose of the Mountain”
a beautiful “crooked” old gem from West Vir-
After moving to Nashville in the mid-
1980s, he set up his music stand in the Slice
of Life natural foods restaurant near Music
Row, where his playing garnered attention
from such future associates as O’Connor and
Chet Atkins. Before long, David and his
unique instrument sat in on sessions. Eventually,
he recorded his own solo albums, such
as “Dulcimer Deluxe.” (1988), “Dulcimer
Player” (1989), both released by Smithsonian
Folkways, and “Dulcimore” (2000) on the
indie Collecting Dust.
David taught dulcimer to other artists like
pop star Janis Ian, rock queen Cindi Lauper
(who recorded his “Twilight Eyes”) and
rockin’ Bare Jr.’s Tracy Hackney. He also performed
in the 1990 PBS national TV tribute
In The Hank Williams Tradition.
As a member of the Cactus Brothers,
David appeared in the music videos “I’m So
Lonesome I Could Cry” and “Fisher’s Hornpipe,”
each of which earned Bronze Awards
at WorldFest, the Houston International Film
& Video Festivals of 1991 and ’92. The group
was also featured in George Strait’s first
movie starrer “Pure Country” in 1992.
Once managed and produced by John
Lomax III, Schnaufer also wrote music with
notables like Townes Van Zandt on “Waltz
of the Waters”; Herb McCullough, “Starry
Lullaby”; and Conni Ellisor on “Blackberry
Winter,” a concerto, which he performed with
the Columbus (Ga.) Symphony. In early
1991, he released his instructional video
“Learning Mountain Dulcimer” on Homespun
Videos.
In reviewing David’s double album “Dulcimer
Player Deluxe,” British reviewer Al
Moir wrote in the UK’s February 1990 issue
of Country Music People magazine,
“America’s only genuine and indigenous instrument
positively sparkles on numbers like
ginia. I don’t know why, but for some reason
I had thought David actually was from West
Virginia. He had the look, talked the talk,
wore the clothes and had the musical lick—
he was the living, breathing tradition!
So when he told me that he grew up a
“surfer” down on the Texas Gulf Coast, I just
had to tell him that I used to be a professional
ski instructor and had also worked the dice
tables in Las Vegas. We laughed long and
hard at each other—“so much for past lives.”
By then, we were more about dealing
with the here and now, and the future. A
couple of 50+-year-old dreamers, we were
going to make a record, a CD of Appalachian
music—just dulcimer and mandolin. Unfortunately,
Appalachian Mandolin and Dulcimer
turned out to be David’s last CD, though
not his last recordings. Earlier this year he
recorded with Linda Ronstadt and Faith Hill,
and I recall David commenting on how nice
they were to him. Those women were sharp
enough to know that they were in the presence
of real musical greatness.
David lost his parents when he was a teenager,
which got me to wondering about the
way he always wanted to play Hank Williams’
“I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” When
he did, time stood still, and people listened.
He seemed to be lonesome, and kind of all
alone in The Music City.
Zada Law told me that he’d run off two
or three girlfriends over the years; I guess
David knew what was best for David. At
some point The Grand Old Dulcimer Club
and the Nashville Dulcimer Quartet became
his family, and Zada Law and Sandy Conatser
became his closest friends, personal assistants—confidantes
in all things David.
Schnaufer, as he used to refer to himself,
also had pockets of friends back in the day at
‘San Antonio Rose,’ ‘Steel Guitar Rag’ and
‘Wildwood Flower,’ all evergreens, to which
a new dimension is added by Schnaufer’s
virtuoso deliveries.”
Schnaufer’s survivors include a brother
The Reverend Eric Schnaufer of Greenville,
N.C., a nephew Nicholas, and a great-nephew
Garrett. Services were handled by Crawford
Funeral Home, and conducted Aug. 26 at
Dyer Observatory.
It was suggested that contributions could
be made either to the David Schnaufer Fund
at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt
University, or Alice Hospice. - Walt Trott
Musician friend and associate has fond memories of Schnaufer
David Schnaufer snapshot by Kathy Shepard.
By BUTCH BALDASSARI
David Schnaufer recording.
In next issue, read
about Americana’s
Music Festival!
The Villager, and more recently at his
Wednesday night hangout, the Sportsman’s
Grill.
One day last fall, David popped in while
I was cooking up some red beets—he loved
red beets—and brown rice. I served him up a
nice-sized bowl, but all he could eat was two
or three bites. That’s when I started to realize
how diabetes dominated his health, ravaging
his fragile frame for the last 10+ years.
Nashville lost some real music royalty
when David Schnaufer left this earth. I wish
we’d done more together; maybe I should
have listened to him as early as last Christmas
Eve, when he was telling me to get cracking
on that Appalachian Christmas CD that
he wanted us to do. Maybe he knew deep
down that he just didn’t have much time left.
I miss the hell out of my pal. David
Schnaufer won’t be forgotten—not if I can
help it.
David toting his ol’ dulcimer.
Acoustic album’s a joy
Bluegrass musician Butch Baldassari has
co-produced a new family-oriented album “The
Arkansas Traveler: Music From ‘Little House
On the Prairie’ (By Laura Ingalls Wilder),”
boasting performances by such as Jeff Black,
Alison Brown, Riders in the Sky, Elizabeth
Cook, Buddy Greene, David Schnaufer, Andrea
Zonn and Mac Wiseman.
It’s a mixed, well-crafted package of oldtimey
parlor tunes, minstrel music and
children’s ditties, resulting in a stunning example
of what the right combination of production
and performers can yield.
“ . . . Traveler” remains true to its folksy
roots, especially evident in the imagery evoked,
sparkling arrangements and spirited performances
kicked off by John Cowan’s rousing
rendition of “Battle Cry of Freedom.”
This is the second presentation of Pa’s
Fiddle Project, which is co-produced by Dale
Cockrell, musicology professor at Vanderbilt
University, and has a release date of Nov. 14.
Baldassari, of course, founded the Nashville
Mandolin Ensemble in 1991, featuring instrumentalists
who could play everything from
Bluegrass to Bach to Beatles.
The Baldassari-Cockrell “ . . . Traveler”
effort follows the 2005 album “Happy Land:
Musical Tributes to Laura Ingalls Wilder,”
which featured music to match the “conflict,
humor, hope and joy that have made the
(Wilder) books so beloved.”
“Arkansas Traveler’s” release coincides
with the 50th anniversary of the author’s death
and 75th anniversary of the initial publication
of the first book in the “Little House . . .” series.
(Wilder was born 140 years ago.)
Selections on the new album include “Old
Dan Tucker” (Cook), “The Gum Tree Canoe”
(Greene), “The Blue Juniata” and the title track
(Riders in the Sky), “Oh, California!” (Zonn-
Brown), “Daisy Deene” (Mike Eldred) and
“Gypsy King” (Black).
“Irish Washerwoman,” a toe-tapping reel,
is indebted to the instrumental talents of Butch,
Mike Bubb, Bob Carlin, Matt Combs and Pat
Enright performing collectively as Pa’s Fiddle
Band. Incidentally, “Devil’s Dream” a collaboration
by Butch on mandolin and David on dulcimer
marks Schnaufer’s final recording prior
to his recent death.
According to the liner notes, “The most
popular of these books is the third one published
‘Little House On the Prairie’ (1935). Eighteen
songs are woven into this book, many of them
among the greatest in 19th century American
music . . .”
It also promises “this recording is of all the
songs from that book, performed in such a way
that the music of yesteryear is made new and
fresh today for children and adults alike.”
We won’t quibble with the assessment, as
it’s one of the best albums we’ve reviewed this
year. Highlights include the fiddle tune “Devil’s
Dream,” this time a fascinating duet of mandolin
and dulcimer; then there’s the plaintive and
unaffected vocals of Deborah Packard on the
wistful “Green Grows the Laurel,” augmented
by instrumental support of bassist Byron House
and John Mock on guitar, tin whistle and
harmonium; and last but not least, the inimitable
Mac Wiseman’s fun-filled interpretation
of the preposterous tale of “The Monkey’s Wedding,”
getting superb support by Mark
Howard’s guitar and Butch’s mandolin. Riders
in the Sky also emerge triumphant on two divergent
tracks.
This CD consists of an uplifting, intelligently-conceived
set of songs that bear up to
repeated listening. - Review by Walt Trott

32 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
Kelly Preston and Toby Keith on the red carpet.
Director Steve Goldmann.
Jimmy C. Newman marks 50th
A-A-A-eeee! Belated cheers to Cajun country
king Jimmy C. Newman, who on Aug. 4
marked his 50th year as a cast member of
WSM’s Grand Ole Opry.
“Hey Walt, they got me a cake and everything!
It was great,” says Local 257 Lifetime
Member Newman.
One of country’s true gentlemen, Jimmy
got his professional start in showbusiness 60
years ago, playing in a band in Ville Platte,
La., and pioneered his own TV show on new
KPLC-TV in Lake Charles, before joining
KWKH-Shreveport’s Louisiana Hayride.
Jimmy C. Newman
Thanks to his self-penned debut charting
“Cry, Cry Darling” in 1954, he went on to
place 33 singles on the Billboard country chart,
among them a near-charttopper “A Fallen
Star,” which crossed over into the Pop Top 20
in 1957. Other Top 10s include “Blue Darlin’,”
“A Lovely Work of Art,” “DJ For a Day” and
“Artificial Rose.”
Among his Cajun-flavored fan favorites
are “Alligator Man,” “Bayou Talk” and “Louisiana
Saturday Night,” all of which he helped
write. In fact, Jimmy’s New-Keys publishing
firm gave a helping hand to promising
songwriters such as Tom T. Hall, who enjoyed
his first #1 “Hello, Vietnam” thanks to
Newman (as recorded by Johnny Wright).
Jimmy believes in longevity and has been
married 58 years to Ville Platte native Mae,
noted for her Cajun cuisine. Their son Gary’s
getting dad back in the studio to recut his classics
for a new generation to enjoy. Viva le
Cajun!
Nashville site of Hollywood film premiere
By WALT TROTT
Willie Nelson and Burt Reynolds were
no-shows for Nashville’s red-carpet premiere
of the Toby Keith starrer “Broken
Bridges,” screened Sept. 7 at the historic
Ryman Auditorium.
Although the two were busy elsewhere,
Keith, co-stars Kelly Preston (“Urban Cowboy”
John Travolta’s better half), Lindsey
Haun (seen as a teen Barbara in 1997’s TV
movie “The Barbara Mandrell Story”),
Anna Maria Horsford and director Steven
Goldmann made the journey.
First-time screenwriters Cherie Bennett
and Jeff Gottesfeld, who hail from here,
were present. Given the “chick flick”
script’s shortcomings and Toby’s celluloid
inexperience, the country superstar walked
through his part with relative ease as moody
Bo Price, by more-or-less playing himself.
He scores best while singing, such as the
solo “Jackie Don Tucker.”
We viewed the PG-rated film at an advanced
press screening in Nashville’s
100Oaks Mall, where the print seemed a bit
on the dark side, but then maybe that was to
reflect the star’s darker aspects. The
storyline was chockful of little dramas that
commenced after young Bo ran off to evade
pending fatherhood, thus abandoning teenaged
girlfriend Angela (Kelly), who faced
the wrath of family and community in giving
birth to daughter Dixie.
Although filmed in Georgia (under a
working title “Angel From Montgomery”),
its setting is Armour Springs, a small town
in Tennessee. There folks are mourning the
loss of five young soldiers who died in a
tragic training accident at what could be Fort
Campbell.
The fact that two of the trainees were
their kid brothers, reunites Angela and Bo,
who return for funeral services. It also marks
Bo’s first encounter with teen-aged Dixie
(Lindsey), who’d rather be anywhere but
there. By now Bo has had a shot at country
music stardom, then blew it, gaining a discredited
“No-Show Bo” monicker due to
substance abuse.
Meanwhile, almost miraculously - sans
support of family - Angela had become a
successful TV journalist in Miami, Fla.,
where she’s being pursued by her station’s
producer-boss. At a community memorial
for the deceased, the cynical but cool Bo
has to face down Angela’s father (Burt) and
mother (Tess Harper), who in addition to
being grief-stricken over loss of a son, aren’t
in a very forgiving mood, considering his
behavior resulted in a 15-year estrangement
from Angela and a granddaughter they
didn’t get to know (who’s named after her
grandmother). During all of this aggravation,
grandma Dixie suffers a stroke.
Characters bobbing in and out of the
picture include Angela’s former best friend
Patsi (Kate Finneran), a fiery redhead who
still lusts after Bo; Loretta, a loyal friend
(Anna Maria), who seeks to reconcile the
dysfunctional family; a small-town boy with
big city ideas, with eyes on Dixie; and the
self-serving producer-boyfriend seeking to
turn a personal tragedy into a ratings boost
and an opportunity for national coverage.
It’s hard to feel much sympathy for Bo’s
character, who initially shirked responsibility
and continued to do so after winning success
in the spotlight, without even a minor
overture to his daughter. In a script full of
contrivances, a slight rewrite to offer a more
understanding departure might have made
Bo a more agreeable protagonist.
On the plus side, it’s fun seeing familiar
faces like Randy Scruggs, BeBe Winans,
Rich Eckhardt and the Easy Money Band,
and hey, isn’t that Conway’s grandson Trey
Twitty listed among the behind-the-scenes
camera crew? Unfortunately, Nelson’s appearance
amounts to little more than a
cameo.
One of the film’s more heartwarming
sequences has Bo and Dixie going over a
song she’s composing, in her desire for a music
career. We dug Bo’s insider joke about
changing a lyric here or there to let one cut
himself in on song royalties, We chuckled,
too, over a line when Dixie points out the
camera automatically adds 20 pounds to
one’s torso, that sort of explains why Toby,
who looks trim in person, appears chunkier
on screen.
Acting honors go primarily to the female
leads: Kelly as career-obsessed Angela, coping
with a rebellious teen-ager and conflicting
emotions about daughter’s dad; Tess as
a woman who walks the line drawn by a bitter
husband, while maintaining her dignity
and spirit; and especially Lindsey in the challenging
role of Dixie, a saucy but sweet 16,
who despite mixed signals in her life, finds
an outlet in song.
Musical highlights are the trio - Toby,
Willie and BeBe - vocalizing on “Uncloudy
Day” at a fund-raiser for the fallen heroes;
and Lindsey’s near showstopping rendition
of “Broken,” proving the fruit doesn’t fall
far from the tree, on screen as well as off
screen, as she’s the real-life daughter of
former Air Supply leader Jimmy Haun.
The strapping 6-foot, 4-inch Keith must
be satisfied with the production, credited
jointly to CMT and Paramount Classics, a
division of Paramount Pictures, for he’s already
started a follow-up film. It’s based on
his and Willie’s #1 duet “Beer For My
Horses,” for which he’ll share some of the
cost and hopefully more of the profits.
“Broken Bridges” soundtrack album is
available now on Keith’s own ShowDog label,
which has released Haun’s “Broken” as
the CD’s first single. Other performers on
the album (co-produced by Keith and Randy
Scruggs) include Matraca Berg - “Along For
the Ride,” Scotty Emerick - “What’s Up
With That,” Sonya Isaacs - “Battlefield,”
Flynnville Train - “High On the Mountain”
and Fred Eaglesmith - “Thinkin’ About You.”
Incidentally, the CD bowed on Billboard’s
country albums at #4.
The movie’s having a limited run in theaters.
Catch the DVD or video.
Movie Premiere Photos
by Patricia Presley
Fans greet screen star Kelly Preston (who plays Angela), as she arrives on the red carpet.
Anna Maria Horsford plays a family friend.
Fan favorite Lindsey Haun plays Bo’s daughter.
Podcaster Wichita’s new book
Celebrated podcaster Wichita Rutherford
boasts a new book “The Bluegrass Way,” just
published by GrooveGrass Books in Nashville.
It’s the world seen thru the eyes of the everyday
Bluegrasser. According to our downloaded
e-mail copy, it’s a sprightly series of
bromides, quotes and essays pertaining primarily
to the Bluegrass music genre.
Rutherford hosts a popular iPod program
beamed by SIRIUS Satellite Radio - Five
Minutes With Wichita - and it’s broadcast to
more than 275 stations, including 11 foreign
countries. The squint-eyed podcaster also
hosts both 30- and 60-minute shows.
Among the artists interviewed on
Rutherford’s mini-programs have been Doc
Watson, Alison Krauss, Dierks Bentley, Mac
Wiseman, Del McCoury and Bela Fleck.
Some of “The Bluegrass Way’s” passages
promote pickers’ nuggets of knowledge: “If
you can’t keep time, don’t play loud” or “Stay
in tune, people will listen longer.” There’s also
some redneck ramblings like, “If I’d know’d
you wanted to went, I’d a seen you’d get the
get to go.”
The author-host suggests a perfect squelch
for a nemesis: “A free banjo and two lessons
is what you give your enemy’s kids.”
Rural reminiscences featured cover
downhome topics, among them “What Makes
‘Us’ Different,” “When I Was Little,” “Hats”
and “Dinner On the Ground.”
Wichita’s book makes a good gift, especially
for Bluegrassers. For further information
about “The Bluegrass Way,” check out
WichitaRutherford@gmail.com or the
5MinutesWithWichita.com on line.
- Walt Trott
Union Music
Is Best!

October-December 2006 The Nashville Musician 33
ICSOM Mixer first event at Schermerhorn Symphony Center
(SCC), co-hosted by Nashville Symphony Orchestra (NSO) &
AFM’s Nashville Local 257. (Photos courtesy of Laura Ross)
ICSOM Chair Jan Gippo, and NSO Committee Co-Chairs Dan Lochrie and Brad Mansell address crowd.
Ted Dedee leads ICSOM attendees (from left) Jane Corl, Jan Gippo, Bruce Ridge, Meredith Snow, Mark
Blakeman and wife Sarah on tour of Schermerhorn Symphony Center, three weeks prior to grand opening.
SSC’s ‘chair cart’ in Laura Turner Concert Hall moves chairs into storage, converting to flat floor.
Sam Levine listens to AFM President Tom Lee sitting in with Roy Vogt and Denis Solee at ICSOM Mixer.
ICSOM delegates, Local officers, Symphony members and guests tour SSC’s
Laura Turner Concert Hall, prior to sit-down dinner for 130 in West Lobby.
Staircases for floor transition from seating to flat floor in SSC’s Laura Turner Concert Hall.
Schermerhorn Symphony Center’s West Lobby set up for first event - the August ICSOM Mixer. Alan Valentine, Nashville Symphony Association President & CEO, leads a toast at the ICSOM Mixer.

34 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
Symphony hall’s premiere public performance a special treat
By WALT TROTT
An Evening With Amy Grant was an inspiring
night for music lovers, who not only
got a chance to enjoy her angelic vocals enhanced
by wondrous orchestral accompaniment,
but were treated to four superlative
guest artists.
Additionally, it marked the premiere paid
public performance - Sept. 10 - in the classic
$123.5 million downtown Schermerhorn
Symphony Center’s sterling Laura Turner
Concert Hall, whose first-time patrons were
awestruck by its superb acoustics. (Prices
for both the gala dinner and concert were
$200-350, while tickets for the concert only
were $50-200.)
Prior to showtime, ticket holders were
welcomed on various levels of the Center,
where complimentary food and entertainment
celebrated different genres of music,
including Cajun cuisine in the Curb Education
Center, which boasted the Beegie Adair
Jazz Trio serenading diners; Southern style
eats at the West Lobby, accompanied by the
Craig Duncan Bluegrass Trio; Latin dishes
with the spicy sounds of the Jack Jezzro Trio
in the East Lobby; while braised beef
shortribs augmented by cheeses and fruits,
awaited visitors on the Balcony Lobby, with
classical notes of the Nashville Symphony
String Quartet; and inspiring Gospel sounds
emanated from the Christian Fellowship
Singers in the Garden Courtyard, where the
menu featured field and seafood servings.
Starting off the Sunday night concert
presentation was Nashville Symphony Orchestra
guest conductor David Hamilton,
who launched his eager troupers into a stirring
rendition of our National Anthem, the
tune of which customarily prompts people
to their feet.
Following NSO’s opening performance,
Amy Grant and her players sauntered
onstage unannounced and took their places
behind mics, while the Symphonic musicians
remained, ready to augment the guests’
selections.
As Amy sang her radio hit “Takes a
Little Time,” backup singer Kim Keyes
added a little heartfelt harmonica. Also
among those assisting Amy were Tony
Harrell, keyboards; Gene Miller, guitar/vocals;
Dan Needham, drums; Craig Nelson,
bass; Will Owsley, guitar/vocals; and Kim,
guitar and percussion (most are Local 257
members).
Amy shared a little anecdotal pre-show
dressing-room chatter between her and 5year-old
Corrina Gill, who stood admiring
mom’s gown, saying: “You look so pretty
in that dress . . . when you die, can I have
it?” “Sure,” smiled Mama, “But get a little
taller and we can both get in it.”
During the show’s second half, Corrina
came out and did an engaging bit of balletic
pixyish prancing about, while mother sang
“Innocent Child.” With her own indomitable
spirit, Amy went from being Contemporary
Christian Music’s queen diva to the uncertain
realm of pop and adult contemporary
music, only to astound critics with her quintuple
platinum-selling “Heart in Motion”
album, and scoring a #1 Billboard pop single
“Baby Baby” (which she wrote for daughter
Millie at birth, during her first marriage
to singer-songwriter Gary Chapman).
Born in Augusta, Ga., where her doctor
dad was working, Amy Lee Grant was
raised in Nashville. At age 17, her distinctive
performances gained Amy a recording
contract in 1977. One of her early major
contemporary Christian successes was “My
Father’s Eyes.” She went on to garner numerous
Dove Awards, and named to the
Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2003. Last
year’s album “Rock of Ages” earned Grant
her sixth Grammy Award. Among her hits
Longtime Symphony champion, vocalist Amy Grant.
are “Find a Way,” “The Next Time I Fall in
Love” (with Peter Cetera), “Saved By Love,”
“Innocence Lost,” “Every Heartbeat” and
“Lucky One.”
Amy’s always been generous with the spotlight.
For this concert, she invited former country
moppet LeAnn Rimes to revisit her
showstopping breakthrough hit (at only 13)
“Blue,” which when sung with Symphonic
support sounds even more powerful. Now 24,
Rimes was equally riveting with her second
selection “Some People” (from her new album).
Pardon the vernacular, but she knocked
their socks off!
Yet another artist threatening to upstage the
star attraction was Local 257 violin virtuoso
Ruth McGinnis, whose solo held the audience
in rapt attention throughout. As its final notes
faded, they jumped to their feet in unison, giving
her the night’s first standing ovation. (Her
album “Breathing Freely” features such
instrumentals, including those of Celtic and
Scottish sounds.)
Next up, Alan Valentine, NSO President/
CEO, literally stopped the show to present a
plaque honoring longtime Symphony champion
Grant, by naming a portion of the Turner
Hall Concert stage The Amy Grant Performance
Platform. Truly, after the Symphony’s
low points - a 1985 strike and a 1988 bankruptcy
- Grant dedicated herself to helping
NSO emerge from debt, via annual Christmas
concerts that helped raise some $2 million for
NSO. (Incidentally, she and hubby Vince Gill
are listed among donors volunteering more
than $100,000 towards the new hall.)
Grant wasn’t the only one honored for generosity.
Former touring partner Michael W.
Smith was recognized by having his name attached
to a plaque on the hall’s new Steinway
Grand Piano, which his performing efforts
made possible. Thus Smith no doubt felt right
at home performing his nightly numbers on it,
including “There She Stands,” a piano solo
dedicated to victims of 9-11 on the fifth anniversary
eve of the tragedy; and an endearing
duet with host Amy on James Taylor’s “You’ve
Got a Friend.”
Skip Cleavinger also offered a standout
performance on bagpipes (and flute).
Then Gill’s Mrs. invited him to center
stage, where he started to share his awesome
feelings about being in the new concert hall,
but Hamilton started the introductory music,
forcing him to instead announce, “. . . I guess
I’m going to sing now!”
Earlier on, Vince had appeared to accompany
Amy on mandolin only for a
single song, but this time got to sing one
of his inspirational favorites, Fernando
Ortega’s “Forgive Me, Jesus,” noting “I
was really moved by this song.”
After spotting family and friends of
the musicians seated behind the orchestra,
he also quipped, “You know it’s
nerve-wracking to have people sitting
behind you, because you can’t scratch!”
Vince sang a love song he said he
wrote for Amy - “These Days” - which
serves as the title track for a forthcoming
4-CD box-set on the MCA artist, who had
his first Top 10 “If It Weren’t For Him”
(with Rosanne Cash), 21 years ago.
The goodnatured country star praised
the hall’s acoustics then ordered no mics
or electronic amplification as he sang
with piano accompaniment, “Feels Like
Love,” which amazingly was heard
throughout Laura Turner Hall. His audience
was stunned, but nonetheless
greeted it with an enthusiastic standing
ovation.
A highlight of Grant’s second half
was mi’lady’s haunting rendition of
Michael Card’s composition “El
Shaddai!” Come Sept. 26, Warner released
her new album “Time Again: Amy
Grant Live,” recorded at the Bass Per-
On Nov. 13, the Nashville String Machine
marks its Silver Anniversary, while
looking back on studio sessions in support
of such notables as Garth Brooks,
The Dixie Chicks, Faith Hill, Tim
McGraw and Martina McBride.
Carl J. (Carlos) Gorodetzky, Local
257 violinist, founded NSM on Nov. 13,
1981.
“Originally, we only booked string
sessions, but as time went by, we started
booking all kinds of sessions, including
wind, brass, rhythm and full orchestra,”
notes Gorodetzky.
Carol Gorodetzky assists with the
NSM’s administrative work, says husband
Carlos: “I still do some of the playing,
but am semi-retired in that respect.”
The Nashville String Machine boasts
a core group of players who do nothing
Conductor David Hamilton.
forming Hall in Fort Worth, Texas, reportedly
the venue where she played her first
paid gig.
Hamilton is no stranger to sharing the
stage with Grant. Not only had he served as
musical director for her national Christmas
tours, but has also recorded in the studio
with the singer.
Thanks to David, the Symphony musicians
and the talented headliners, it was a
treat for theatergoers, who were surprised
upon entering the lobby after the show to
see servers offering them champagne and
tasty sweets. A fitting climax to a truly
memorable evening.
The Nashville String Machine during a rehearsal.
Nashville String Machine marks 25th
NSM founder Carl Gorodetzky
but recording sessions, augmenting those
with other instrumentalists, including symphony
musicians, as needed.
“Even out-of-towners such as Matchbox
20 and Bruce Springsteen have recorded
with us,” adds Gorodetzky.
He points out, too, that NSM always
strives to work with the top arrangers and
producers available in Music City.
“During the 1990s’ we worked very
closely with Harold Bradley and Local 257
to bring the Christian music companies on
board with the Union,” explains
Gorodetzky. “We were quite successful at
that.”
Besides Carlos, those participating in
the Nashville String Machine are Pam
Sixfin, Alan and Cathy Umstead, Conni
Ellisor, Mary Kathryn and Gary Vanosdale,
Dave Angell, Karen Winkelmann, Jim
Grosjean, Carole Rabinowitz, Kris
Wilkinson, Anthony LaMarchina, Kirsten
Casell, Craig Nelson and Jack Jezioro,
among many others. Congratulations to all
of these fine players on their milestone 25th
anniversary. (Photos by Carol Gorodetzky)
UNION MUSIC
IS BEST!

October-December 2006 The Nashville Musician 35
Former Mel McDaniel bandsman Joe Cossey dies of cancer
Joe Cossey
Chesnutt’s new indie CD
release Mark’s comeback
By WALT TROTT
Mark Chesnutt, one of the ’90s’ New Traditionalists,
is on a new label - CbuJ Entertainment
- boasting a commendable new CD “Heard
It In a Love Song.”
The title tune is Marshall Tucker Band’s
classic cut penned by Toy Caldwell, and a highlight
of Chesnutt’s 10-track set.
Chesnutt credits include three multi-million-selling
albums, starting with his premiere
album “Too Cold At Home.” A winner of the
1993 CMA Horizon, Chesnutt fulfilled the
award’s promise with 20 Top 10 singles, eight
at #1, notably his big seller “I Don’t Want To
Miss a Thing” (a cover of the Aerosmith
charttopper), which also became a pop Top 20.
CD Review
It would seem on this new CD that Mark’s
honoring some additional heroes, by including
Merle Haggard’s “A Shoulder To Cry On,” a
#1 for Charley Pride; Allan Reynolds’ “Dreaming
My Dreams With You,” a Waylon Jennings
Top 10; Johnny Paycheck’s “Apartment #9,”
Tammy Wynette’s first charting; Leon Payne’s
“Lost Highway,” a Hank Williams success; and
Hank Jr.’s own “You Can’t Find Many Kissers.”
. . . Heartland has first hit: ‘I Loved Her First’
(Continued from page 27)
Musician-songwriter Larry Joe Cossey, 56,
of Burns, Tenn., died Oct. 18. Cossey, who had
been battling cancer, had played electric bass
guitar for Mel McDaniel’s band during the past
five years.
Born March 30, 1950 in Oklahoma City,
Okla., he was the son of Elsie Marie (Northcutt)
and Gene Cossey.
Young Cossey, who started his career in
Oklahoma as a band musician and backup
singer, earned the Oklahoma Country Music
Association’s Bass Player of the Year Award.
Joe moved to Nashville in 1992. His composing
talents earned him first place in a 1995
country writers’ contest sponsored by Billboard
magazine, the trade weekly. He won a similar
contest, sponsored by TNN, in 1998.
Marks’ latest album.
Not sure whether the inclusion of “A Day
in the Life Of a Fool,” which stalled at #30 for
George Jones, is a salute to his fellow Texan,
or merely that he likes the Eddie Noack song.
Mark also adds one he had a hand in writing,
“That Good That Bad” (co-written with Roger
Springer and Clessie Morrissette), given a great
reading here.
Mark revisits his illicit affair nod “A Hard
Secret To Keep,” originally appearing on his
’04 Vivatoni CD “Savin’ the Honky Tonks.”
Nonetheless, it challenges Mark’s take on
Tommy Collins’ “Goodbye Comes Hard For
Me” and the title track as the best performance
delivered on Chesnutt’s current set.
where I couldn’t see very well, and I jumped over a monitor and slipped in a puddle and
went flying off the front of the stage. Then Craig and I ran into each other one night . . .”
“And I took out the drums,” laughs Craig. “But we haven’t been hurt, luckily.”
What are some of their other interests?
“Keith’s into recording live music and the engineering part of it, and I suppose Mikey
would like to see his music take him towards a wrestling career one day (ha! ha!). There
are a lot of aspects of the music business we’ll all be interested in,” offers Craig.
One of their first moves in Music City, however, was to join the American Federation
of Musicians’ Nashville Local 257 union enmasse.
“We did! And that was pretty good,” claims Chuck.
“Yeah, we walked in there like a gang, kicked the door down and said, ‘We want to
join the Union, Bubba!’ (ha! ha!),” interjects Todd playfully. “So no more playing for
the door.”
Jason adds, “The next day we played the Opry, and when we got paid we were
surprised. I didn’t know you got paid to be on there. I got a check for $200 and I thought
that was for the whole band. So that was pretty neat.”
Cellist Michelle McTeague dies; spent 19 years with NSO
Cellist Michelle Jeanne McTeague, 48, died Sept. 11. McTeague played cello with
the Nashville Symphony Orchestra for 19 years. A native of Oregon, she is survived by
her son Andrew of Nashville; parents Dorine and Kenneth McTeague of Salem, Ore.,
three brothers, and a sister. Crawford Funeral Home handled arrangements. A memorial
service was conducted Sept. 15 at Belmont Church on Music Row. Donations in her
memory may be made to the Belmont Singles Ministry at Belmont Church.
Christian artist Thomas Nance, a lawyer, succumbs at age 50
Attorney-Christian music enthusiast Thomas Charles Nance, 50, has died. Nance,
who has been practicing law in Nashville since 1981, wrote and recorded several albums
of Christian music here, and also performed his sounds in churches and other inspirational
venues. Survivors include his fiance Cay Collins of Hermitage, Tenn.; children
Jared Thomas Nance of Knoxville, Hilary Grace and Lucas Nance, both of Nashville;
parents Sue and Charles Nance of York, S.C.; brother Richard Nance of Cresco, Iowa;
and sister Beth Smith of Rock Hill, S.C. A memorial services was held at Harpeth Hills
Funeral Home.
He joined AFM Local 257 on Nov. 12, 2002.
Cossey’s dream of performing on the Grand
Ole Opry, became reality, when Joe joined the
band of McDaniel, whose hits include the #1
“Baby’s Got Her Bluejeans On.” He also played
on a number of studio recordings in Nashville.
Mr. Cossey was preceded in death by his
mother. Survivors include his wife Malinda of
Burns; daughter Jacy Cable of McAlester,
Okla., granddaughter Bren Marie Cable, also
of McAlester; father Gene Cossey of Tecumseh,
Okla.; and sister Janis Brooks of Wewoka,
Okla.
Services were handled locally by Taylor
Funeral Home, Oct. 20, of Dickson, Tenn. A
Celebration of Life was scheduled Oct. 24 at
Stout-Phillips Funderal Home in Wewoka.
Burial followed at the Oakwood Cemetery, also
in Wewoka. Serving as Pallbearers were Denson
Cable, Steve Walker, Chris Walker, Jeff
Brooks,Tyler Benton, Aaron Argo and Fred
Argo.
The family has suggested donations may be
made in the name of the deceased to the American
Cancer Society, Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital
or the Nashville Rescue Mission, through
Taylor Funeral Home.
. . . Fender’s fight over
(Continued from page 24)
Freddy was clearly excited about the latest accomplishments,
noting with personal satisfaction,
“I still have some respect from my peers,
especially the people with the Grammys. That
respect for me is just really wonderful, because
I’ve always been very serious about my music.
When people take me serious, I’m just overwhelmed.”
Funeral services were conducted Oct. 18,
arranged by San Benito Funeral Home in his
old hometown, officiated by Father Isaac Emeka
Erondu at Queen of the Universe Catholic
Church, with interment following at San Benito
City Cemetery. Besides his widow, survivors
include sons Baldemar (Sonny) Huerto, Jr. of
Corpus Christi, and Daniel Huerta of Jacksonville,
Fla.; and daughters Tammy Mallini of
Houston, and Marla Garcia of Victoria, Texas.
- Walt Trott
615-330-6885
615-424-6924
. . . Leona’s new life, new love
(Continued from page 28)
three years in his younger days.) Leona won
control of the masters, so Pitcox re-released
it on the Heart of Texas label in 2004. Her
eyes twinkling, she adds, “So now it’s available
in CD form.”
Life seems to be kinder to the lady lately
and she’s taking it all in stride: “I do the best
I know how, but I make mistakes. Like other
people, I’ve had my share of ups and downs.”
Among her greatest joys are the youngsters
in her world: “Ron and (wife) Amy’s
little girl Olivia Grace came to us on Jan. 11.
So yes, I’m a grandma. I have eight grandchildren,
and I’m proud of it. I even have a
great-grandbaby. It’s a girl and the cutest
thing. I’m just so proud of her.”
Mom’s also proud of Ron Williams’ talents.
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property for 6 years. ‘ZERO’ down or a simple
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36 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
Notice: 2007 Annual Dues
Members must pay their dues annually to Local 257’s Secretary-Treasurer on or before
Dec. 31, 2006.
Members who have not paid dues by Jan. 31, 2007 shall stand Suspended. To reinstate
after Jan 31, and no later than March 31, such member shall pay to the Local’s Secretary-
Treasurer a reinstatement fee of $10, together with all dues, fines and assessments accrued.
However, if a member does not pay the 2007 dues by March 31, he or she will be Expelled. To
reinstate, an additional $25 reinstatement fee must be paid, together with all dues, fines and
assessments. (Article II, Section 3)
Within a year after expulsion, a membership can be reinstated by paying annual dues and
all late fees. Members expelled forfeit all rights and titles to the funds and property of the
Association.
To reinstate after expulsion, a list of musical activities since expulsion must be submitted
to the Secretary-Treasurer, and upon his recommendation, the former member may be required
to seek approval from the Executive Board for reinstatement.
March 28, 2005
REGULAR DUES 2007
Annual Dues $97.00
Federation Per Capita dues 54.00
Building Fund 35.00
Funeral Benefit 15.00
Emergency Relief Fund 3.00
Sub-Total $204.00
TEMPO (Optional) 3.00
TOTAL $207.00
LIFE MEMBERS 2007
Annual Dues $24.25
Federation Per Capita 38.00
Building Fund 35.00
Funeral Benefit 15.00
Emergency Relief Fund 3.00
Sub-Total $115.25
TEMPO (Optional ) 3.00
TOTAL $118.25
Union music is best!
Members
Notice
General Membership
Meeting
6:30 p.m. Thursday,
Dec. 7, 2006
At George Cooper, Jr.
Union Hall
11 Music Circle North
For details, see page 1
or call
(615) 244-9514, Ext. 224
Featuring many of Nashville’s
finest Union musicians.
4104 Hillsboro Road
Nashville, TN 37215
Tel: (615) 383-1461