Americana Gazette June/July 2011 Issue

MERICANA GAZETT E A June / July 2011

Feature Story: Charley Pride Wanda Jackson Karl Gmur Tom T. Hall and Ms. Dixie Lane Vendon Doug Gray & The Marshall Tucker Band Dear August Burns & Poe John Oates Bob Rea Diana Jones

AMERICANA GAZETTE Greetings: Well summer is upon us now! Where does the time go?

I hope you are all enjoying the beautiful Wisconsin weather – get out and do some fun stuff!!!

Andy and I spent a nice little vacation in Nashville visiting friends, enjoying good food and doing a little “music equipment shopping”. The weather was grand.

I do need to share this with all of you. Now, one day we had a big breakfast, so we decided to skip lunch. About 2:30 we drove past GiGi’s Cupcakes. In the past it has never been open when we drove by, but today was the day. We decided to stop. Now if any of you have ever experienced a GiGi’s Cupcake, you know they are pure SUGAR!!!!!! Andy didn’t think they looked that big so he ordered two, a chocolate cupcake with white crème frosting with chocolate chips in it and a white wedding cake with white frosting. Let me tell you by the time we got back to our hotel room, he had a stomach ache and had to lie down for a couple of hours. I swear he was in a sugar coma!!!!! He stated, “Let’s not have them again”. I stated, “Let’s not eat two at one time.”

We spent some time with our friends Warner and Deb Hodges. Deb was just recuperating from some surgery and was doing well. We also stopped in for a quick visit with Fats Kaplin and Kristi Rose before they headed out of town. As always we visited the Peter Cooper home where I was entertained by 1 year old Baker playing his piano, while the two miniature dachshunds, Russell and Loretta were entertaining Andy. Of course the trip would not be complete without a visit out to Tom T. and Ms. Dixie Halls. We had a super visit, talked about the new CD coming out (check out the article in this magazine) and checking out the peacocks. Cowboy Jack took us to a great Chinese Buffet where I had my first taste of fried okra and believe it or not, they had pecan pie and I was in heaven. Andy and Paul Griffith hit a bunch of music stores looking for deals, and then we joined up with Phil Lee and his wife, Maggie, Tom Mason and Paul’s girlfriend, Kelly for an authentic Mexican meal.

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COMING EARLY THIS FALL A NEW CD BY “THE BLUEFIELDS’

WARNER HODGES – DAN BAIRD – JOE BLANTON

WATCH FOR AN ARTICLE IN THE AUGUST/SEPTEMBER ISSUE OF THE AMERICANA GAZETTE

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Welcome to

Americana Gazette TABLE OF CONTENTS FEATURE STORY 16 Charley Pride WHERE TO LOOK: 3

CD Review

4

Litt DuBay’s Slant

5

Women In The Round Diana Jones

6

John Oates

8

Wanda Jackson

10 CD Reviews 11 Lane Vendon 12 A Pet Note 13 Tom T. Hall 13 Needle Drop 14 Doug Gray & the Marshall Tucker Band 16 Charley Pride 19 Catalog Shopping 20 Karl Gmur 21 Bob Rea 22 Fleet Foxes 23 Baseball Gods

CD Review

Deer Tick ♪♪♪♪ War Elephant Style: Rock

“Newly found Artist” day in my life! Dear Diary, I have never heard of the band Deer Tick before, but when someone showed their music to me. I instantly fell in love.

And…..end diary monologue. But it is true everyone; I do enjoy the music of Deer Tick.

The album that fell into my hands was their 2007 debut album,War Elephant. Instantly, the lone acoustic guitar that quickly picks in the opening few seconds drew me in and held me. It was folk, but it was fresh and lead singer John J. McCauley’s voice is rough and different. It commands attention, and it is full of energy. His voice is one that seems to stick with you, full of emotion and gravel.

Their music if we must start throwing around titles is a stew of rock, folk, country, indie, and anything else you’d want to add in. All I know is that it’s good music! The song Nevada I feel is one word and that word is beautiful. The melody just seems to wrap around the mind, and snuggles right in. There is a dark side to this CD too.

This album has its depressing times,and it’s not all beautiful with birds and sunshine. Not So Dense is full of angst and energy and McCauley wails like a banshee, but I enjoyed every moment. The feeling quickly turns country with Spend the Night, but it works perfectly bringing us back up to a different level after the last song's vibes.

I’m not saying there are any bad vibes, but every song has its own emotion and Deer Tick seems be able to touch every sensor.

You can hear the old mountain tunes in their music.You can hear the lonely cowboy tunes. You can hear the Deer Tick songs. They pull from every-which-way,but stay firmly and fiercely unique and independent. Deer Tick has two other major releases, Born on Flag Day and Black Dirt Sessions, and I know I am definitely going out to purchase these albums and I would urge everyone in the mood for something different to do the same. They are also on tour now, so check the sites and go out and see them. Oh Diary, I love “Newly Found Artist Day”.

Review by: Rob Kosmeder

Todd Snider ♪♪♪♪♪ Live, The Storyteller Thirty Tigers and Aimless Records Style: Americana My intro course to Todd Snider began a few years ago with the spectacular live album Near Truths and Hotel Rooms. That live album introduced me to Snider’s witty storytelling and captivating lyrics. They rang true to me, and I found myself hooked on Snider and filling my head full of everything he had for me to listen to.

Now he hits us with another fantastic live album, Live, the Storyteller. This continued on page 10

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Litt DuBay’s

Rant!

It was announced this week that Wolves in Wisconsin could soon be hunted. Now I’m not the brightest bulb in the box, but that does not make sense. The wolf was on the endangered species list and we spent millions of dollars to bring them back from the brink of extinction just to kill them?

Still no Grammy nomination for me!

by Litt DuBay Hey Folks Litt Dubay here, Spring has finally come to Wisconsin. It got over 50 degrees for more than 2 hours this week. When I was a kid growing up here we could tell it was spring when Larry Blum would take off his shoes and go barefoot everywhere he went. We knew it was fall when he would put them back on!

The Ziehli’s were in Nashville in April. Went out to lunch with Cowboy Jack. Went to a fantastic Chinese buffet. Andy said it was one of the best he’d ever ate at and coming from a guy his size that’s saying something! He did say he knew he was at a Southern Chinese buffet because they had fried okra, banana pudding, and pecan pie (which Joyce ate the last piece of)!

Got a phone call from the President last week asking me to join his cabinet as Secretary of the Exterior. I asked him what I had to do for this job. He said “paint the outhouse.” I said “paint the outhouse?

Don’t you mean the Whitehouse?” He said“no you fool your outhouse!

It’s an eyesore to the Village! Wrong President I guess!

Poor Jim Smith has been getting told drummer jokes by the dozen at the Fat Cat. Said he was gonna “take up a new instrument”. Andy replied“You can’t do that. How are we going to tell if the stage is level then?“(Drummer joke, How can you tell if the stage is level? The drool coming out of the drummer’s mouth is even on both sides!) HA HA!!!

Actually Jim is a good sport on those jokes and an excellent musician who plays bass, guitar, harmonica, and percussion too.

It’s hard being a musician these days. Band jobs keep drying up, the pay gets less, record labels are folding and Lady Ga Ga is going to mentor singers on American Idol. First of all what the hell is a Lady Ga Ga, and don’t you have to be skilled at what you do to be a mentor? That would be like Andy mentoring members at a weight loss clinic on how to loose weight! His belly button is so deep he’s had four mining claims taken out on it!

You may think I pick on Andy and his weight a lot. I do!

There is now a Mensa club forming at the Fat Cat Coffee Works in New Glarus. They meet every Wednesday morning. To become a member you have to pass a series of tests to determine if your I.Q. is high enough. Since no one has been able yet to pass the entrance exam they are allowing you to use a combination of High School grade point,credit rating, and the total of your Social Security number to join.

Presently there are five members who when added up had a high enough score to join. Not each but together!

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Tom T. Hall told Andy & Joyce a funny story this past month.

Seems there was going to be a video shot at Fox Hollow.

Tom T. had been on a couple of video shoots before and had noticed that the director always took pictures with a Polaroid Camera and made decisions on the lighting based on those pictures. Tom knew he had an old Polaroid around and dug it up. He then went to a Camera store to buy film for it. When he got to the store he laid the Camera on the counter and asked the clerk for some film for the camera. The clerk looked at Tom T. and asked “Mister did you just get out of prison?” Apparently it was longer than Tom.T. thought since he was on a video shoot!

Now for my rant. I hate people who rant that don’t know what the hell they are talking about. You know the type the“know it all’s”. The type that are never wrong and always have an opinion on every subject. No I’m not talking about Andy cause he doesn’t have an opinion on every subject. I’m talking about guys like that Jerry Rivera, Glen Becker, Rush Limburger, Susie Pie, James you know Bill Clinton’s buddy the guy that married that Republican news lady, and the weather guy on TV. These folks are big shots on politics and the weather. Always giving their two cents worth on what’s going on and if it’s gonna rain tomorrow. There always wrong!!! Always jumping on the band wagon giving the President a hard time, saying the country’s going to hell in a hand bag, predicting storms when I want nice weather. Yea I’m tired of those guys!

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When was the last time any of them were right on their predictions especially the weather! Did the Country go to hell when Obama was elected president? No! Did they find Al Capone’s treasure in that vault in Chicago? No! Was it nice and warm on my birthday? No! Did Bill Clinton join Sha Na Na when he left the Whitehouse? No! And did the Lake project in Belleville turn out okay?

No!!!

Hey and what about the story behind whatever happened to Baby Jane? Did they figure that out?

No! I had to watch the whole movie to get it.

Yea people who act like they know it all and are always giving their opinion really piss me off!

They make guys like me look bad!!!

Litt Dubay

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DIANA JONES’ 3RD ALBUM

“HIGH ATMOSPHERE” RELEASED APRIL 5, 2011 (With a special guest appearance by Jim Lauderdale) High Atmosphere, the latest album in the remarkable career of singer-songwriter/portrait artist Diana Jones, hits with the force of a revelation, further deepening an unprecedented body of work that began in 2006 with My Remembrance of You and continued with 2009’s Better Times Will Come.

This new release on Proper American Records was recorded entirely live with musicians (including Jim Lauderdale) at Quad studios in Nashville.“The songs I write,” says Jones, who has a second career as a portrait artist,“are informed by my experiences within a certain time frame, so they become a sort of world within themselves. For this new record, I was on the road a lot, trying to catch up to myself and the things that were happening in my life.This was very different from my previous experiences.

During her childhood and adolescence, she felt an almost mystical, seemingly inexplicable attraction to rural Southern music,while growing up in the Northeast with no art nor music in her home, the adopted daughter of a chemical engineer. It wasn’t until her late 20s, when she located her birth family in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in east Tennessee, that Jones’ deep affinity for Anglo-Celtic traditional music began to make sense.

Specifically, it was hanging out with her grandfather, Robert Lee Maranville, that brought on her life-changing epiphany.“He was a guitar player from Knoxville,Tennessee, who played with Chet Atkins in the early days,” Jones stated.“He told me that if he had died, his one regret would have been never to have known the granddaughter who was given away. He took me driving ’round the Appalachians, reintroducing me to where I came from.And whenever these old-time country tunes came on the radio, he’d be singing along — he knew all the words.This ancient mountain music was completely in his blood and,I suddenly came to realize,in mine,too.”

It was then that Jones — who’d recorded a pair of wellcrafted contemporary singer/songwriter albums during the second half of the ’90s — decided to start anew, armed with her birthright and a newfound sense of purpose. When Maranville died in 2000, she holed up in a w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

cabin in the woods of Massachusetts and wrote the songs that wound up, six years and many filled notebooks later, on My Remembrance of You, which she fittingly dedicated to his memory.

Joyce: Diana, what different types of instruments do you play?

The album earned Jones a nomination as Best Emerging Artist at the Folk Alliance Awards, leading to tours with Richard Thompson and Mary Gauthier, appearances at folk festivals on both sides of the Atlantic, and covers of her songs by Gretchen Peters and Joan Baez.

Diana: I play guitar, Tenor guitar. I play a lot on the new CD and when I perform out solo. I’m learning to play the fiddle. I’m teaching myself, but in Nashville I’ve been going to some sessions. It’s kind of like sitting on the edge of the circle and taking it all in. They are very generous and give me tips now and then.

This information was supplied to the Americana Gazette from Cary Baker of Conqueroo. Cary set up an interview where I had a chance to speak with Diana about her new CD, High Atmosphere.

Joyce: Your new CD is being released on April 5th. There are some very unique songs on this CD. For instance, the title track,“High Atmosphere”, what is the story behind this song?

Joyce: How and when did your musical career get started?

Diana: I was just coming back to Nashville and the flood.

I was in Dallas playing a show the night before. I didn’t even know the weather was that bad. I heard people

Diana: Well, I started writing songs when I was about 11. I went to prayer meetings when I was a kid and wrote songs in the church. I’d bring a new song each Wednesday night to these prayer meetings.

This was my first job. I really loved it and felt a responsibility to show up with a new song. This really wasn’t much different than Nashville, where we get together and share songs. Then I went off to college for fine Arts, for painting. I was actually painting for a long time, then I had a terrible car accident when I was living in England.

It was pretty bad,everyone survived, but it took awhile to recuperate. During this time it occurred to me that if I had died, was there something I wish I had done. Any regrets? What would they be? I realized I really missed music in my life. I got a car, a Volvo (their safe). I made all kinds of recordings, a gambit of American music,including Elvis,and I drove through Europe for 6 months and camped out, listened to this music and this kind of brought me back. From here I moved to Austin,Texas and started to really listen to the other songwriters there. This got me going as an adult.

talking in the Delta Terminal at the airport. I also heard someone talking on his cell phone on how bad it was, then I saw the pictures on the monitor! I didn’t know if the flight was going to go and if I’d even make it back to Nashville that night. Miraculously we did. We took an alternate route home from the airport cause all the roads were flooded out. I was listening to reports on the radio on how people’s equipment was loss, cars continued on page 7

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how many of you have been wondering – whateverhappened to JOHN OATES?

Musician JOHN OATES releases AMERICANA ALBUM…

...mississippi mile

How many of you folks remember the duo, Hall & Oates? Well I grew up listening to Hall & Oates and some of their great tunes such as:“Rich Girl," "Kiss On My List," "Private Eyes," "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)," "Maneater," "Out Of Touch", "She's Gone," "Sara Smile," "You Make My Dreams," and the list goes on and on. But how many of you know that one-half of this duo had a music career before Hall & Oates and continues his solo career? Yup, that is Mr. John Oates. Sure, he still tours with Daryl Hall, but he has also branched out to continue his solo career, most recently with the release of a new CD,“Mississippi Mile”.

And let me tell you, this is a great CD. If you don’t want to take my word for it, just go out and buy it yourself – you won’t be sorry.

Andy and I met John Oates during the Americana Music Conference in Nashville last year. What a nice gentleman and even nicer is the fact that he was willing to grant me an interview.

A little background on John reveals that before he became onehalf of the award-winning duo Hall & Oates, he was reveling in the American classics of artists such as Chuck Berry and Mississippi John Hurt.

Oates has been doing solo tours for about a decade, and when he goes out on his own, most fans know by now that if he’s going to revive tunes made famous by the duo, it’s going to be in severely retooled versions.

“I’m not a big fan of Hall and Oates without Hall,” he explains.“And vice versa—I think Daryl feels the same way. If a show was just Hall and Oates minus one, what would be the point? But at the same time, those songs have a lot of validity.They’re part of my life.When I play solo, I don’t ignore my history, but I put a different spin on the songs people have heard a million times.”

John’s new CD,“Mississippi Mile”, available everywhere on April 12, emanates Oates’ musical autobiography. The tracks on Mississippi Mile directly capture what Oates and the musicians played on the first take in the studio, with the exception of only two overdubs, giving the record a live album feel.The strong group of musicians--which include renowned performers such as Bekka Bramlett, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas and co-producer Mike Henderson, to name a few--help“Mississippi Mile”reach a diverse level of sound unlike any other record to date. The 12-track album chronicles Oates’ musical inspirations from Curtis Mayfield’s “It’s Allright” to Allen Fraser’s “Dance Hall Girls” and even the Hall & Oates classic “You Make My Dreams Come True,” all intertwining elements of Oates’ authentic roots sound.“Deep River” was penned by Oates about the Nashville flood, while paying homage to Doc Watson’s “Deep River Blues.”The album’s title-track is the other Oates original song, kicking-off the album with reverence to his strong respect for classic American music.

sons.

Joyce: Do you play any other instruments besides the guitar?

John: Yea, badly. (laughs) I can play mandolin, banjo, piano, harmonica, but my main instrument is guitar.

Joyce: John, when did you write your very first song?

John: I wrote my first song in 6th or 7th grade. I played in bands ever since I’ve been in 6th grade. People were very encouraging and I never really questioned it. I just kept doing it. If people would have “booed” me, I would have stooped. Luckily that never happened.

Joyce: Well that’s good.

John: So I’m doing it!

Joyce: This is your third solo album, is this correct?

John: Yes, it is.

Joyce:“Mississippi Mile”, the title track – you wrote this correct?

Joyce: John, I have been a fan of yours since the beginning. Please tell me how your music career began? I see you started your career at age 5; was your family musical?

John:Yea, I wrote “Mississippi Mile, Deep River and You Make My Dreams Come True” (with Daryl Hall). The title song,“Mississippi Mile” sums up the whole feeling of the album. These are the songs that were very important to me growing up. This is all pre Hall & Oates. People don’t realize I started playing guitar at age 5, I met Daryl at 19, I had been playing for 14 years already. I played in bands, acoustic solo in coffee houses, all sorts of things. I had a whole musical life before Hall & Oates. That’s what this album is all about. This is the music that made me want to be a musician. The music that influenced me and really made me who I am today. When I did“Mississippi Mile”, I realized I had created a musical autobiography for myself. This really defines me. I felt I needed to summarize it, even though I didn’t grow up here in the South, I felt the Mississippi Delta music was so important, like the birthplace of American music.

John: I certainly was musical!! (he laughs) My family was not real musical. I started singing when I was a baby and my parents recognized that I had some natural talent.

They always encouraged it and supported me and gave me guitar lessons and voice les-

Joyce: Wow, that pretty much sums it up. Another one of the songs you did was “All Shook Up”. It is quite the different unique version. I had to listen to it a couple of times, but I liked it. Kind of funky. How did you come up with this arrangement?

Just a few days before “Mississippi Mile” was released, John took some time out of his busy schedule to have a chat with me about this new CD.

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John: That is the first thing I did. I wanted to recreate the songs. I wanted to rearrange them. They were already classics, so you can’t do them any better. I wanted to rearrange them in a way that honored the original, but took the song to a new place. I was sitting around finger pickin, and I came up with this cool guitar riff. I kept playing the riff and started singing “All Shook Up”. I don’t have any idea why, but that’s what happened.

Joyce: I see that Mike Henderson was the co-producer of this CD. John: Yea, I was looking for someone to work with on the album. I was hoping to work with Buddy Miller. I actively met with him at one of his shows in Denver, and I told him about the idea I had. Buddy asked,“What’s it like?” I played him my rearranged version of “All Shook Up” and he thought it was cool. I thought to myself,“Wow, at least I’m on the right track.” Unfortunately Buddy was busy doing Robert Plant and Patty Griffin albums. Then I asked Sam Bush who he thought would be a great co-producer, and that’s how I got Mike Henderson.

Joyce: John, any unique stories about these songs on the CD that you would like to share with the readers?

John: Every song has a direct connection to me. “It’s Alright”, the Curtis Mayfield tune, was super influential to me. He is really unique as most R & B singers don’t accompany on guitar; most only sing and don’t play an instrument. It’s a rootsy organic song in a way, with only 4 instruments on that song.

“Let it Rock”,the Chuck Berry song;is an obscure song. I took the feel and vibe of“Maybelline” and imposed it on “Let It Rock”. I did it in a different key, a minor key. I took the approach that the whole album would give them a different feel.

Joyce: When people listen to this CD, they get to hear the real John Oates.

John: Yea, this is like a chronicle of my life prior to meeting Daryl Hall.

Joyce: John will you be going out touring to promote the CD? John: Yes, we will be in Colorado in April, BB King’s in New York, and mid-May through June the tour really begins. You can check out the dates on my website; www.johnoates.com . Hall and Oates will be playing up your way at Summerfest in Milwaukee in June.

women in the round... continued from page 5

were gone, wondering what it would be like when I opened the front door to my house. I thought all my stuff would be floating around. Then as we drove up the hill to my house,I thought, ‘Great, I live up on a hill!” I had never really thought about that before, thus came the song, “High Atmosphere”.

I literally live two blocks from the Cumberland River.

It made me think about my life in a different way.

Joyce: Your song,“Funeral Singer”, interesting title. Tell me about this song.

Diana: My Grandfather was a singer in the Knoxville area; he was 1 of 18 children, so there were a lot of funerals as I got into my 20’s. Since I was the one that sort of had the music in the family, I was the one that got called up and asked to sing. It was an honor, but after awhile it gets to you. I thought I should get cards made up,“Diane Jones – Funeral Singer”. (we laugh) Friends start asking you to. In fact I’m singing at Jack Hardy’s memorial service thisThursday. “Funeral Singer”came about as my last relative in Nashville, my second cousin, Harold passed away, Harold and I were a lot alike.

He died of Lung Cancer and I was asked to sing at his funeral. When I came home after the funeral, I wrote this song and dedicated it to him.

Joyce: What a great story. Speaking of relatives, the song“Sister”? What’s up with this?

You call it your pre-murder ballad?

John: Because of my wife. She’s a farm girl from Illinois.

Diana: Yes, I have a sister 10 years younger than me. We got along great and then I realized one day she would get married. I thought whoever marries her had better be a good guy. (Or I might have to plan out a premeditated murder plot). I wrote this song for her and actually she’s married to one of the best guys in the world!

Joyce: Well John, what’s in the future for you?

Joyce: Lucky for him! Will you be touring to promote the new CD?

John: I’m keeping busy, going to be playing out solo, continue playing with Daryl. By the way Daryl is working on a solo album as well. I love playing with Daryl. I have the best of both worlds!!!

Diana: Yea, we are doing the major cities first, some festivals then off to the UK and Europe probably in September.

Joyce: I have an odd question. I read that you raise llamas, emus and alpacas. How in the world did you ever get into this?

Joyce: Thank you John for your time. Are you going to be playing a showcase at the Americana Music Conference in October? If so, I’ll be sure to look you up.

Joyce: Do you still do any painting?

John: Definitely. I’m going to try to get the guys together that played on this album.

You be sure to look me up when you are here!

Diana: This would have been my full time job if I had not got back into music. I love to paint and do some in my spare time. I don’t have the time as when I was promoting my last record I was out 200 days during the year. I don’t have the physical time to do it at this time.

Track Listing for Mississippi Mile:

Joyce: Any words of wisdom for any women wanting to get in this business?

1. Mississippi Mile 2. Let It Rock 3. It’s Alright 4. Send Me Someone to Love 5.All Shook Up 6. Pallet 7. Searchin’ 8. Come Back Baby 9. Deep River 10. He Was A Friend of Mine 11.You Make My Dreams Come True 12. Dance Hall Girls

Diana: Be true to yourself. If you have to start over and throw everything out and start over, do it. You need to write from a whole different place. Focus on writing the best that you can say, not what you think people want to hear.

For more information on John Oates, please visit www.JohnOates.com Background information supplied by Brian Galindo of Wolfson Entertainment and Sarah Lai of Warner Music Nashville.

Joyce: One last question before I let you go. You have Jim Lauderdale performing as a guest on some of your songs on this CD. How did you muster this?

Diana: I have always been a fan of Jim Lauderdale’s for a very long time. I love his style of singing. I visioned my song as a duo and thought Jim’s voice would be perfect.

I said let’s try to get Jim and graciously he agreed. He was a blast to work with.

Joyce: Thanks Diana. For more information on Diana Jones, check out www.dianajonesmusic.com Story by: Joyce Ziehli Bio and Photos supplied from Diana’s website and Cary Baker of Conqueroo.

Story by: Joyce Ziehli Photos supplied.

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The Queen of ROCKABILLY

WANDA JACKSON When Andy and I attended the Americana Music conference last year, we had the pleasure of attending the awards show at the Ryman Auditorium where Wanda Jackson performed and also received an award. After the show we met up with friends, Warner and Deb Hodges,and Warner’s mom to catch her showcase – and what a party this was. Man can she still rock! The next day when I stepped onto the elevator in our hotel, to my surprise there was Ms. Jackson, a passenger. I congratulated her for her award and told her how much I enjoyed her performance last evening. I told her I would love to interview her sometime for my magazine and she replied.“That would be great hon, I’d love to.”

For some of you who aren’t familiar with the Queen of Rockabilly, I pulled the following written in October 2010 by Michael Hill from Wanda’s website.

When Wanda Jackson, the justly crowned Queen of Rockabilly,recorded“Let’s Have A Party,”a tune she made into a hit of her own in 1958 even after one-time boyfriend Elvis Presley had released a version of it, her delivery of the chorus wasn’t so much a suggestion as a command. As the title – and, more importantly,the contents -- of her latest album,The Party Ain’t Over, indicates, this feisty septuagenarian artist is as galvanizing as ever. Jackson was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,honored with a longtime-coming, Early Influence accolade for her pivotal role in the evolution of popular music, especially where female artists were concerned. As a teenager in the mid-50s,the diminutive Jackson was the first woman to perform unadulterated rock and roll – and she one-upped the boys defining this new genre,Presley included,with her exhilaratingly forthright approach.The young Jackson, an Oklahoma native, came across as both gritty and glamorous; a playfully suggestive growl to her voice matched the daring, handmade outfits she wore, short skirts and fringed dresses that have inspired would-be bad girls for decades to come.A tireless touring artist for more than 50 years, Jackson continues to win over new, young fans, including guitarist-vocalist-White Stripes founder Jack White.

On this debut for Third Man/Nonesuch Records, produced and arranged by White at his Nashville studio, the spirited Jackson proves that brash rock and roll attitude need not have an age limit. Her trademark growl remains intact on rockers like “Rip It Up” and “Nervous Breakdown;” she opens the set with an echo-laden sneer on a rollicking version of“Shakin’All Over”and ends it ten songs later with a plaintive take on Jimmie Rodgers’“Yodel #6,” along the way gamely tackling country, gospel, densely worded Bob Dylan, and a little bit of Tin Pan Alley. Jackson and White are a remarkably simpatico pairing; their collaboration came together quickly, serendipitously. One of Jackson’s colleagues had originally approached White about doing a duet with Jackson for a proposed “Wanda and Friends” disc, but White demurred. Instead, he offered something better, inviting Jackson to cut a single with him for his Third Man label, and that swiftly led this kindred spirits to put together an entire album.

Jackson admits,“I was scared at first because I didn’t know what this young rock star was going to expect of me or ask me to do. I kind of had shaky feet, deciding whether I wanted to do this or not.Of course I knew about him,I have to admit,from the album

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he did with Loretta Lynn and how successful that was.That certainly got my attention when he said he was interested in doing one with me. So we began sending material to each other; he sent me the things he thought I should do or he wanted me to do, and I sent him some ideas of things I had put aside for recording at a future date.When I finally got to Nashville, he put me at ease immediately. He’s just so laid back and such a cool guy that I found myself wanting to please him, I wanted to do it his way. My husband (Jackson’s manager of 40 years) and I told him, you do this. If you want a suggestion from me, feel free to ask. Otherwise, you make the decisions.That gave him a lot of freedom and I wanted him to have that freedom.And I think that’s what made it so good as an album.As I began singing these songs and listening to the playbacks he made, I realized he wasn’t wanting to change my style of singing at all. He just wanted me to have new, fresher material.And I said, hey I could do this. I can sing like Wanda Jackson. He just wanted more of Wanda than I was used to putting out.And apparently it worked.”

White and Jackson came up with inspired and wide-ranging song choices that reflect Jackson’s long history with country, gospel, and even the big-band music she remembers from her childhood as well as with rock and roll: Harlan Howard’s woozy lament “Busted”;the Andrew Sisters’ kitschy tropical travelogue,“Rum and Coca Cola”,a fitting companion to her own“Fujiyama Mama”; Dylan’s rockabilly fever dream,“Thunder On The Mountain”.They also recorded a cover of contemporary bad-girl Amy Winehouse’s “You Know That I’m No Good,” which White first released as a single in 2009, paired with “Shakin All Over.”The Winehouse song suits her, Jackson says, but she’s careful to draw the line between life and art:“On the one hand, I’m good, on the other hand, I’m bad.That seems to be the image this new generation of fans that I have has given me.

It’s like the title of the documentary about my life that recently came out:The Sweet Lady With the Nasty Voice. Maybe that says that I become a different person, a different persona, when I sing those songs. I have a good reputation, always have had, and respect from everyone as a lady, and that pleases me very much. But the young girls think I’m this hard gal that gets her way and storms in. It’s just because of the material I’ve sung and the way I’ve sung it.And that’s okay.That’s cute.”

White himself backs Jackson on lead guitar, cutting loose with solos that are as ferocious and fun as Jackson’s vocals; in fact, the entire band that White assembled – inw w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

cluding pedal steel,a horn section and backing vocals from singers Ashley Monroe and Karen Elson –is similarly uninhibited, matching Jackson’s and White’s intensity and, just as often, their humor.Though the work is carefully arranged, the resulting tracks feel like one unforgettable after-hours session, with everyone in thrall to the woman at the heart of these tunes.

The first song White suggested they cut was “Rip It Up,” one Jackson knows very well from her rockabilly days. As she explains,“It shocked me that he wanted me to do that but that was the first one I recorded. He loves that song and I do too. But I think he did that to put me at ease, let me do something that I’m real familiar with and real comfortable with, and he didn’t have to direct me or any of that. I just reared back and sang it.That got me loosened up and made me comfortable.” Not that White simply wanted to make things easy. On the sultry“You Know I’m No Good,”says Jackson,“We’d get through one take and he’d say,‘Oh Wanda that was great.’And I said,‘Whew, I made it.’Then he said,‘Now let’s do one more and let’s push a little more.’ I was getting physically kind of tired and probably kind of got angry but he got the take he wanted. It’s funny how you can come up with what your producers want in the strangest ways.”A little bit of their repartee can be detected at the top of the track, just as the analog tape gets rolling.

The Party Ain’t Over is about stepping out, not summing up, but it does touch on important aspects of Jackson’s life and ever-evolving career.“Teach Me Tonight,” a country-inflected interpretation of the DeCastro Sisters’ hit, partly fulfills Jackson’s desire to cut a 40sstyle bigband disc.

“Like A B a b y,” recorded live in the studio with the whole band, allowed Jackson to revive an obscure, bluesy number from her o l d buddy Elvis. The Jimmie R o d ge r s tune is the first song she e v e r learned as a child; her father taught her the chords on the g u i t a r, she figured out how to sing along while she played, and, like any aspiring vocal star of the era, she taught herself how to yodel, a skill she has clearly maintained over the ensuing decades.

Jackson remains too busy to look back – her legend looms especially large now in Europe and Japan, where she is always in demand as a concert performer – but she does allow herself a moment to reflect:“I can’t think of anyone who could be any luckier or any happier than me. I think it’s a blessing from the Lord. I had wonderful parents who gave up so much so that I could have my dreams come true. I was an only child so I had all the love and attention that anyone could ask for. My mother made my stage clothes and a lot of my street clothes too. Dad traveled with me and drove me to all those early dates so I didn’t have to be alone.You couldn’t ask for more, to make your w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

living doing what you love to do, to sing and travel and entertain people all your life. I can’t think of any life that could be better than that.”

And, as she notes, the party ain’t over.

Wanda and I finally got to have that interview and this is how it went.

Joyce: Good morning Ms. Jackson. First of all it is such an honor to interview you. They said I only have 10 minutes with you. You have a very busy day ahead.

Wanda: Hello Joyce. I can’t even say hello to anyone in 10 minutes. (laughs) Joyce: You are indeed a woman pioneer; the first woman to record a rock and roll song,‘Let’s Have A Party” back in 1958. What was this like, what did people think?

Wanda: Well, I can’t speak for people. (laughs) I do know when I did the song at concerts, it was accepted very well. Totally. At that time our audiences were all adults. The kids didn’t have any power. Elvis changed that when he came along. All of a sudden these young people had a voice and they used it. It wasn’t anything I thought much about. I didn’t think I was blazing any trails?

Joyce: But you were!

Wanda: But I was. (she laughs) That’s probably true with anybody. Any field when you first do it. You don’t realize the impact that one decision is going to make to the world.

I’m sure glad I had the nerve to try it. I really am. Rock and Roll has been very good for me. I think it has helped other girls who wanted to play an instrument to get up there with the boys and belt it out. I’ve had many of them tell me that I’ve encouraged them into giving it a try.

Joyce: I believe that – you opened up a roadway for them. You should be proud.

Wanda: I changed the dress and look of women for sure. I went from glamour to a sexier image and the y all jumped on that band wagon right quick after I did.

Joyce: What is the most exciting venue you have ever performed at?

Wanda: Honey, when you realize I’ve toured for 55 years and 12 months of it, it’s hard to remember all of them. (laughs) Any more when I’m with a really good band, each job gets better and better and we get tighter as a group.

The venues are nice and the audiences are terrific. Now we have young adults that are so much into the music. It is so much fun for me to see their faces. Some nights are just magical!!!

Joyce:You have done so much. More CD’s in the future?

Wanda: Yea, it is what I’ve done all my life. Singing and performing, no need to change now unless there is an act of God. Joyce: What or how do you relax?

Wanda: I relax, I sleep. I really use up a lot of energy at shows. Mostly I sleep.

Joyce: Tell me your thoughts on working with Jack White?

Wanda: I can sum this up with one word, working with Jack White is “WONDERFUL”.

Wanda had another incoming call so we had to cut our conversation off. Maybe I can catch her again on a not so busy day. Meanwhile I will send her some mild cheddar cheese for her enjoyment.

Please check out Wanda Jackson at www.wandajackson.com and she will be playing at Summerfest in Milwaukee on June 30th!!! The Party is just gettin' started!

Story by: Joyce Ziehli Photos supplied.

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double CD release is filled with classics and new songs, but all are played with the same energy and slyness that he has exhibited through all his releases. The crowd adds greatly to this record, cheering and singing along making everyone aware of the best parts of the song (in case you didn’t know). After listening to the album a few times, my mind was right with the crowd, loving the same song parts and phrases and enjoying every story like it was my first time hearing it. Speaking of first time listens, this is also the first time I’ve heard Todd in front of a live band. I haven’t been fortunate enough to catch one of those shows, so the few songs on this release that are played with a rocking band Great American Taxi fill that hole in my heart.

I’m listening to Live, the Storyteller as I write this, and I have never been more distracted. Happily distracted! I find myself leaning back in my chair paying full attention to the story that has appeared mid-song. I don’t think I’ve ever been more welcoming to a distraction before.

This album is full of must-hear Todd Snider. It encompasses much of his career and displays it with diversity and pride. I hope he has a copy of these CD’s hanging on his fridge with a gold star stuck on them. In all seriousness, the versions of Just Like Old Times, Sunshine (with the crowd whistling along), Looking For A Job, and Play a Train Song are tremendous, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I think this album should be first in the curriculum of Snider101. The songs are great, the stories are always entertaining, and the vibes are cool. This is a must-have for fan of good times. Keep up the great work Todd!

Review by: Rob Kosmeder

Tom Mason ♪♪♪♪♪ The Blue Buccaneer Style: Pirate Music I can’t remember when I had as much fun listening to a CD as I did with Tom Mason’s latest release the Blue Buccaneer. This CD is filled with great songs, wonderful harmonies, and scenery that is unbelievable. Scenery you say?

Yes scenery that is created in your mind as you listen to this collection of rum drinking, plank walking, wench wailing, sail catching music!

The CD starts off appropriately with the Pirate Song. A tale of woe and pirate arrs! My favorite song is track two The Queen of the Spanish Main. A wonderful tale of treasure and adventure. Other favorite cuts include In the Service of the King a tale of conscription, Decked out like the Devil, a Blackbeard tale,and In the Drink a story of drunkenness and rum. The CD takes you to the soft breezes of the Caribbean and white sandy beaches of its many islands.

Mason made this fantastic CD with quite a crew of savory musical characters including, Paul Griffith, Lorne Rall, Michael Webb, Peter, Hyrka, Bronwyn DavisMason, Pru Clearwater, Eric Brace, Peter Cooper, Phil Lee, Mark Miller, Billy Block,Jill Block,and Michael Jeffers. A scurvy bunch if there ever was! The musicianship and vocal styling on this CD works wonderfully with Mason’s lyrics.

This is one fun CD! Go out and buy this CD!!! You won’t be sorry. It’s a fine change to the usual music pallet most of us subscribe to. If you don’t buy it you scurvy dogs, the Blue Buccaneer and his pirate crew will fine ya and make ya walk the plank!!

ARRRRRRR!!!!

Review by:Andy Ziehli

Tom T. Hall, Eric Brace, Peter Cooper and other artists ♪♪♪♪♪ I Love: Tom T. Hall’s Songs of Fox Hollow Style: Country/Americana Red Beet Records This album is one of the best ideas that anybody’s had in quite a while. Partly a tribute to Tom T. Hall on the occasion of his 75th birthday,it is also a gift to a new generation, springing from the minds of Eric Brace and Peter Cooper. Superb songwriters in their own right, Brace and Cooper are also admirers of the masters of the craft, and Tom T. is right at the top of their list.

Cooper, especially, grew up with Hall’s iconic children’s album,“Songs of Fox Hollow,” released in 1974. Oddly, given the album’s original intent, it produced two major hits on the country charts,“I Love” and “I Care,” both of which struck a chord with adult audiences. But children were Hall’s intended targets, and the gifts he offered in-

cluded songs of tenderness and humor, full of lessons about life and caring and nature.

With a first-born son of his own on the way, Cooper began to consider a remake of Hall’s record, and he and Brace began to fantasize about the artists they would like to have on it.They thought of Patty Griffin and Buddy Miller,Bobby Bare andTommy Cash, Duane Eddy and Jim Lauderdale, all of whom happily offered their talents. Griffin does an outstanding job on the title cut, and Bare, a tough old bird who was never afraid of a tender song, delivers a heartfelt rendition of “I Care.” But my favorite cut on the CD is “I Made a Friend of a Flower Today,” a new song written by Hall and his wife Dixie, and beautifully sung by Fayssoux Starling McLean.Tom T. himself sings one of the refrains about a man who takes just a little extra time to water a flower that’s wilting in the sun. It wasn’t very far out of my way I made a friend of a flower today Thanks to Tom T. and Dixie Hall for writing such a lovely song. And thanks to Peter Cooper, Eric Brace and this all-star cast of Americana artists for pooling their talents on a beautiful project. Here’s hoping it has the same impact as the original.

Review by: Frye Gaillard

Dear August ♪♪♪♪ Act Ready Produced by Dear August and Mark Whitcomb at DNA Labs, Madison, WI Style: Americana Indie Rock Dear August's Adrienne and Tyler Applegate themselves call this third album introspective, stripped down and evolved from something that might have once been a little more country. I call it the perfect kind of jangly from a song-writing force who left warped on the table and spent clever instead.This album from Dear August lands a She and Him kind of feel, whimsical melodies in nice, quick, "pop-song" form.

This go 'round from the core of the Applegates + Dan O'Brien includes Frank Torrey, bass and piano and Douglas Milks, mandolin and electric guitar. A stop off at the traditional Moonshiner with violin from Kenny Leiser so in balance with Adrienne's voice pays a graceful reverence to whiskey-drinking.

Each one of these more "raw" (Tyler's own classification) offerings on Act Ready takes an unexpected twist, just in a way that entertains and keeps interest. This a great working-class song-writer's effort from Adrienne, and wellpresented from the whole group. Not one of these songs is contrived, not one tries too hard, not one makes us wade through heartache.

It's just like Adrienne not to "hook" you as much as to more politely or, modestly include and engage you, which Act Ready surely does. If this album is representative of the direction a sound takes as it "matures" or becomes refined, then, get these cats back to the lab, 'cause I can't wait to hear what comes next!

Review by:Anne Miller

Steve Earle ♪♪♪♪♪ I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive Style: Americana/Country New West Records Steve Earle’s latest album, released this spring in a rush of creativity that also includes his first novel, is, I think, his best record ever. Starting with the Cajun rocker “Waitin’ On the Sky,” and ending with the Grammy-nominated“This City,”Earle gives us a string of eleven splendid songs filled with gritty compassion and a wisdom devoid of sentimentality. One of my favorites concerns the part of the world in which I live, as Earle sings his ode to “The Gulf of Mexico.”

Come and gather round me people and a tale to you I’ll tell Of my father and his father in the days before the spill With an endless sky above ‘em and a restless sea below And every blessin’ flowing from the Gulf of Mexico As far as I know,Earle has never made his living on a trawler or a rig,but he understands the devastations of the spill, and its effects on a time-honored way of life. His song about the lure of “the deep blue water” is one of several pieces of social commentary continued on page 30

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Lane Vendon Master Luthier and One Heck of a Picker

In late April 2011 one Friday afternoon I sat down to talk with Lane Vendon, owner of Lane’s Lutherie and Violin Shop at 2345 Atwood Ave. Madison,Wisconsin about his life as a musician,violins,the instrument repair business,and his new location on Madison’s East Side. It is after all Madison’s Premier Violin and String Instrument Repair Shop.

AG: So Lane, how did you get into music?

LV: Well my Mom played music in school, clarinet and trumpet, and then accordion and guitar. So there was always a guitar around the house. I was always monkeying with that or listening to her play.Then when I got into 4th grade, Orchestra was available and I was trying to decide what to play and my Dad said “you’re going to play the violin”‘cause that’s what he always wanted to play and never did.

AG:Where was that?

LV: Dodgeville Elementary School. So I took up violin and stuck with that till 9th grade and got burnt out with school orchestra and classical music.Which was a huge mistake and I wish I would have stayed with it and learned more theory, but I quit and started taking lessons with an Old Time fiddler. He took me under his wing and showed me all this Old Time music and Barn Dance stuff, polkas, waltzes, that kind of stuff.Then I started playing bars, and some private parties. Everyone else was in there 60’s and 70’s, and I was 14 years old.That was kind of cool.The guitar I picked up from my Mom, and you know I’m left handed so I used to just flip her guitar over and started learning chords and when she saw what I was doing and saw that I was serious, she made me flip it back over and learn it right handed.Which was a blessing because it’s so much easier to find instruments that are right handed than left handed.You can get up at a jam session and play somebody else’s guitar. It makes things easier. So that’s how I got started.

AG: Now since then you’ve played with several well known groups locally, talk about those bands.

LV: Everett Knudtson and the Farmhands was that first group when I was 14. Everett was the Fiddler who I took lessons with. From that I progressed into country bands so in my junior and senior year in high school I was playing with bands in Wisconsin Rapids, Driving up there every weekend to play gigs. I also played in a house band at the “Don Q. Inn Supper Club” in Dodgeville.We played every Wednesday,Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night all through high school. So that was my job.

AG:That was 4 nights a week in high school?

LV:Yeah, and in the summer I was playing 4 nights a week in Wisconsin Rapids with my brother and a friend who had a Volkswagen Van and load up all our gear and go up there.We’d rehearse Wednesday,Thursday, and Friday’s all day and then play Friday and Saturday Night.Then go home Sunday,and by Wednesday we go back and do the whole thing again. I never rehearsed so much with a band in all my life.We would honestly rehearse from 8 in the morning till 10:00, or Midnight.

AG:That’s intense, especially at that age!

LV: It was pretty incredible. (Smiles) Locally the 2 biggest bands I’ve been with are “Under the Gun” which was a local country group here in Madison and I was with them for 9 years all said and done, and“Madison County”which I was with for 8 years.

AG: I know that group was very popular while you were with them.

LV: Oh yeah, both bands as far as the top 40 country bands go, they were the biggest continued on page 30

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A PET NOTE

BEAN... a most handsome Boston Terrier

This past March I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Bones Hillman, when Peter Cooper, Eric Brace,Phil Lee and the Nashville gang came to Belleville to do our Belleville School Fundraiser. Bones is a delight to speak with, (sexy voice and all) and I caught him checking out his Blackberry while we were dining at the New Glarus Hotel, looking at a picture of his dog. Knowing me, of course I had to take a peak and ask some questions about this cute little fellow on the screen. I knew right away that this little guy must be featured in an upcoming Americana Gazette. Anyway, this is how“Bean”came to be this issue’s Pet Note.

Now for those of you who don’t know who Bones Hillman is, please read a little from his bio, then enjoy “My Bean Story.”

Bones Bio: In 1987, I was sharing a house in Melbourne with Neil and Sharon Finn. We had been friends for years through the New Zealand music scene. I was in a band called the Swingers, and we’d had a number 1 hit in Australia and New Zealand, but at this stage I was playing in a local Melbourne band and doubling as a house painter during the day.

One night when I got home from work, Neil told me that Rob Hirst from Midnight Oil had called, and that they were looking for a new bass player. Of course I thought he was pulling my leg. Luckily for me, a few nights later Rob rang back again wondering why I hadn’t returned his call. He was actually quite serious. He offered to send me the Oils new album 'Diesel and Dust', and asked if I could learn a few tracks and come up to Sydney for a bit of a play.

I met with the guys in their damp cell-like rehearsal room. Rob, Jim and Martin (no sign of Pete) and I ran through some Oils tracks, and played a couple of covers for fun.

Eventually after 3 trips to Sydney, always to this same rehearsal room, Pete showed up.

We played through a few tracks with him singing, and then they asked me to wait outside. Decision time. I shook hands and said thanks. I knew then that I had the gig – it was just one of those moments.

The next day, I was taken to the band’s headquarters, known as “The Office”, in reality a rambling old terrace house on Glebe Point Road, to meet the band's 6th member-in-charge-of-business, manager Gary Morris. He made it quite clear that he was the pit bull of the yard. His assistant “Knackers” looked like she had balls as well.

“You’re onboard for Australia and Canada only,” Gary informed me brusquely. That initial tour of Australia and Canada turned into 15 years of my life, 5 studio albums, a couple of live albums and who knows how many gigs around the planet.

But me, I’m a simple musician – all I want to do is play my bass, go on tour with new people, maybe get to sit up front with the driver now and again. Enough from me, now hear what my best mate Bean has to say.

Bean’s Bio: Look at my baby picture. Aren’t I one of the cutest puppies you have ever seen? I’m a 17 month old Boston Terrier. I was bred as part of a Christmas litter of pups in Kentucky,but no body wanted to take me home as a pet. I was left with no one to love, starved and uncared for. Now, don’t feel bad for me. Life got better.

Bones came along just at the right time and rescued me.

After two weeks of some TLC, some fine kibbles, lots of love, I grew twice my size.

I knew I was going to like living here with this Bones guy. Life was good and I soon developed my own distinct personality and must say I became quite a special character.

(At least that’s what I’ve heard others refer to me as – “a special character”.)

One of the things I love to do the best is to crash Bone’s rehearsals. I really miss him continued on page 31

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I LOVE:

Tom T. Hall’s Songs of Fox Hollow I LOVE: Tom T. Hall’s Songs of Fox Hollow is a co-release of Red Beet Records and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s CMF Records.

What do Patty Griffin, Duane Eddy, Bobby Bare, and Buddy Miller have in common, besides being icons of American music? They're Tom T. Hall fans, and this new record proves it.

Just in time for Tom T. Hall’s 75th birthday, producers Peter Cooper and Eric Brace have assembled the perfect cast to pay tribute to country music’s greatest storytelling songwriter. Gathered in the recording studio atTomT.’s Fox Hollow farm, the group put their own spin on the Country Music Hall of Famer’s most beloved work, his 1974 album, Songs of Fox Hollow. Indie label Red Beet Records has joined with the Country Music Hall of Fame’s CMF Records to release what is destined to be a new children’s classic, I Love:Tom T. Hall's Songs of Fox Hollow. The album also includes Jim Lauderdale,Tommy Cash, Elizabeth Cook, Eric Brace & Last Train Home, and Peter Cooper among others. Tom T. himself lends his vocals to a new song he and Dixie Hall wrote just for the occasion.

The original Songs of Fox Hollow was born one long-ago summer, when two young nephews of Tom T. and Dixie Hall spent the summer roaming the farm and asking Tom T. a host of questions about the land and the animals. To the kids, Fox Hollow was a place of activity and enchantment, and pretty soon Tom T.’s answers began to rhyme.

The record that came about offers kids laughter, melody, and lessons in kindness, care, and conservation.For adults, it offers the same, as well as a welcome window into kids’ thoughts and feelings.

When it was released in 1974,Tom T. Hall's Songs of Fox Hollow produced two No. 1 hits, "I Love" and "I Care," and the album entered the consciousness of a generation.

Here at Red Beet we decided it was time for another generation to hear these wonderful songs, so we set out to re-imagine the time-honored work. For a week in June 2010, Peter Cooper and Eric Brace rounded up fellow Tom T. fans and headed to Fox

Needle Drop

Hollow, the farm that inspired "Songs of Fox Hollow" and is still home to Tom T. and Dixie Hall.

Over three magical days in this idyllic setting just south of Nashville,they recorded the eleven songs that made up the original Songs of Fox Hollow, plus a brand new tune written especially for this release by Tom T. and Dixie Hall. Peter Cooper and Eric Brace have produced a gem of Americana music, a new classic for kids and adults alike.

When Andy and I were in Nashville we stopped out to visit our dear friends,Tom T, and Ms. Dixie Hall. It was a sunny day and we enjoyed watching the turkeys strut their stuff out on their lawn and got a real close up look at one of the peacocks. Ms. Dixie was busy rearranging the album covers on the wall and Tom T. enlightened us with some funny stories as always. Anyway, we did talk a little about the new CD,“I LOVE” which many of our dear friends from East Nashville have been involved in. The CD is being released through the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville on May 25th, which also happens to be Tom T. Hall’s 75th Birthday. Andy and I will be attending this gala event and hopefully will have stories and photos to share in the next issue. Featured performances at the event include Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, Bobby Bare,Tommy Cash, Eric Brace & Last Train Home, Peter Cooper, Jim Lauderdale, Gary Bennett,The Wrights, Jon Byrd, Mark & Mike, Fayssoux Starling McLean,Tom T. Hall, an all-star band (Lloyd Green, Jen Gunderman, Mike Bub, and Mark Horn) and more.

Information from: Red Beet Records Website Photos supplied.

Story by: Joyce Ziehli Some photos by Joyce Ziehli

He's like a dealer, coaxing you into a future jones-needing-a-fix. He introduces you so subtly to worlds you quickly find you can't live outside of. Just a quiet suggestion, here and there, until finally one pivotal offering, loaning or supplying of equipment that will finally hook you, then there's no turning back.

There's a dealer out there for all of us, just waiting to make a generous welcome to a worthwhile way to spend our free time, paving the way for a habit. I've encountered a few, married one, (Jim Smith, you know exactly what I mean). Those folks who invite you to an experience they know a thing or two about, but they'll wait patiently until your interest grows, until, you seek their time, until you're desperately combing Craigslist for almost forgotten vinyl- you have to have to play on the turntable loaned to you by the dealer, because with every needle drop of that borrowed disc spinner, you come a little closer to justifying your own investment. When you do, beware, whatever your drug of choice, it doesn't matter, it may be listening to records, picking up a guitar, tinkering at a mixing board, or, like mine, rattling across the keyboard my IPad sits in, you will now require a metamorphosis of your time and your space. You need a studio now. A place to work your fix. You'll make room for it,time and space, and you'll make a widow of sorts out of your sweetheart, too, won't you?

There's a dealer out there for all of us,how many of us has Andy Ziehli hooked on a world of music we didn't know as intimately as we do now? Pay attention to the introductions there are for you,different ways to spend your time, exploring worlds not yet familiar to you,just,pick your dealer carefully,if you don't,the static after the needle drop might never be rewarded by the downbeat.

Read more from Anne Miller at her website: takeascavengerhunt.com Written by: Anne Miller

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Doug Gray & the Marshall Tucker Band still Rockin 24 hours at a time When Joyce asked if I wanted to talk to Doug Gray of the Marshall Tucker Band (MTB) I thought I’d died and gone to Carolina Heaven.

The MTB is one of my all-time favorite bands. I have every LP they ever made in my collection along with the reissue CD’s (you can’t have too much of a good thing).

Toy Caldwell was one of my guitar heroes and I have always wanted to play like him. Gray’s smooth voice rocked the Southern Rock world with his soulful clear voice on songs like Heard it in a love song, I can’t slow down (my favorite MTB song), Fire on the Mountain, 2 hours at a time and Ramblin besides countless others.

One of the major Southern rock bands of the '70s, the Marshall Tucker Band was formed in Spartanburg, SC,in 1971 by singer Doug Gray, guitarist Toy Caldwell (born 1948, died February 25, 1993), his brother bassist Tommy Caldwell (born 1950, died April 4, 1980), guitarist George McCorkle (born 1947, died June 29th, 2007), drummer Paul Riddle, and reed player Jerry Eubanks. The group's style combined rock, country, and jazz and featured extended instrumental passages on which lead guitarist Toy Caldwell shone.The band was signed to Capricorn Records and released their debut album,The Marshall Tucker Band, in March 1973.

They gained recognition through a tour with the Allman Brothers Band and found significant success during the course of the '70s, with most of their albums going gold.Their peak came with the million-selling album Carolina Dreams and its Top 15 single "Heard It in a Love Song" in 1977. Since then, the group has continued to write, record, and tour, and entertain fans from around the world. Friend them on MySpace and Facebook!

The "Marshall Tucker" in the band's name does not refer to a band member, but rather a Spartanburg-area piano tuner.While the band was discussing possible band names one evening in an old warehouse they had rented for rehearsal space, someone noticed that the warehouse's door key had the name "Marshall Tucker" inscribed on it, and suggested they called themselves the "Marshall Tucker Band," not realizing it referred to an actual person.It later came to light that Marshall Tucker, the blind piano tuner, had rented the space before the band, and the landlord had yet to change the inscription on the key.

The original members (and some later members) of the Marshall Tucker Band had been playing in various lineups under different band names around the Spartanburg area since the early 1960s. In 1966, members of several such bands merged to form the Toy Factory, named after guitarist Toy Caldwell. The Toy Factory's constantly-shifting lineup included, at times, Caldwell, Caldwell's younger brother Tommy, Doug Gray, Jerry Eubanks, George McCorkle, and Franklin Wilkie. In the late 1960s, band members Toy Caldwell and Doug Gray served in the U.S.Armed Forces, and saw action in Vietnam.

By the 1970s,Toy Caldwell and George McCorkle had returned to Spartanburg, and the Toy Factory had resumed playing in area clubs.

In fact, in 1970 the Toy Factory was the opening act for the Allman Brothers when the Allman's played at the "Sitar" music lounge in Spartanburg.

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In 1972, Caldwell and McCorkle once again revamped the band's lineup, eventually settling on Tommy Caldwell on bass, George McCorkle rhythm guitar, and Jerry Eubanks, flute/tenor sax, while adding Paul Riddle on drums; the new lineup adopted the name "Marshall Tucker Band." Wet Willie lead singer Jimmy Hall told Toy Caldwell to book the band at Grant's Lounge in Macon which he did. After hearing the band play at Grant's, Buddy Thornton and Paul Hornsby recorded the band's demo at the Capricorn Studio in Macon, Ga. Phil Walden signed The Marshall Tucker Band based on those demos.

The Marshall Tucker Band's self-titled debut, produced by Paul Hornsby, was released in 1973, and certified gold in 1975. All of the tracks were written by Toy Caldwell, including "Can't You See".After the album's release, the band began touring, playing upwards of 300 shows per year throughout the decade. Southern rock fiddler Charlie Daniels later recalled that the Marshall Tucker Band "came onstage and just blew it out from start to finish."

I had a wonderful conversation with Doug Gray about the MTB and its place in history.

With the release of their greatest hits and a full tour schedule, the MTB is poised to get all who come to the shows on their feet and clapping their hands to the soulful sounds of the MTB! DG: Where abouts in Wisconsin are you located at?

out and play.” I can’t play around Spartanburg because people come to see us and we end up talking all night instead of making music (he laughs). I still go out and hear other bands. I always go early and hear the opening acts. I just love music and the people who make it and come to enjoy it. I was talking to Charlie Daniels not long ago and he said to me “Doug I can’t believe we’re still out there doing this”. I said to him “Charlie I can’t believe that you’re still alive!” (Laughs) AG: Tell me about the solo record.

DG: I made this a year after Tommy died. We were all still in shock. We had all grown up together and been friends since Jr. High. Before that happened I had been looking for songs to do a Soul record. I made the record and everyone who heard it said I should release it. I had made it for myself. The record people said we want to put you out on the road to promote it. I thought to myself that I was already in the MTB but I knew Toy did not want to carry on and the rest of the guys did not either at the time.

I knew though that they would change their minds and I was so into the MTB I did not want to leave it or go on without them with me. We had Gold Records and had so much history that performing without them was just not in the cards at that time. I made the record because I needed too. But going on without them was not in the cards.

The release of the Greatest Hits and my solo CD fit well together. We had taken the Greatest Hits of the market years ago. So many people told me that it was not a true representation of our greatest hits. I asked people to send in on my Facebook page what songs should be on the CD,so this time we added songs and I feel that it’s a much better record than before. It’s a people’s greatest hits package.

Now back to the Doug Gray CD. I went up to Nashville with Billy Sherrill and we amassed about 500 songs to listen to for this CD. I told the song pluggers and publishing houses that I want soulful heartfelt songs to cut. I would not be cutting them like the demos they had; I was putting my own spin on them. They touch me so. I knew that they would touch others. I picked seven songs out of the 500 and cut them.

The project was a labor of love for me, not a new future. No matter what kind of money and fame people promise you, you have to make a choice. I chose to finish the record, but to stay with MTB, and here we are 30 years later and I’m still playing with the MTB. AG: After all these years playing you guys still put on one hell of a show. Is it hard to keep doing that?

AG: We are right below Madison.

DG: It’s not hard at all. Ninety-nine percent of the time we’re still smoking the stage at 150% the other we are at 149%. We all still love doing this and the people who come out to see us are the best fans in the world. It’s not hard to put on a great show when your heart’s still in it. We play all over the US and we do military tours of the Mid-east for the troops. I could not walk on stage if I did not want to give the best show of my life each and every time. The fans deserve that.

DG: I have a buddy who lives in Kenosha that I served with in the service. I visit him quite often and love Wisconsin!

AG: So what would you like to talk about? The release of your solo album or the MTB? DG: Let’s talk about both at the same time.

AG: When you guys started, out who was in charge?

AG: I want you to know that the MTB is one of my favorite bands and I have been playing your songs in the bands I have been in since the 70’s.

DG: So have I! What songs did you play?

DG: There never was a boss in the MTB and still there is not one. We have always operated on mutual respect and everyone’s opinion matters. I own the name now, but the rules are the same. If you don’t have a boss you are 100% better off.

AG: We played Can’t you see, 24 hours at a time, Heard it in a love song, Fire on the Mountain, How can I slow down, Long hard ride, and This old Cowboy.

AG: It’s pretty obvious that you love what you do and you love people. Is it hard to keep such a good attitude after all these years?

DG: How did you like How can I slow down?

AG: That’s my favorite MTB song!

DG: You know that’s a cool song. I have not thought of doing that song in a long, long time. We never played that song live. I should dig that out and relearn it! Are you still out playing?

DG: No not at all. I love to meet the fans and talk to them.

Other entertainers come up and see us play and we get together and swap stories. It’s easy being happy when you are doing something that you love. It’s not work! I have lived a very blessed life! It’s about making a difference in your life. We give guitars away for benefits, we help raise money, and we try to make a difference in people’s lives. Charlie Daniels and I go to Tampa every year and play a benefit to help support the services of an organization that takes care of mentally challenged and handicapped people who are abandoned. It is an honor to play it.

AG: Yea, but not as much as I used to.

DG: Me too except that the shows are fewer and the money is better.

AG: My problem is that the shows are fewer and the money is the same!

DG: I’m glad to talk to someone who is still out playing with the drive we all had in the 70’s.

We talked about playing and clubs that were good and bad to be at.

AG: Why do you still keep playing 100 dates a year?

DG: I do it because I enjoy it. I love to meet people and make them happy. If I sit around too long I get stir crazy. My youngest daughter tells me “Dad you need to get w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

As I said earlier I am blessed and I have gotten to meet and play with the best of the best. I’ll keep doing this as long as I can and people want to hear the music the MTB has created over the last 40 some years. It has been an honor and privilege to have shared the stage with my friends. I hope people remember the good times we helped bring about and the joy of the music we created.

Mostly I hope that people remember that we were just a group of Southern boys who made our dreams come true with music, and tried to leave the world in a little better place and mood than it was before.

Story by:Andy Ziehli Photos supplied.

(Some content from the MTB website and Wikipedia)

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Charley Pride Gives us a new CD…

CHOICES I happened to receive a new Charley Pride CD in the mail from my friend Don Murry Grubbs of Absolute Publicity entitled,“Choices”. This brought back many memories for me as I grew up listening to Charley Pride while doing barn chores back in my younger years. (For a few moments I found myself daydreaming about being back there on the farm listening to WDMP out of Dodgeville, with Kaw-Liga playing in the background.) Charley Pride is a wonderful, talented man and I was so honored to be able to speak with him. I felt I had to call him Mr. Pride to show my ultimate respect to him. After a few minutes and him asking if he could call me Joyce, he put me at ease and we had a super conversation. His new CD is fabulous and I recommend it become one of your staples in your CD collection.

On March 8, 2011, Pride released Choices (Music City Records), his first all-new album in five years. Choices are exactly what fans will get on the diverse album, which features 13 new recordings. Album cuts include songs penned by some of Pride’s favorite writers including Ted Harris (“Crystal Chandeliers”), Ben Peters (“Kiss An Angel Good Morning”), Charlie Monk, Eddy Raven and Richie McDonald, formerly of Lonestar.

In addition to maintaining a healthy tour schedule, Pride, who recently acquired part ownership of Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers, is keeping himself and the team both in shape and entertained. From humble beginnings as a sharecropper’s son, to becoming one of country music’s greatest pioneers, the“Pride of Country Music” is the first and only African American Grand Ole Opry member in its over 70 year history.

Pride’s accolades are endless with multiple Grammy wins, CMA Entertainer of the Year andTop Male Vocalist awards, a Country Music Hall of Fame induction and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Before our little chat, I am supplying some background information on Charley Pride to you from his website bio– www.charleypride.com.

You can also check out Charley on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/charleypride?sk=info Born to poor sharecroppers in Sledge, Mississippi, Charley Pride was one of eleven children. Pride is a timeless everyman, revered by his musical peers and adored by countless millions of fans around the globe. His golden baritone voice has transcended race and spanned the generations.

Charley Pride unofficially started his music career in the late 1950s as a ballplayer with the Negro American League’s Memphis Red Sox

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singing and playing guitar on the team bus between ballparks. Self-taught on a guitar bought at the age 14 from Sears Roebuck, Pride would join various bands onstage as he and the team roved the country.

26 years after he first played there as a guest, the first African-American in its over 70 year history. In June 1994, Pride was honored by the Academy Of Country Music with its prestigious Pioneer Award.

After a tryout with the NewYork Mets,Pride decided to return to his Montana home via Nashville. It was there he met Jack Johnson, who upon hearing the singer perform, sent him on his way with the promise of a management contract and a newly forged relationship that would last for over a decade.

In January 1996, Charley Pride was honored with a Trumpet Award by Turner Broadcasting, marking outstanding African-American Achievement. In between, his "Roll On Mississippi" was considered as the official song of his home state, a stretch of Mississippi highway was named for him, and he headlined a special Christmas performance for President and Mrs. Clinton at the White House.

A year later, Pride returned to the Music City and was introduced to producer, Jack Clement, who gave him several songs to learn. When Clement heard Pride’s renditions,he immediately asked the fledgling singer if he could cut two songs in two hours. Pride agreed, and “The Snakes Crawl at Night” and “Atlantic Coastal Line” were recorded.

Three months later, Pride’s two song demo landed in the hands of already legendary RCA Records head,Chet Atkins, who was so moved he immediately signed him to the label. Pride’s first single hit the airwaves in January 1966 and just like that his star was on the rise.Within a short period of time“The Snakes Crawl at Night”was climbing the charts with his “Before I Met You” closing in on its tail.

Charley Pride has always set his own goals. One of those goals was to become an internationally known artist. He achieved this by performing, in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Fiji as well as the provinces of Canada.

Charley still tours these countries today and even takes in a few extra countries,on USOTours,entertaining our service men and women who are stationed overseas.

Between 1969, when he first hit #1 on the singles chart with "All I Have to Offer You (Is Me)" and 1984, when he commanded the top spot again with "Every Heart Should Have One," Pride scored more than 36 number one country singles.

Over the past thirty years, Pride has remained one of the Top 20 best-selling country artists of all-time. His incredible legacy includes 36 #1 hit singles, over 70 million albums sold, 31 gold and 4 platinum albums - including one quadruple platinum. On RCA Records, Charley Pride is second in sales only to Elvis Presley.

Dozens of Pride's chart toppers now stand as modern classics. "Kiss An Angel Good Morning" went on to be a million-selling crossover single and helped Pride land Country Music Association Awards as Entertainer of the Year in 1971 and Top Male Vocalist in 1971 and 1972.

Other memorable Pride standards include "Is Anybody Goin' To San Antone?" "I'm So Afraid of Losing You Again," "Mississippi Cotton Picking Delta Town," "Someone Loves You Honey," "When I Stop Leaving I'll be gone," "Burgers and Fries," and "You're So Good When You're Bad," to name but a few. His moving performances of Hank Williams classics "Kaw-Liga" and "Honky Tonk Blues" on his number 1 album, "There's a Little Bit of Hank in Me", was also certified Gold.

In 1994, Charley released his autobiography, Pride: The Charley Pride Story (published by William Morrow).Aside from detailing great moments of his amazing career and journeyman stint as a ballplayer, Pride: is an often moving, sometimes hilarious tale of his almost improbable dream come true and journey to the top of the charts.

In his own words, Charley recalls his hardscrabble childhood, his enduring marriage, the thrill of his biggest hit a double into the outfield gap off Hall of Famer Warren Spahn - and his first singing engagement in a Montana bar that eventually led to a career as the first and only African-American superstar in country music.Through it all, we are reminded that "The Pride of Country Music" remains one of the great legends in popular music - and that he is still going strong.

In July 1999, Charley received his very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

On October 4, 2000, Charley was honored with the highest country music award, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Charley wept when his name was announced by Hall of Famer, Brenda Lee. And just in case music should leave his blood, Pride continues to work out annually with baseball'sTexas Rangers.

When not touring extensively world wide or recording music, Pride can often be found pursuing another love, one at which he also excels - golf.

Joyce: Mr. Pride, it is such an honor to be able to speak with you. I love your music and have been listening to you for many years. I just listened to your new CD, “Choices” and absolutely love it. My favorite songs are “Hickory Hollow” and “Resting Place”. This must have been really hard to choose the songs for this CD. How did you pick these songs?

Charley: Well thanks for giving me some ink. By the time we got everything done, we did about 12 or 13 other songs. This is the combination of two times going into the studio and putting the best songs on the CD. This is how we got the album done. We were actually delayed by six to eight to ten months by doing it that way. I’m very pleased with the album.

Joyce: Well, I love the album. I’m sure it was very, very hard to make these choices, which by the way is a very good title for the CD. (we both laugh) Charley: I maybe had a couple of more I may have wanted for a single. I have no qualms. I like what we did.

Joyce: Charley will you be touring to promote this new CD? Charley: Yup, my first date is coming soon. I haven’t really played recently. I think all my profit from last year got ate up,cause I haven’t done anything since last November. (laughs) We are going to the Strawberry Festival outside of Tampa Florida, which will be our first job, then a tour to Canada during the last of April till the middle of May. Joyce: Hey you are talking about a strawberry festival and I am here in Wisconsin with snow on the ground and wind chill factors yet!

Charley: (laughing) I’m out here in Arizona now with the Texas Rangers Baseball Team, which I’m a part of now.

The weather is great.

Joyce: Let’s talk baseball. Did you and do you still play?

Charley: In ’61 I was with the Angels. I got most of my experience with the league like the ones Willie Mays, Ernie Banks and Hank Aaron played in. I was right behind them.

I was part of the expansion of part of the Los Angeles Angels. I went down to the Mets, but they wouldn’t even look at me.

Joyce: Would you have rather played professional baseball or your music career, or both?

On May 1, 1993, Pride accepted a long-standing invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry, continued on page 31

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lane... continued from page 11

bands in town.They got great gigs, packed houses, lot’s of opening slots, always played Summer Fest.We got to open for National Acts that were coming through town, and were getting those kinds of gigs because of the radio station thing, and because“Madison County”was getting radio plays on the local stations with their songs.

AG: What instruments did you play with those bands?

LV: I’ve always been the multi-instrumentalist in the band so with “Under the Gun” I played Lap- Steel, Harmonica, Mandolin,Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Fiddle, and Vocals. And on some of those songs I would make as many as 3 instrument changes in one song.On one song I remember I’d play guitar, then a harmonica solo, then I’d throw the harmonica and the lead singer would catch it and I’d go right into a lap-steel solo, and then back to guitar for the end of the song. It was a fun gig!

AG: That’s really talented, because there are a lot of multi-instrumentalist out there but they don’t always play that many instruments during the same song.

LV: I’ve always done that. I’ve learned to set my rig up so I can make really quick changes so I could do multiple instruments in a song so I could cover more parts that way.

AG: Right On! The Harmonica pitching is really the hard part.

LV: For sure, (laughs).

AG:You’ve also for a very long time been into instrument repair, and now own Madison’s Premiere Violin Shop. What got you into doing that, and wanting to repair instruments?

LV: I think part of it was necessity.We lived out in the country. So when I was a kid and my instruments started to buzz or a bridge fell on my violin, things happen to your instruments, I would always monkey with them myself because it would be awhile before we got into Madison to get them fixed. So I started tinkering with my own stuff back then. My folks would drive us up to Madison for private lessons with different teachers. So when ever we ended up at Ward Brodt Music Mall I always ended up back in the string repair shop picking the repair shop guys brain, asking a bunch of questions. I was probably 12-14 years old. I asked him what the chances would be of me apprenticing once I got out of high school and he told me about the school in Red Wing, Minn. (Red Wing Vo-Tech.) They have a course in string repair and building instruments. So you build a guitar and you learn how to repair string instruments. My brother being a musician, our goal was to go to Berklee School of Music in Boston after high school. So he was 2 years younger than me so when I got out of high school I went to work for Oscar Mayer in Madison waiting for him to get out so we could go to Berklee. So I was getting laid off all the time and I thought I should just go to Red

Wing, it’s only a year course. I can do that, get out, and then my brother will be out of school and we can go to Berklee.

So I went to Red Wing, got that under my belt and came back and started working for Ward Brodt right away. I got called back to work at Oscar Mayer, so I worked 3rd shift there and days at Ward Brodt from 1987 – 1989.And my brother and I never went to Berklee. (Laughs) AG: So how long have you been doing instrument repair?

LV: Since 1987. So 24 years now. I haven’t always done it for a living. I did a two year stint at Ward Brodt, quit and went back to Oscar Mayer full time for another 6 years.

Then I quit there to join the band Under the Gun actually. Eventually I picked up a job with the American Red Cross driving the Blood Mobile. So then the band was able to become full time.Then I got called back to Ward Brodt for another two years.After the band quit it was a big changing point in my life.

I was at a point where, what am I going to do now? So I went to Nashville and did an audition with Kevin Sharp.At the time he was a real big touring act. I came in second out of seven guys, but second don’t get you nothing. But I should have stayed because being a multi-instrumentalist I could have picked up a job with somebody. But, I came back for a woman, and ended up back here again.Then the odd jobs start.The first was a trail guide on a horse ranch.(Laughs) I led people through Governor Dodge State Park on horseback for a one or two hour horse ride they were paying for.This turned out to be one of the best jobs I had in my life. Getting paid to sit on a horse all day and talk to people. Sometimes I’d take my little parlor guitar and sing cowboy songs while we were riding.(Lots of Laughter) It was a great job! But then I decided I wanted to go into woodworking.So I got a job at a furniture shop and started building Frank Lloyd Wright style furniture for about 3 years. Then I went to another high end furniture shop, worked with him for about 3 years.Then I got a job with a guitar manufacture here in Madison called US Masters Guitars. I built guitars with those guys for 3 years. During that time I started my own business repairing string instruments in 2000. I was a caretaker on a horse ranch outside of Ridgeway, working at this woodshop, but also had a really nice woodshop of my own in the loft of this barn. So I started repairing instruments up there.And it got to point where I was working my day job, taking care of the horse ranch and up until midnight in the barn repairing instruments because I was getting busy with that. So I thought well, let’s make this my job.Then I approached Madison Music to see if I could get work from them to take back to the barn.They said they had always wanted to have an In-House repair guy.They had a little kitchenette in the back of the store. So I tore out the sink, put in some benches and made that into my shop.And that was the start of Lane’s Lutherie. I rented space from them for 5 years.

I outgrew the space and had to hire someone to help me.The space was just too small for two guys so I moved two doors down where a space became available that was about 700 square feet. I stayed in that place for about 3 years. By the end of time I had hired another guy so I was up to two full time guys and myself, and we outgrew that continued on page 30

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Catalog Shopping how it began The other day,when I went to get the mail, there were three mail order catalogs in my mail box.Three different companies with three different kinds of merchandise were just waiting for me to fill out an order blank, pay lots of postage, and have their products delivered to me right to my door.

I took a trip down memory lane and remembered when a mail order company combined all sorts of products in one catalog.There were two that came to mind and I remembered what an important part they played in our lives.They were Sears and Roebuck and Montgomery Ward. In their heyday you could buy anything from underwear to houses.

Montgomery Ward was the first great mail-order retail company.The company was founded in 1872 by A New Jersey native by the name of Aaron Montgomery Ward. He was a traveling salesman for a Chicago company.

He arrived in Chicago in 1866 and found a job as traveling salesman for the company that we now know today as Marshall Field.

Ward found that the rural population wanted goods but they were very critical of the high prices that country stores charged for the merchandise and high middleman’s profit. He came up with the idea of a mail-order house that would cut the cost of sales by ordering directly from the manufacturers and selling directly to the consumer. He made sure that all transactions would be cash therefore eliminating the cost of credit that the country stores uses. He also made the first guarantee that if you were not satisfied your money would be returned. The farmers who were customers could order by mail and pick up their merchandise at the rail station.

The great Chicago fire destroyed his first inventory in 1871.With the help of two partners and $1600 dollars they had raised for capital they launched the first catalog in August of 1872.The first catalog consisted of an 8 by 12 sheet of paper and listed 163 items. His two partners did not stay in the business long and very shortly left the following year.Ward continued the struggling business alone. He was later joined in the venture by his future brother in law.Wards primary customer was the farmer. His best selling item was the sewing machine.The catalog was also filled with pumps, feed cutters, cane mills, corn shellers, saws, grinders and engines. In 1883 the catalog became known as the “Wish Book,” and had grown to 240 pages and 10,000 items.

As the company grew shopkeepers saw the business as a threat to their own business.

They tried many different measures to stop the popularity of the mail-order business.

One of the things they chose to do was hold large ceremonies where mail-order catalogs were burned.Ward was not a quitter. He fought back by sending displays throughout the country mainly the Midwest. He also was quite vocal declaring that his mail-order business had saved the rural population, mostly farmers, millions of dollars by forcing country stores to lower their prices.

His biggest competitor in the field of mail-order shopping was a railroad station agent by the name of Richard W. Sears. Sears was working for the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad as a freight agent in 1886.A local jeweler gave him an unwanted shipment of w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

pocket watches rather than returning them to the manufacturer.

Sears sold the watches to other freight agents down the line and they in turn resold them at retail prices.This worked out so well for Sears that he ordered more watches and within 6 months he had made $5,000.He quit the railroad and within a year moved his business to Chicago.

People started bringing in their watches for repair and since he knew nothing about repairing watches he hired a man by the name of Alvah Roebuck from Indiana to do the repair work. They formed a partnership thus – Sears & Roebuck. They published the first of their catalogs in 1888. It was 80 pages long and advertised watches and jewelry.

As their sales grew so did the size of their catalog along with more merchandise.

Through the years the catalog displayed an amazing amount of different merchandise.

They sold everything by mail from groceries to cars and at one time even sold houses.

The house kit even included the kitchen sink.I have a friend who lives in a Sears House.

It was built in 1925.

In 1900 they had sales from their catalog of $11 million dollars,exceeding Montgomery Ward. Sears edition of the“wish-book”appeared in1933. It was a catalog that was separate from the annual catalog. It was a special Christmas book.

Through the years the companies of Montgomery Ward and Sears and Roebuck have had their ups and downs. The mail order business ceased to exist for Montgomery Ward in 1985 after 113 years. Sears discontinued their catalog service in 1993, ending an extraordinary time in American history .

I happen to have in my possession a collection of pages from the Sears catalog from the entire decade of 1930-1940. On the cover of the catalog it states it is “A Journey Back to Hard Times and High Hopes.”The book features everything from corsets to cook stoves sporting goods, toys, clothing and washing machines and just about everything in between.

Montgomery Ward and William Sears, two entrepreneurs of their day, turned their skills into profit and built an empire. A true taste of Americana!

Written by: Rosemary Ziehli Photos supplied.

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Karl, with a "K"

For those who've never seen Karl in his natural habitat, on a breezy Thursday afternoon at Puempel's tavern, folks are gathering and lingering outside under the bold striped awning, and there's a guy in suspenders dealing a card game in the corner.

There are dollar bills tacked all over the fourteen foot ceiling above the bar. Behind the bar, rests the infamous limburger, tempering and waiting to be paired up with liverwurst on rye, for those who would dare; or the Swiss.

AM: So that's how you started playing with Roger Bright?

KG: First I just played the one time, then I joined the Russ Wilson orchestra from Darlington. I played with them from 1963 to 1966, then I married Russ' wife's sister (Sheila).Then I quit Russ and moved back to New Glarus.

AM:Was that when you played regularly in the Roger Bright orchestra?

Puempel's Olde Tavern is an institution in America's little Switzerland, and so is Karl Gmur. Safe to say if a guy Karl knows, who has an accordion, asks Karl to play along with him at the string bass, Karl is in. Karl's father emigrated to New Glarus from Switzerland in 1929, where he married Karl's mother. Karl's father was a cheese maker in Argyle, where Karl graduated from high school.

KG: I played more shows with Roger than anyone else. For most of the time we played together, it was Roger, Roger and Karl. (He points his thumb to his chest to signify that he was the "Karl") AM: Did you ever record anything?

AM:When did music start for you?

KG:When I was eight, my mother handed me an accordion, and taught me to play. She wanted me to know my heritage.

AM: Did you enjoy it?

KG: It was okay. (He smirks that mustache-less smirk.) It was always fun.

KG:The Russ Wilson orchestra recorded a 45. You know what that is? (I told Karl I was old enough to know what a 45 was, but for those of you who are not, it was a singlewith a "B" side recorded on vinyl, you'd play on a turntable at 45 RPM's, as opposed to whole albums which played on the 33 RPM setting. Most turntables back then also had a 78 RPM setting, which mostly made everything sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks...there was an exploration of music back then which surpassed the alphabetization of the collection on our iPod, somehow.)

AM: Did you ever write anything?

AM: Have you ever not lived here?

KG: Nah. KG:When I was 18, I joined the Navy, was stationed in Washington DC at the school of music for 6 months, and then I was stationed in Naples, Italy. At the school of music, if you played the sousaphone,you had to learn to play the bass. If you played the trombone, you had to learn to play the baritone.

KG: Nope.

AM:And you played the sousaphone?

AM: So most of your life, just the polka music, then?

KG: I played the Tuba in high school.

KG: I play a little blue grass now and then.A guy named Pat Downing in a band called Down From the Hills. (Karl opened a laptop on the bar, a graphic map of Amden, Switzerland was his wallpaper. He pointed amongst the hills on the map to where his father had been born. Then he opened his facebook page. He showed a bunch of pictures of him, him with his kids, one of him with Joey Miskulin, told a tale of the first time he met Joey, who was coming to the New Glarus Hotel on a Saturday for an 8:30 pm gig for which he was late, ended up in the Dells having overshot New Glarus altogether as a result of Roger Bright having giving poor directions from the interstatetake the Evansville exit, Roger had told him- all roads maybe DO lead to New Glarus,

AM: So you joined the navy to pursue training for a career in music?

KG:Yep, I didn't want to join the army, and the marines had a band, but it was really hard to get into,so I joined the Navy.Got out when I was 21.Came back to New Glarus.

When I came back, I played the accordion with Roger Bright. It started that way, both of us playing the accordion, which I hadn't played for three years, and Roger said, just play the songs you know.Then before too long, I borrowed a tuba from somebody, and then somebody said, I've got a bass I'm not using, then I played the string bass.

AM: Do you sing?

continued on page 29

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All the Way from Durango, Colorado!

Joyce: Good morning Bob. Let’s start by you telling me how you got in the music business.

Bob: Well, I’ve always written songs. As I child I never really thought of it much as a career. I grew up on a farm and we just thought about working. At least that’s what the family thought about.

Joyce: Other musicians in your family?

Bob: I had a Grand Dad that played fiddle and my other Grand Dad played a little guitar. They were still pretty much in the work mode though. They did play a little and they enjoyed it I think. They played in bands at little country dances.

Joyce: How did you start writing songs?

Bob: I didn’t really know much and still don’t. (we laugh) I just kind of started doing it, it’s like ducks swim. I was strumming the chords, then I would think of a word or two,then I’d have a line. It just kind of poured out some songs. They were kind of basic, but they were songs.

Bob Rea wants you to know one thing, he tells the truth. On Ragged Choir, he delivers 14 tales full of truth,soul and optimism that mine his lifetime of experience,songs that often explore the darker corners of the American psyche.! "I can't embrace the jackpot mentality of the music business, I don’t care about hits and I’m too old not to sing the truth,”the 59-year-old singer/songwriter and guitarist says,“If you’re going to write a song, you have to say something.”

And Rea has plenty to say. Rea’s clear-eyed visions of life’s darker side bristle with authority because he’s lived the life he sings about. He’s been a homeless wanderer and a pool hall hustler, played in roughneck country bands across the great Southwest and been a regular performer at bars and clubs near his hometown of Durango, Colorado.

He’s been a cattle rancher, a builder of log cabins and mansions, a general contractor, and just about everything that's hard to do in between.He’s experienced bankruptcies, divorces, incarcerations, and years of working long hours to provide for his family, living through the hard times and tribulations that give his songs their hard-edged wisdom.

Producer Tim Lorsch drafted a first rate band to support Rea on Ragged Choir. Players include guitarist Blue Miller (India.Arie); steel guitar player Mike Daley (Hank Williams, Jr.);Austin,TX stand up bass legend Dave Carroll; Dennis Gage (T. Graham Brown) on organ; multi-instrumentalist George Bradfute (Garth Brooks, Steve Earle) and Mickey Grimm of Over the Rhine on drums.“The band really clicked in the studio,” Rea says.

Joyce: Are your song lyrics from your experiences?

Bob: Not necessarily. Some are things that happened to me, some are about things that happened to others I know. I’m kind of in a different world than others, from being in a rural area. It’s kind of like living in Wisconsin.

Joyce: I was thinking if you wrote all these lyrics from your past life experiences, man you have a pretty colorful life!

Bob: It has been pretty colorful. I’ll admit that I had no fear, no fear of trying things.

You’re going to fail sometimes, but sometimes you’re going to succeed. I’ve followed some strange paths.

Joyce: You play acoustic guitar, any other instruments?

Bob: Not very proficiently. I play the banjo a little but it’s more like torture for anybody trying to listen to it. I really haven’t mastered the guitar,I’m still working on that.

Joyce: I see you have co-written with a Ben Rea, any relation?

Bob: Yea, he’s my son. He lives in Nashville now where he works part time for the Americana Association. I’m trying to lure him into my addiction.

Ragged Choir kicks off with “Stand Up.” Rea’s opening recitation is almost Biblical,his apocalyptic visions fleshed out by the band’s dark, swampy groove and the Gospel drenched backing vocals of Roxie Dean. “Platinum Dream” deals with the current economic downturn. Rea’s surrealistic poetry and understated vocal are complimented by Wage’s Hammond B3 organ, giving the track the feel of a 60s folk-rock tune.“The Careful Song” is a catalogue of life’s tribulations, but Rea’s tongue in cheek delivery makes it more comedy, than tragedy.

Joyce: Let’s talk about your CD. The song,The Ballad of Ruby Sue and the Kid,A Long Way Up,how did this song come about?

“Wretched Soul,” a co-write with Steve Styles, is about judgment and redemption, with a strong vocal and the band playing with a threatening Chicago-style bluesy feel. “Coure d'Alene” has the album’s most spirited playing, with Daley’s Dobro, producer Tim Lorsch's fiddle, and Rea’s animated vocal and guitar goosing the tempo along.“Someday’s Gone” is a moody bluegrass flavored tune about missed opportunities; Daley’s moaning lowboy steel guitar plays off against Chris Joslin’s banjo.

Joyce: Any other interesting stories about any of the other songs on this CD, your second CD correct?

Other strong tracks:“Dead River Blues,” a folky showcase for Rea’s guitar and vocals, with the overdubbed sound of a needle on an old 78 RPM record giving the song a vintage feel; the bleak talking blues of “A Long Way Up;” the almost straightforward country of“My Getaway”and“Lights Out,”a grim yet unflinching ballad about life in jail.Yet through the thread of dark and sometimes sad stories his wry humor still brings a twinkle of hope. He is clearly a man who does not give up and who is not afraid to try.

Bob and I had a short chat about his latest CD and his future plans. It went something like this: w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

Bob: I was out in Reno, I lived down by Truckee, sort of by the railroad track. I did some construction work for a hotel there.

We were looking out a window in the boss’s office and there was a kid out there. He was wandering around a vehicle, then he stepped back and kicked the tire as hard as he could. Thirty years later that memory came to me ad I wrote that song.

Bob: Yes. Church Street – I actually wrote this while I was at the Americana Music Association Conference. I was trying to find some club to go watch a showcase and I started watching the homeless people. They all kind of gathered on Church Street.

Joyce: Oh. I thought maybe you wrote this for me as I myself live on Church Street. (laughing) Bob: Since I wrote this, I’ve found that almost every town has a Church Street. Remarkably in a lot of big cities, it’s kind of where the homeless congregate.

Joyce: Bob, do you have another job besides your music? continued on page 31

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Fleet Foxes ~ Helplessness Blues Our Generations Pet Sounds Beauty and sorrow, sweet and sour, wet and dry, hello and goodbye. Contrast is necessary in our lives to allow us to know what we want and what we do not want.

“Why in the night sky are the lights hung Why is the earth moving round the sun Floating in the vacuum,with no purpose not a one Why in the night sky are the lights hung?”

These are the kind of thoughts that abound all through “Helplessness Blues” the new album from Seattle’s Fleet Foxes. I am no music critic. I tend to react very personally to the music I listen to. This album is making its way very deep into my soul. From the opening notes of “Montezuma” the sonic template and emotional journey are established within the first two minutes. Single reverb soaked arpeggio notes open the first track with this lyric “So now I am older Than my mother and father When they had their daughter Now what does that say about me Oh, how could I dream of Such a selfless and true love Could I wash my hands of Just looking out for me?

Oh, man what I used to be!

Oh man, Oh my, Oh me!”

The single notes spread out in a lush landscape of harmony vocals and organic percussion sounds. Within a few moments, if you are of the type who is open to this sort of journey, you will find yourself curious and waiting with bated breath for the unfolding of what is next. The lyric has much to do with larger questions of who, what and why. Not so much specific spotlight awareness of a moment, but rather just like the grand scope of the music, the lyrics allow us to plug in our personal experiences and feelings.

My 48 years of age have allowed me to begin my music listening experience at the end of the 60’s. While a teenager might think this “old people music” I would suggest to them that they unplug their headphones,put this album on a two channel sound system with speakers and allow the sonic soundstage to engulf them.

24 year old Robin Pecknold has spoken of road trips with his hip parents listening to the Beach Boys“Surf’s Up”record on his personal player while looking out the window at the vast west coast land and seascapes. Acoustic instrumentation is the bedrock of the Fleet Foxes sound. As I listen it’s as if I can feel the grass beneath my feet and feel the ocean spray on my face. In the age of Facebook, Kindle, Skype and Digital music this band creates is like an anchor to something real.

Helplessness Blues for me is Pet Sounds, part II. Pet Sounds was Brian Wilson’s creative breakthrough. Brian had built up enough momentum with the 11 albums that preceded Pet Sounds that he was ready to create something fresh and new. Brian did not have much support as he explored new sonic textures to accompany his deeply personal new songs. This was pop music with a very personal heart and soul bared wide open.

Helplessness Blues bridges 1966 to 2011. It is the Band’s third outing, pretty amazing if you ask me. Like Pet Sounds I believe Helplessness Blues will be a record that won’t top the charts for long but will remain an album that fans will never tire of. There is something both familiar and timeless about this record. And just like Pet Sounds,when you put this record on you must go from start to finish. You may have a favorite song (mine is Lorelai), but it sounds better when heard in the context of the entire album.

If I find myself unable to complete the entire album, I feel like I have been speaking with a friend on the phone and in mid-conversation we were cut off. I feel incomplete if I don’t get through the last notes of “Grown Ocean”, the last track on Blues. I actually feel uneasy until I can pick up where I left off and finish the song cycle.

Those of you who know me will say, of course, you love this record, Jim, it sounds like

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what the Beach Boys might sound like if they were in their 20’s and recording now.

Sure, but it’s more than that. This is an important album because it allows the listener 50 minutes to rest, reflect, wonder, heal and gain strength. This album is a portal from the listener to the larger forces at work all around us: Relationships, nature, spirituality and melody allow me to feel deeply connected to my life and my life’s experiences.

This album was conceived while Robin’s personal primary relationship was coming undone. He was putting so much attention on this project that the love of his life was feeling out of the loop. In a recent Rolling Stone article (Feb, 2011) Pecknold said they would be together and she could feel his distance and would ask him what he was thinking. He recalled saying he was thinking about the harmony on one of the tracks and wondering if he could make it better. Adrift wondering if her man would ever return to her, she cooled things between them. Still in communication even through the distance, he played the completed album for her. When the music stopped she looked at him and said,“If this is the reason why, it was all worth it”.

Who knows what Robin Pecknold and company will bring us next time. I am willing to follow them wherever they take me. I feel lucky to have discovered this amazing record. I am thrilled to have something in my collection that speaks so personally to me. I was too young to fully appreciate Pet Sounds when it came out, and I have always wanted to find a record that felt as important as that effort has become.

Helplessness Blues is that record. I have a copy on vinyl, and I will purchase another and keep it sealed. I also purchased the CD and have loaded that format into my I-tunes library. This album is something I want near to me no matter where I am. It means that much to me.

Fleet Foxes ~ Helplessness Blues. Sub Pop! Records. ***** Written by: Jim Smith

Sneezing In My Helmet (And Other Rites Of Spring) I feel it before I can see it. I am an early morning getterupper so I usually get to see the sunrise. Most mornings I climb out of bed and put the coffee pot on (new gourmet brewing feature.. love it!) while cranking up the computer to check my e-mail.

Most mornings I have my usual blurry eyes and hazy outlook on the day but today was different. I noticed by the time I made it to my computer chair that old feeling was back.

Outside nothing really looked any different. The trees were still pretty much sticks stuck to a pole without adornment, the bare ground was, well, bare and the thermometer was reading in the high 30’s. But that familiar tingle made me pause. Really?

Already? From that morning on I knew what was in store for me. I would need the little yellow pill in my pocket for the next two months ready to rescue me from eyes that itch so bad I want to rub my face on a brick wall and sneezing attacks that come out of nowhere. These attacks while not harmful to my health are quite an adventure when I am on my first few motorcycle rides of the year. I can feel it sneaking up on me.As I am hurtling down the highway at a safe but brisk speed, my eyes will twitch and my nose will join in. I then have just moments to prepare for the explosion. That sneeze explosion is fine just about any other time but this moment has me moving at 65 MPH with my head completely enclosed in plastic. You can see where this is going can’t you? Oh it’s fun let me tell you. I have become quite good at it now. Experience is a great teacher. I still can recall my first time being on the bike and then, really?

NOW?? Let’s just say that I cleaned more than the bugs off my helmet when I returned home that day. I was terrified but made it through the ordeal with nothing more than a new respect for just how fast air can leave my body. (I know what your thinking.)

I now have augmented my riding equipment so when the inevitable sneezes creep up on me, I am ready! It took a few years, but I finally discovered that helmets are available with flip up fronts. Genius! I know it is mainly for comfort and to be able to speak with another rider or the gas station attendant without removing your head gear all the time. However, it’s not recommended for long conversations as it looks ridiculous. Just last week I followed some poor person in the grocery store pushing their cart down the isle, yes, with their helmet on . That is one comfortable piece of equipment! At least he had the face shield up. I felt like I wanted to make his day and bump an end-cap display of cans so they could fall on his head, and he could triumphantly continued on page 28

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THOSE CRUEL BASEBALL GODS IAny sport fan following a team in a 162 game season is certain to have many frustrating moments, many heartbreaks, exciting and happy times, losing streaks, winning streaks, and overall the joy of baseball. Sure I know some people compare baseball to watching paint dry. I know all the jokes,but I am still a baseball fan. Being such a fan means you face the whims of the baseball gods for over half a year each season.Those gods love to play with the emotions of the fans. One minute they take you to a big high with a nice winning streak, and just as fast they drop you to a record low with a losing streak. But each spring we fans are back for more, and we are full of high hopes for this new season. This is our year we tell ourselves!

A summer evening is perfect for baseball. I love driving my car on a summer evening with my favorite announcer telling all about the action on the playing field for my favorite team. Radio and baseball are perfect for each other. When the transistor radio came into being, it became easier and better listening in your own bed. You just prop the radio on your pillow and listen into the night. Day games can be listened in backyards as you go about the chores there. The barn radio was always set for the baseball game.

If you are a true fan,you know the stations of other teams so that when your team is not playing, you can listen to the game of another team.

Now with cable networks and satellite dishes you can see most of your team’s games. The only drawback is that the game is not always on the same station. You need to be alert to know which station is carrying the next game. Those televised games also feature a pre-game and a post-game show. For the real fan that bleeds baseball blood those shows give you more than just the game.

Baseball is a game of statistics. Thanks to the computer age you can easily learn how well your favorite player is doing plate time to plate time. You can get instant comparison to what is going on that day with all the players, and you can get instant comparison to the record books.

I have some favorite baseball memories. I remember the exciting news that the Boston Braves were moving to Milwaukee. Wisconsin was now in the Big Leagues. I listened to the first game played in Milwaukee. I followed that team through all its highs and lows: two World Series appearances, one World Series championship, the pitching of Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette, the hitting of Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock, Eddie Mathews, Del Crandall, Johnny Logan, and Hurricane Bob Hazel, the long no hitter of Pittsburgh’s Harvey Haddix and the Braves winning it in extra innings,the two or three other seasons when the Braves lost the pennant the last weekend of the season,and I could go on and on. I was listening when Joe Adcock had four home runs against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

I heard no hitters. Teams moved to the West Coast, and my pillow radio allowed me to hear those late night games. I am sure that many times a fist was slammed into the pillow when the announcer told us about a cruel,mean development against my team. No doubt one of those frisky baseball gods was at work again. In those days teams scheduled an occasional Sunday doubleheader: two games for the price of one. I took advantage of those. I would drive to Milwaukee early on a Sunday morning, get to the parking lot early, walk up and buy my grandstand seat (the best available), and be seated for batting practice and a long afternoon of two games. My sister, another big baseball fan, would sometimes accompany me. Later I used the Badger bus to get me to downtown Milwaukee,and I would take a city bus to the game. That last ride was fun because the bus was full of die-hearted fans, and some would have some inside news about the team or about a player or two. I loved those afternoon doubleheaders.

Then came the horrible news that the team was moving to Atlanta as the new owners were lured there by a better broadcasting contract sponsored by a famous Atlanta soft drink to this day I have not drunk a swallow of that soda. My personal boycott remains to this day. There was talk of expansion and the thought was that Milwaukee would get one of those teams. The announcement was made and when the commissioner began the announcement and the letter M was forming on his lips,and it seemed true,but then he finished with the word Montreal. We were jilted again at the altar! Those fickle baseball gods were at it again in their mischievous manner. Then an expansion team in Seattle went bankrupt, and a Milwaukee car dealer bought the team and moved it to Milwaukee. We were back in the big leagues again thanks to the man that is the present commissioner of big league baseball.

The new team now called the Milwaukee Brewers. It was painful to watch them. However, those darn baseball gods would give us an occasional thing to cheer and relish.

Gradually the team was rebuilt and soon RobinYoung,GormanThomas,Paul Molitor,Jim Gantner, and others became new household names in Wisconsin. There was a season ending clinching of the divisional title thanks to two home runs by Robin Yount.This w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

was followed by an exciting come from behind and win of the league championship and a trip to the World Series. Yount and Molitor set hitting records in the World Series, but those mean St.Louis Cardinals won the final game and the title. To the delight of most fans the team was switched to the National League.

Now we were back in the same league as the old Braves, and we now had them and the Cubs as league rivals meaning the teams met many times each season.

Baseball is a game of superstition. Players and fans alike follow their own personal superstitions. During a good streak a player may not change his socks or underwear or shave during this period. Certain players will not step on certain parts of the playing field as they move from inning to inning. You see players looking to the heavens or making the sign of the cross or looking into the stands to acknowledge their family. Once a play or fan gets hooked onto a superstition it will last for the whole season or until things really get bad, and then fan and/or player might change.

Baseball is a team of optimism. You will be amazed on all the “good” things mentioned about the team or players when you visit the stadium. The scoreboard will list for you all those “good” things. Sometimes they are a stretch. Player A has only struck out four times in his last ten bats, but previous to that he struck out six times in ten bats. Or Player B has not had a hit in his last twenty times at the plate, but if you added the distance of his twelve groundouts,they would equal a triple to centerfield. Now that I think it over,a baseball fan needs that optimism. Over the season of 162 games every team will be a victim of those annoying, tricky, teasing, irritating, and bothersome baseball gods. I wonder if they look like trolls?

Now in 2011 we have new high hopes. We have players of high quality, and the names Braun and Fielder,Weeks,and Hart have us hoping those baseball gods will be on our side for a change. Recent deals seem to strength the team’s pitching, and we again look to the gods for support. It is a long season, and those cruel gods will tease us and tempt us over and over again. And if you drive or walk by,and you hear some loud words and perhaps some swearing coming from my den,then you will know that those pesky gods are at it again. Stay tuned.

And to talk about baseball and not about the movie FIELD OF DREAMS would be a crime.

That movie sums up so well what baseball means to us fans. Many of us got our start in baseball when an older family member took time to play catch with us. There is something so golden and special about those times. It is just you and the adult. You are equal.

You are recognized. It is a bonding time. Most of us had that playing catch with our dads.

The movie shows that so vividly. The movie also allows us to complete our dream even after the fact. What if we could come back for a game of catch with a loved one? What if we could tell someone how we really feel about them after the fact? Build it and they will come.

Written by: Bob Hoffman Photos supplied.

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The Interview Dear August

I was lucky enough to spend a little time and few drinks with Adrienne and Tyler Applegate recently. They generously shared with me some of their past, and some thoughts about their future.

Great songwriters somehow attract a wealth of promoters, don't they? I don't mean the kind of cheesy or greasy promoters who are really more like handlers, I mean the kind of promoters who get lured into the way the stories get born and told until they become part of the story and then part of a songwriter's history. That makes their testimony so genuine that we can't help but bear witness to it. A sort of a disciple-ship gets born, and then the testimony grows, just look at Joyce Ziehli and Peter Cooper or Phil Lee. Adrienne Applegate is one of those song-writers, and Tyler Applegate, among many, many other skills and talents, is one of the most sincerely intriguing promoters of their hi-story that I'm just bursting to bear my witness.In talking with Adrienne to set up our visit, she shared with me that she and Tyler and their little Odetta (now 15 months old) will be moving to Alabama at the end of May. AM: So, moving to Alabama, does Dear August stay in tact?

Adrienne:Yes, we've been to Birmingham a lot, my sister lives there, so we're familiar.

There's the university and a lot of great clubs we love to visit, so we'll just have to convince Dan(O'Brien) to join us there.

kind of took up with them.

Tyler: At first it was really me (Tyler is drums, percussion and business planning- paper routes and county fair car-parking since he was nine) and Dan (guitar and champion of playing live) and now Adrienne (song-writing, along with Dan, vocals and driver of recording- just to do it) we're really the core. Others have come and gone some.

Adrienne:Tyler is the libra, so he brings this great balance to everything. But all three albums always seemed to have this "phone-a-friend" element in the studio.Like we'd call somebody up and say "hey, can you play the cello on this piece?"

AM: So when did you two become you two?

Tyler: It took about a hundred shows, but she really pursued me. (The grins on their faces said there's more to that story.)

Adrienne: (Adrienne is the only mother of a 15-month old who manages to continue to have that rosy glow some women get for about 3 days of their pregnancy- before biology and hormones take over- long after having given birth.She has red hair and a cool style about her that you can't look away from and might border on so cool, that it's aloof,until she interrupts you with a giggle and smile. She,they both really,are the kind of folks who wear life like a loose shirt, the kind of people you can't wait to know) No, he pursued me!

AM: So it must have been both of you pursuing each other, but it works.

AM:Where is he now?

AM:Tell me what you've been working on.

Adrienne: He followed a 'lady friend' out to California...but he loves to play live so much, we pretty much say where we're playing and he shows up, so maybe we'll make kind of a seasonal plan...

Adrienne:The last disc was released in November.

AM: So have you been busy promoting it?

AM:Tell me about how Dear August became Dear August, were you guys a couple and then a band, or a band first, and then a couple?

Tyler:We sold discs in 6 countries in the last 2 weeks AM:Wow, you are actually international rock stars!

Tyler:The Band was Box Elder Adrienne: Oh yeah, we just keep cashing those seven dollar checks when they show Adrienne: I sort of hung around with them for a while, watched them play out and

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continued on page 28

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Robert’s Ramblings

Here is the squirrel update from our house on the hill: apparently every squirrel in the township reads the AMERICANA GAZETTE. In that last issue I mentioned how I am battling the squirrels that are invading my bird feeder stations. Since that article the squirrel population at my feeders has increased over 300 per cent. The article must have been a rallying call to every squirrel of Exeter Township to come to the aid of their comrades who are in battle with me. Thus the battle goes on. I think the squirrels are winning.

fore it occurs. There are many missteps and blind alleys and twists and turns throughout the book. I could not put this book down. I also read a very long book called FREEDOM

by Jonathan Franzen.

At times the book felt too wordy but the characters were always interesting, and there were many characters tracing multi-generations of adventures and misadventures. The plot consisted of a couple“causes”and the author went into great detail regarding them, but he always included his interesting characters in talking about the“causes”,and unlike so many novels created in our computer generation, the ending here was excellent. It was well thought out,logical, and very satisfying to this reader. The third book I am mentioning was called TRAPPED by Michael Northrop. It was a story of seven people trapped in a high school during a week-long blizzard. It was not until I was in the middle of the book that I discovered on the spine label that it was written for teens. By then I was so into the plot that I did not care that it was not written for adult readers. There is nothing complex about the plot or characters, but the author created plot twists and turns to make you as a reader feel“trapped”in the blizzard,too.

It is an unscientific fact that the past winter of 2010-11 was the longest in history. It is also an unscientific fact that there is no spring of 2011. Most of us are gearing to go from furnace to air conditioner in one day. I have seen a/c repairmen about the area. I suspect other smart people around here have that figured out,too. A few orioles and a few hummingbirds are braving the cool temperatures and making a stop here at my feeder and suet station.

In case you are wondering, our eight day vacation on the island of Siesta Keys, Florida, was awesome! Our condo was just perfectly suited to our needs. Our friends Jerry and Carol drove down,so we had the luxury of riding with them to the store or to restaurants or places of interest.

The beach was absolutely perfect: smooth white sand stretched beyond one’s eye sight. The water was warm to the feet and toes for walking on the edge of the gulf. A palm tree oasis gave you breaks from the sun, so that us Snow Birds would not burn too much in the sun. The people vacationing there were friendly and quiet simple folks. Most of them were from the Midwest, and many of them have been returning to the same place each year since a retirement. We have our reservation in for next year!

On a final note I discovered thanks to a suggestion from Jim Smith a fun television series to enjoy, PARKS AND RECREATION. I admit that I am a sucker for casts full of unusual characters. Think of the wide range of characters in THE MARYTYLER MOORE SHOW. The parks and recreation department of this fictional Indiana town is full of some of the most memorable off-beat characters you could ever meet.

It is a joy to watch these shows a whole season at a time thanks to rental or library borrowing.

Gotta go check the bird feeders and put out more suet for the orioles. See you next time.

Written by: Bob Hoffman

A luxury of a column of this sort is to share discoveries with the reader (s)--maybe there are at least two of you☺. I was blown away by a documentary that I watched recently: CATFISH. The title is unusual and it is not until the last moments of the film that you understand the use of that title. This is a true story told by the man most involved in the events. Let me tell you just a bit about the adventure. A man living in NewYork City discovers some amazing art via social networking. He makes Facebook connections, and then begins a story with many twists and turns. Fiction could not create this adventure. As you can guess, the man decides to visit upper Michigan and meet the artist and her family. Be prepared to a real roller coaster ride. I admire all the parties involved for being willing to share this with all of us.You will not forget what you have seen.

The other day I was delivering meals on wheels and part of the meal that day included an ice cream cup. Memories swept through my mind as I drove from place-to-place. Ice cream cups were such a special treat to all of us as kids. The vanilla chocolate swirls ones seemed fantastic to the eye and to our taste buds. There never seemed to be enough ice cream in that cup,and so it usually meant begging for a second one. You have to lick the cover and get every last morsel of the ice cream. I seemed to remember that once you did that a special picture was visible on the inside cover. Just what were those pictures? So just like it should be, I stopped at the grocery store on my way home and bought a packet of those vanilla chocolate swirl ice cream cups. I have just one left.

I have a couple more movie suggestions as rentals or library borrowing: NOWHERE BOY the story of the young John Lennon and how he met Paul and George. AN ANGEL AT MY TABLE is the true story of a New Zealand author and poet,Janet Frame.Follow her adventure from being a misfit child to being institutionalized, freed, and then winning acclaim as a writer and poet and her grand tour of Europe before she returned home to New Zealand.

Anyone interested in a book suggestion? I finished John Grisham’sTHE CONFESSION,and to be it was one of his best. A black man is found guilty of kidnapping and murdering a Southern white girl. No body was found,but he was sentenced to death. A minister in a Midwest town is visited by a man claiming to be the real kidnapper and killer. The minister and the man claiming to have committed the crime attempt to get to the place of execution be-

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"BURNS & POE" The NEW Self Titled CD Released from BURNS & POE May 2011 2010 INDEPENDENT ARTISTS OF THE YEAR

Wow!!! The new Burns & Poe CD was mailed to me from Music City News Media out of Nashville and I immediately fell in love with it.I had a couple of favorites right away and the more I played it, I could no longer say which was my favorites – they all were!!! I had the pleasure of having a nice telephone conversation with Michelle Poe and Keith Burns a few days before their new CD was released. But before we get to that,here’s a little tidbit of background information supplied from Megan and Kat of Music City News Media from Burns and Poe’s website…..

Described as the Sonny & Cher of Country, Burns & Poe perform side-by-side, bantering back and forth with playful jibs and jabs, and sharing vocal talents that are equally identifiable, splitting their performances right down the middle.

After suffering from a broken leg in high school,Keith ended his glory days as an all-star athlete, put down the ball and picked up the guitar to become the next rock star.Later,moved byWaylon Jennings,Burns took to the country road making his way to Nashville in the 90s.

Entirely the opposite,Michelle admits she was a geek-reading bookworm.As a creative outlet, she joined the Poe family band at the age of 10. She became a bass player by choice— electing to learn to play the instrument with less strings and more boom.At 17, Michelle moved to Music City to attend MTSU. Fast Forward Burns & Poe are no strangers to the country music scene or fans.Award-winning tunesmiths and stage entertainers, they’ve already made their mark. Both Keith Burns and Michelle Poe established notable names for themselves as music industry trendsetters in previous endeavors.

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Burns is a founding member of the Grammy-nominated,gold recording trioTrick Pony,who won both an American Music Award and an Academy of Country Music Award. Burns has also penned songs recorded by Joe Diffie, Hootie & The Blowfish, Sammy Kershaw,Anita Cochran and Trick Pony (who scored three Top 20 and two Top 10 singles on the country charts).

Poe, formerly a Dreamworks recording artist, has been an integral part of national touring bands,singing backup and playing bass to lock in the rhythm section behind the likes of international acts Dierks Bentley and Hank Williams,Jr. In 2007, the two made official introductions at an audition for the Trick Pony leading lady; Poe landed the gig. In what seemed to be just moments later, the trio disbanded…leaving the door wide open for the creation of Burns & Poe. In the spring of 2009, Burns & Poe made their debut with "It’s Always a Woman" (written

by Burns, Poe and Don Goodman/Evergreen Records); the song landed at No. 21 on the Music Row chart.

Now partnered with Blue Steel Records,the dynamic duo released their second single "Don’t Get No Better Than That" (written by Burns & Mark Oliverius/produced by Oliverius) to country radio and are ready to kick it into high gear. On May 16, 2011, Blue Steel Records introduced yet another gravel and grace serenade to country radio entitled,“Second Chance”.

The cut comes straight from the pair’s self-titled debut album.

The third single from the double-disc album,“Second Chance”(produced by Mark Oliverius) is a line-by-line conversation between two ex-lovers revisiting the tribulations of their hisw w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

tory.Communication opens the door to the thought and anticipation that maybe,just maybe, there’s room for a second chance at love:“If you believe in a second chance,just reach out and take my hand.We’ll fan the flames of an old romance.”Written by the twosome along with Tom Stipe, the mid-tempo tune features a steady percussion beat with electric and acoustic guitars,and finishes strong with stellar piano and guitar solos.

Joyce: Hi guys. I listened to your CD and I loved it. Good job! Let’s get started on this interview by you giving me a little bit of information on your musical background. Michelle, lady’s first.

Michelle: I came from a very musical family. We had a band called the “Poe Family Band”.

My mom played keyboard, my dad played guitar, and we had a drum machine. We programmed all of our songs into it. At one point they told me,“Michelle you need not be just a girl singer, you need to play an instrument.” I chose the Bass. I took a couple of lessons, from then on it was on the job training. So I really grew up with a musical background. I was really fortunate.

Joyce: Do you have any other jobs currently at this time besides Burns and Poe? Michelle: I have 2 jobs.

Joyce: (laughs) I guess you can never have enough to do.

Michelle: I substitute teach and I write songs and do the Burns & Poe. Joyce: Gosh Michelle, there’s 24 hours in a day, you should be able to get this all done. (laughs) Michelle: The thing is I sleep 23 hours a day. I have to get it all done in 1 hour. (laughing) Joyce: Keith,you are so quiet. Are you there?

Keith: I’m waiting for Michelle to shut up. Usually she is really quiet,but today she is chatty Kathy.(laughs) Joyce: Keith,it’s your turn. Tell me about yourself.

Keith: I started right out of high school. I knew what I wanted to do as soon as I broke my leg playing football. I knew that sports wasn’t probably going to happen for me. I picked up a guitar and I knew at that age that I wanted to play music. In high school I had a band and played every gig or party I could. Once I got out of high school I started playing around and got in bands in Atlanta. That’s all I’ve ever done.

Joyce: You mean you don’t have 2 jobs?

Keith: Nope,just Michelle. I write for a publishing company and I play with Burns and Poe, that’s what I do. Burns and Poe is pretty much a full time job!

Joyce: Before Burns and Poe you were part ofTrick Pony? I loved that group.

Keith: Yea,Trick Pony was great. It was a good run,but all good things must come to an end, at least this one did. This opened the door for me to be able to do Burns and Poe. I’m excited about where Michelle and I are at. We have a lot going on. A new album coming out May 10th,on May 9th our next single,“Second Chance”comes out and we just shot a video for it. It was like a two year transition from Trick Pony to where we are at now. It was tough,but it’s going well.

was writing most of these songs as she was out on the road playing with Hank Williams Jr. There will be more with Michelle on the next CD. Joyce: Tell me about the song,“How Long Is Long Enough?”

Keith: I wish there was a poetic,romantic story behind this,but there’s not. We were driving up into my neighborhood,behind a woman driving really,really slow. I said,“Good Lord, how slow is slow enough?” We got to talking and it turned into,How Long is Long Enough?

By the time I got to the back of my neighborhood, I had already written the chorus. As a songwriter you are always thinking. My wheels are always turning.

Joyce: Well, I have to let you guys go. So I wish you well and I will look you up sometime.

Good luck on the new CD!!!!! I will send you guys some fineWisconsin cheese and sausage to nibble on when you are out touring!!!

Michelle & Keith: Thank you Joyce.

Story by: Joyce Ziehli Photos supplied.

Burns & Poe are currently on tour with show dates in Illinois,Missouri,Wisconsin,Pennsylvania,Wyoming and the world’s best-known entertainment spot,Freemont Street,LasVegas.

For more information about Burns & Poe, including tour dates and album updates, please visit: http://www.burnsandpoe.com, http://www.facebook.com/burnsandpoe, http://www.myspace.com/burnsandpoe or http://www.twitter.com/burnsandpoe.

For more information about Burns & Poe,including tour dates and album updates, please visit:http://www.burnsandpoe.com,http://www.facebook.com/burnsandpoe, http://www.myspace.com/burnsandpoe or http://www.twitter.com/burnsandpoe.

Joyce: Michelle how did you guys hook up together?

Michelle: Actually when Trick Pony disbanded and Heidi went off to pursue a solo career, they were looking for a new singer to fill her shoes. Keith and Ira auditioned a bunch of different girls. I auditioned for the gig, and got the job. Within a week or even a few days, Ira decided to pursue a solo career as well, so Keith and I decided to keep writing. We formed Burns and Poe eventually!

Joyce: Will you guys be out touring to promote the new CD? Keith: We are booking dates as they come in. We have about 40 dates booked already.

Michelle and I want to work, We want to go out and play,we want to do it the old-fashioned way. Yup,jump in the B & P mobile and go out and play and shake hands,kiss babies,whatever it takes!! (laughs) We have a good time on stage.We banter back and forth and we don’t take ourselves too seriously. We joke about ourselves as well as each other.When it comes to music,we want our music to sound good.

Joyce: I hope you guys will be coming our way.

Keith: Check out the website. You are up in Wisconsin right?

Joyce: Yea,I will check out your site. Keith I see you wrote most of the songs. Do you and Michelle co-write together?

Keith: I prefer to write with Michelle. I write everyday. Michelle wasn’t available when I w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

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august... continued from page 24

up!

AM: So what caused the change from Box Elder to Dear August, how did you pick Dear August?

Tyler:There was another band,Box Elder,at the time,and their people contacted us and said, quit using our name, and when we figured out what it would cost,we said- it's yours.

Adrienne: Dear August was the song, Dan wrote it, that's where it came from.

Tyler:We recorded the first album (Come Visit Soon) as Box Elder (actually released by Dear August, aka Box Elder) and it was country, like, bar music, lots of steelpedal, kind of story-telling and Americana Adrienne:Yeah, kind of like jangly guitar- the stuff you listen to when you go out to taverns and bars.

Tyler:Then the second album (Come in, Keep Dry) was like,we added all this stuff,more guitars,and cello...kind of like The Byrds. And the last album we went in a little more raw, live, and kind of stripped all that stuff away.

It's a little more introspective, and it reflects the short timeframe and budget we worked from.

AM: Would you say that the face of playing out has followed that evolution of your recorded works?

Tyler: Oh yeah Adrienne:There used to be a lot of banter on stage all night long between Tyler and Dan, they'd just carry on their inside jokes all night long.

Tyler:True story (Where have I heard that before? Oh, right, from every guy who stands at the mic) Tyler: But Adrienne's a great song-writer. (He says it with a kind of reverence) AM: So will we be able to hear Dear August one more time in Madison before you go?

(Simultaneously) Adrienne:Yes. Tyler: No. Adrienne:Well, we haven't talked about it yet, but we're kind of planning a going away party at our favorite Talulah before we go.

AM: So what will you do in Birmingham?

Tyler: Play golf.

Adrienne:Tyler can do anything, he used to be an assistant superintendant for the Wisconsin PGA, he works right now at Avant Garden, but he's really a great golfer.

And a painter, he can paint.

Tyler: (fearlessly) I just put in my resignation today.

AM: So Adrienne, your work (with Sylvan Learning Centers) can be picked up and done from anywhere, right?

Adrienne:Yes. AM: And with Tyler's vast business experience, paper routes since the age of nine and all, you could probably do just about anything, right?

Tyler:We'll see.

AM:What made you decide to pick up and go?

Adrienne:We're still pretty mobile before Odetta gets to

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be school aged. So now's the time.

Tyler: Everything got right in alignment and it seemed time to go.

AM:What have you been listening to lately?

Adrienne:Tyler's been stuck on Band of Skulls for some time now.

Tyler:Yeah, I have. But music is like our only luxury.

Adrienne:We don't have iPods or TV. AM:Is there anything you've been reading you absolutely have to recommend?

Adrienne: We recently read Motley Crue's biography, it was intriguing, but I felt like I needed detox after it, like every time I put it down, I needed a shower.

AM:What have been your favorite gigs to play?

Tyler: Oh, I couldn't pick just one Adrienne:There's a lot to choose from, we kind of got our start in Spring Green.Then our first gig in Madison at the Weary Traveler, like 40 people showed up, and we loved it. The oddest was probably the centennial festival in Highland, complete with hatchet-throwing, camel rides and a pig-kissing contest. We played a lot at the Crystal Corner, which was a great place to play, and the High Noon, that's probably the best place around to go see or play music.

Tyler:Then there was that one gig...(everybody's got that one gig, right?)

Tyler went on to tell a story about a gig up north where they went on late...had to do with who they were opening up for...he wasn't happy about it... and suffice to say, he narrowed it down to "Pat McDonald is an (expletive)".

AM: Okay you guys, speed round: What would you never eat on pizza?

Adrienne: I used to think pineapple, but since Tyler recently made me a pizza with pineapple on it, I guess everything goes.

Tyler:Yeah, anything on pizza.

AM:What has being parents taught you?

Adrienne: Peek-a-boo.

Tyler:That everybody comes from somebody,you know?

Like I look at other people and go, well somebody was their parents,and they turned out okay,so maybe we can do this.

Note: I had the pleasure of meeting the red-headed Odetta in February while in her mother's arms, then just about a year old, and this child was magical, and I think I said before,Adrienne manages to appear more rested now than before she ever became pregnant- sure signs that Tyler's hope will be realized- I've never seen parenthood seem to agree so well with two people.

AM: Pancakes, or waffles?

Adrienne: Ooh, pancakes, no syrup though, just butter, and maybe a little underdone.

AM: No syrup, no sugar?

Adrienne: Nope.

(I could barely finish the interview, and luckily it was almost over, no syrup? I need diversity training) Dear August's Act Ready is available at dear august.com The third album. Tyler's right,Adrienne is a great songwriter. The artwork on the CD's liner is both of theirs.

The landscape inside is Tyler's, and the chicken on the

front and the boots on the back are Adrienne's- both the painting is hers and the boots are hers. I had the great good fortune of once being Adrienne's co-worker,which is where I first met her. We had a good chuckle over the boots, whenever she'd wear them, I'd just look at them until everyone else in the room had to also. I was lucky enough to know anybody who wore boots like those had stories worth listening to. Those stories get told through the music of Dear August- definitely worth listening to.

Story by: Anne Miller. Photos supplied.

Read more from Anne Miller on her website: takeascavengerhunt.com sneeze... continued from page 22

announce to everyone his foresight into wearing his helmet for the dangerous experience of feeding himself. I didn’t and he just continued to look rather silly.

Spring. It’s a love ~ hate relationship with me. I, like everyone else, long for the color palette out my window to expand to more than brown and brown. The coloring of my world does come at a cost however. Who would think that leaves growing from limbs would wreak such havoc with my body? Every year I have a conversation with my histamine sensors telling them its okay,the trees are just growing leaves, nothing is trying to attack me!

But my body goes into overdrive trying to protect me from the deadly pollen. I guess my body has a point, the Martians in “War Of The Worlds” were killed by bacteria after all.

There are the days too where the furnace is on in the morning and the air conditioner is on by 5:00 P.M. It’s as if the sun decides to throw on the afterburners and remind us just what it can do. I can almost hear my very pale skin sizzle in these first transitional days.

My car looks a lot like my closet right now too. I will have a jacket, sweat shirt, long sleeved shirt, hat and gloves in my vehicle till June. Who knows what the weather will decide to do by this afternoon? I may be in shorts now, but that hat and gloves may feel great after lunch.

Thankfully we live in the country so we agree that our lawn is pretty much okay to be as it is. So we have an abundance of pretty little round yellow‘flowers”all over our lawn. When I drive through town and see the lawn care trucks in front of houses I smile and think boy that’s an uphill battle. If the folks around that poor guy do not share his passion for a pristine lawn, he is almost doomed. What is it with guys and lawn mowers anyway?

Speaking of lawn mowers, I finally got mine tuned up this year. The first mowing always sneaks up on me. In March I always think,“Okay Jim,call the small engine guy and have him pick up the mower.” Then a pretty bird flies in front of me, and I completely put it out of my mind. Next think I know I stand in my lawn and can’t see my feet. It took three years for me to get ahead of the game and get my poor mower in for a much needed day at Mower Spa. When I fired it up for the first time this year it actually purred.

Love is in the air too! Literally! Every spring I stand and am amazed at the acrobatics I see in the air all around the house. The fact that a bird can fly is an amazing thing to me. The experience of watching Mr. Bird asking Ms. Bird out for a date is unbelievable. The swoops and soaring and breakneck turns are thrilling. I’m glad there is not an E-Harmony service for birds. They have to do it the old fashioned way, “Let me show you what I got baby!”

Along with the rising temperature comes the rise in humidity. The amazing dry air days of winter are long gone.

My oldest sister Mary said to me once, and it’s true,“Jane (middle sister) got the looks and you and I got the sweat glands.” The shower gets a real work out at my home all summer long. I sweat, a lot, a real lot. I change my mind, continued on page 30

w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

karl... continued from page 20

if only you try hard enough, and have plenty of time.)

AM:What's the best place you've ever been?

AM: Is that your favorite way to kill an hour, Karl? On "wastebook"? I asked him. He smirked again.

KG: Switzerland, it's the most beautiful.

AM:What's the thing that scares you the most?

KG:That or watching the weather. (Suddenly the weather page popped up on the laptop.)

KG: (Big smirk) We aren't supposed to talk politics.

AM: Is that so you know what you might be able to get done in a day?

AM:What's the deal with no moustache? Did you ever wear one?

KG: No, so I know whether to put the top up on the convertible. (Karl had driven the convertible.)

KG:Nope,always wore a beard,ever since New Glarus turned 125 years old,maybe that was 1966.

AM:Tell me something about you all of New Glarus doesn't already know about you?

AM: How old are you now?

KG:There isn't anything, but I guess you could ask Chuck. He'll tell you. (Chuck Bigler, owner of Puempel'sTavern serves as regular host to Karl's talking-smart-episodes at the bar.)

KG: 72.

AM: Do you yodel?

KG:All of them since 1966. I've been in the pit with the sound effects since 1986. (Like I said, an institution.)

AM: How many Wilhelm Tell festivals have you been in?

KG: Not any more. I used to, my mother kind of, you know...

AM:When and where do we get to hear you play next?

AM: Expected you to? Was that part of her imposing your Swiss heritage on you, at eight, with the accordion and all.

KG:At Puempel's on polka fest weekend, then I'll play with the bluegrass band- Down From The Hills on June 30th in Brodhead.

KG:Yeah, kind of.

AM:And what about your kids and grandkids, can they play the accordion or yodel?

KG:The younger ones play the drums, and piano, they've got two pianos, and they take trumpet lessons. (He pops up a picture of them on the laptop.)

AM: But no accordion,aren't you concerned about their appreciation of their heritage?

KG:They do okay. Once I pointed out that the only player from the NBA from Switzerland plays for the Oklahoma Thunder, and they said they knew, even knew his name.

They got the talking smart.They do okay.

AM: How many grandkids?

KG: Four, the two younger ones are Bill's they all live in Whitewater, Monika (Karl's daughter, the oldest) and Kris (his youngest son) live here in New Glarus. You see Kay wasn't their first mom. I always said my kids were lucky to haveTWO of the best mothers ever. Sheila died when Monika was 14. (Karl expounded on the importance of with a K. Kris is with a K, Monika is with a K, Kay - the kid's second mom- is, of course, with a K.) AM: How did Bill escape the K? KG: He's William Franz, named for mine and Sheila's fathers.

AM: So your dad was a cheese maker. Can you make cheese?

KG: No, cheese makers make cheese 7 days a week, 365 days a year. I took one look at that and thought, I don't want to work that much. So I worked 5 days a week (Federal Industry- Belleville) and then I'd play every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

AM: Maybe you should have just made cheese. (More smirking.That's Karl's at-restexpression, the smiley smirk. Like life is frosted with a funny irony at all times, and Karl's the first guy to get it.)

I've been a resident of New Glarus for twelve years now, an import, I always say (like the natives require me to make the distinction) and out of respect for their heritage I always acknowledge that I'm a Scandinavian import at that, making sure they know I know my place, as a second class citizen. But here in New Glarus where the festival calendar (some 11 of them or more, I lose count) rivals the congressional session calendar- here in New Glarus fine folks like Karl, and the late great Roger Bright amongst so many others continue a heritage of music, laughter and fun through those festivals, and most other weekends of the year, too.The face of the tourism in our town comes and goes a little, there are less Shoppe’s to visit these days, sadly, and too many empty buildings downtown, but the church bells ring, and guys still play the accordion so you can polka, and there's fine beer brewed here, so you can polka, and the institution of the heritage of America's Little Switzerland holds reliable, it's a good people you'll find here. Guys like Karl Gmur. Join us for a visit soon, won't you? Say hi to Karl when you come, he'll likely be on the stool next to you, buy him a beer, and before you know it, things will be looking up.

Sugar River Studios

Read more from Anne Miller at her website: takeascavengerhunt.com Story and photos by: Anne Miller

The small town studio with the big sound!

Sugar River Studios specializes in demo, single, and EP recording. Our hearts and ears are in Americana/Country music recording. That’s not to say that we can’t rock when we need to, so rock & rollers are always welcome too!

AM:You are awfully photogenic, Karl, you know that?

KG: Roger taught me, they want to take your picture, so pretend like you want to have your picture taken.

AM: Did you and Roger get along well?

KG: Oh sure, he was the leader of the band. Then in '92 he started using an electric box for the string bass,which made the money go a little farther.In 2002 Chuck invited me to play here for polka fest, and I've been doing that ever since. I play maybe not quite once a month, weddings sometimes and other special occasions.

AM:What's a day in the life of Karl like?

KG:This is it. (He shows me pictures of him perched at the Ott Haus with signs tucked into his glasses, one photo where he's labeled "SILLY" and another where he's labeled "BORED") Then, three times a week for a couple hours a day I'm a courier for the bank.

But they don't put any money in the bags when they send me.And I just had a new garage built (he shows me more pictures) so I can have a workbench to build things. w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

Sugar River Studios are located in Belleville, WI a short 16 miles from South Madison.

We work with Singer/songwriters, duos, and bands to bring a customized product to completion. Our services include: We have state of the art digital equipment, analog tube effects, top of the line microphones, vintage recording and outboard gear.

If you are interested in setting up a recording session please call 608-558-8131. Rates are very competitive. Session time can be booked by the hour or project. If you want a recording that will spring from the speakers and grab your audience Sugar River Studios is the studio for you! Give us a call before you record your next project. Our staff will make your recording project an enjoyable and memorable experience.

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lane... continued from page 18

space. So now we had to find something else. So the search began and I looked every where in Madison. I think I looked at every vacant building in this city for a month just driving around looking at spaces.

So that’s when I found this space on Atwood Ave. that was bigger than what I was looking for, but it was the ideal space to have a business like this, the architecture was great, the space was great, the location, everything.

I bit off a little more than I could chew but we’re making it work.

AG: What kind of services do you offer at Lane’s Lutherie?

LV:We are an authorized repair center for Martin Guitars andTaylor Guitars.So any warranty repair we can handle.

We’ve done everything from guitars that people have fallen on and crushed the top and pieced it back together for them.We’ve done broken necks, neck resets, any repair you can imagine. We can do any repair of any stringed instrument, including the Violin Family. We’ve got a guy who trained at the Violin Making School in Chicago. I do all the Bow work. We have two full time guys and a part time guy. I’m looking at adding another part time guy this summer. Our goal is quality and turnaround time. Making sure you are not without your instrument for any repair job, for too long, minus a major crushed instrument. We do set ups, fret work, neck resets, bridge resets,anything like that we do in two weeks or less turn around time.When some one comes in they are going to talk to me when you check an instrument in, or whoever is going to be working on it. So you get to talk face to face with the guy is going to do the repair work.You get to explain to him what your expectations are and any communication will happen between you and the repair guy. If we find something that wasn’t brought up during the check in, we’ll talk that over and bring it to your attention and let you decide what you want to do with it. So one on one communication and good customer service is what we offer.

AG: So aside from repairs you also sell instruments, in particular violins.

LV:Well, it’s a new part of the business for us.The retail end of it is new.When we moved from Madison Music, we started selling violin family instruments. Such as Violins, Violas, Cellos, Bows, accessories. Then once we moved to Atwood I started selling other stringed instruments. Now we’re selling vintage guitars, mandolins, banjos. We get some crazy things in like banjolins and what ever is cool. I do a lot of consignment sales.Things that people are looking to sell if it’s the right fit for my shop I’ll take it in and try to sell it for them. Still do the violin sales, probably up to about 75 violins right now.

We have upwards of 50 bows, ½ a dozen cellos, and trying to grow that as well. So that’s still the main focus.

The main reason I started that part of the business was that there were really no walk in violin shops between Minneapolis and Chicago. No place you could go and just walk in for violins.There are some violin shops “By Appointment” and things like that. But if you just happen to be passing through town and want to stop in and try some violins there was nothing like that. You can walk in and find a five or six hundred dollar instrument, up to a twenty thousand dollar symphony quality instrument. Most of the high end instruments we’ve had have been between five and ten thousand. We’ve repaired a lot of twenty thousand dollar instruments.We do a lot of Symphony repairs and lots of really nice instruments. We’re still building our inventory but its growing quick.

AG: I hear you also rent instruments.

LV:Yes, that’s real typical for violin, viola and cello students to rent instruments.Again, that’s another new part of the business that’s growing. It’s not just for kids, we have a lot of adults that come in wanting to rent and try an instrument before they buy one.

AG:You also offer lessons?

LV: In my opinion we have three of the best teachers in

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Madison, who are also some of the best performing musicians around. Jon Vriesacker is a violinist with extensive experience in a number of styles. He is a member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and has worked with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gunther Schuller. He studied at the Berklee College of Music with Matt Glaser and has a Bachelor of Music degree from UW-Madison.

Jon also has significant experience playing jazz,bluegrass and other improvised styles. He has soloed with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and been featured with violin legends Johnny Frigo and Johnny Gimble. Jon has played on promotional materials for Lands End and Miller Brewing and can be heard on recordings from Willy Porter, Freedy Johnston and Garbage. Jon also played on“Al Otro Lado del Rio”from the movie The Motorcycle Diaries,which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2005.Kevin Walsh is also trained in Classical Music and has a Masters Degree in Piano Performance, is an amazing player and great teacher and he teaches other styles as well on a Yamaha N3 Electric Baby Grand that he brought into the shop.Then we’ve got Bob Westfall who is a top notch player on guitar and mandolin. Bob is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.

He has performed and recorded extensively on guitar and mandolin throughout the country with some of the finest acoustic musicians,Doc Watson,Leo Kottke,Riders in the Sky, Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, Mike Marshall, Darol Anger,Alex De Grassi,Willy Porter, and John Hartford to name a few.Westfall has recorded 4 CD’s of his own on which he played mandolins, violins, piano, and a host of guitars. He has been teaching for 30 years, doing workshops,clinics,and songwriting classes,music camps, and has written 3 books for Hal Leonard Publishing. He is experienced at teaching all ages and skill levels, and is adept at a variety of styles including: folk, jazz, classical, swing, blues, country, bluegrass and Irish, He performs with his band “Big Bang String Thing”.

Again; this is a new thing for us so people don’t really know that we offer lessons yet. But we’re getting the word out to folks that we do offer lessons. We have 2 nice teaching studios in the space and another room that I could convert when the time comes.When there are not lessons the rooms also double as a space for people to try out instruments.

AG: How many square feet are we talking about here?

LV: 2,800 square feet total. We were at 700 at the last shop which was quite a jump, but we’re filling up pretty quick, but it still feels spacious when you walk in. Nice wood floors well lit, very welcoming.

AG:You worked on a lot of different kinds of string instruments. What kind of a repair job gets you excited?

LV: I’m always passionate about bows. I’ve been studying bow making for about the last few years with Lee Guthrie out of Hudson Wisconsin. I think that’s my next venture is becoming a bow maker. I’ve made bows, but I don’t really call myself a bow maker yet. I’m still learning but it’s something I’m really interested in and think I’m really good at. So at the shop I do all the bow work, restorations, re-hairing, and it’s primarily what I do these days besides running the business.Answering questions and helping with other repairs in the shop. But I don’t do a lot of the day to day re-frets, or neck re-sets. I see every repair that’s happening.I also do a final inspection on every instrument before it goes out the door.And I’ve got some great guys working for me now. I’ve got John Herr, who’s my lead guy. He’s a great guitar tech, great problem solver, very detail oriented, has a great knack for this field and is really fast.There’s Adam Steinquest.

Both of these guys are Red Wing Graduates.He’s another great guitar tech, a little greener, but he’s picking stuff up really quick, and he’s got a great business mind. I use him a lot for things I don’t know about business. I don’t have any business training and I’m the guy trying to fly this thing. So Adam helps out with computer things and marketing ideas as well.The last guy who has been with me the longest is Rich Moriarty. He and I worked together at US Masters and that’s where I met him.He studied at The Violin making school in Chicago. So he’s a violin maker and a great repairman. He’s very meticulous and his finish work is amazing. So I’ve got a really

good crew!

As far as what gets me excited. It’s always interesting, it’s always something new. Even with the same old repetitive job, there’s always something different about it. But nowadays, the coolest thing for me is fixing something for a kid.Because I know how hard it is to learn these instruments. Sometimes a parent will bring an instrument in and generally if the kid is there and it’s a cheaper instrument, and it doesn’t play well, or is hard to play. For me to be able to take that and make that play really easily, and to be able to do that for a kid, and hope that will help them stick with it, is the coolest part for me.That will bring a smile to me quicker than anything. If it’s not that much to do I’ll do it for free, or very inexpensively.

AG:What’s in the future for Lane’s Lutherie?

LV:Well, I’m hoping to get these guys to where they can run the shop so I can play golf every day with my friend Bob Westfall! (Loud Laughter) Story & photos by: Bobby Westfall cd review... continued from page 10

that shade, in places, toward the protest lyrics of the 1960s. In “Little Emperor,” for example, Earle lets fly at his fellow Texan, George W. Bush, who was clearly not his favorite president.

Emptiness in front of you and detritus behind Nobody ever told you that history was kind But Earle, in the end, is more philosophical than political, more tender than angry, as he sings of love, death and the larger meaning of life.Arguably the most powerful cut on the record, and certainly the one most central to its lyrical message, is a song of faith,“God Is God,” originally recorded by Joan Baez. In these four minutes, Earle reveals himself to be a believer, not in any rigid theology, but in the presence of a power much larger than himself. He has written, in the end, that rarest of anthems – a song of humility before the grandeur of God. It is easy to see,as you listen to the words,that Earle was a protégé of two of the greatest songwriters ever, Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. But it is more than the lyrics that make this album special.Produced by the prolific T Bone Burnett, the CD features an alt-country sound in which melodies that are clean and direct are juxtaposed with Earle’s unmistakable voice – roughedged and even growling at times, but also melodic.

This will be, I expect, one of the most acclaimed Americana albums of the year.

Review by: Frye Gaillard sneeze... continued from page 22

I sweat. I think about going for a run, I sweat. I sit on the lawn mower, soaked. It is the one thing about spring that I don’t look forward to.

The earth feels like it has just exhaled. With that release of breath comes all the new things that have waited to appear. I am always humbled by the never ending cycle of nature. It never fails and even if it skips a beat, the song always plays. A true example of patience and willingness to adapt. I try to stop at least once each day and just take it all it in.

Welcome spring! Welcome flowers! Welcome warmth!

You have my full attention until you change your mind.

I’ll cover the sweating for you.

Written by: Jim Smith

w w w. a m e r i c a n a g a z e t t e . n e t

charley pride... continued from page 17

Charley: Oh yea. I wanted both!!! When I saw Jackie Robinson go to major league, I thought this is my way out of the cotton field. I think every kid has a dream and my dream was to go to major league and break the records by the time I was 35 or 36 years old. Then sing.

It would have been nice to be in both all the same.

Joyce: Yes, it would have been nice to do both. You are quite the man, Hall of Fame recipient, have your own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, member of the Grand Ole Opry. What’s left for Charley Pride to accomplish?

Charley: Well, I think there’s always another plateau. My fans think I’m singing better now than I ever did. I’m so appreciative of being blessed to have this ability to still be able to have my voice. I just think there is a lot more out there. If you listen to the song,“America the Great” on this new CD, I’m not a politician, but I do love my country and people ask me who wrote that song. I say, “a Canadian wrote that song.” They always say,“What?”.

The thing is I’m in the business of selling lyrics, feelings, and emotions. That’s what I do. I want to try to continue doing this to the best of my ability as long as I can do it.

Joyce: Charley, you are my mother-in-law and father-inlaw’s favorite entertainer. When you played in Madison a few years back, we all came to your show. Any plans of playing in Wisconsin soon?

Charley: Yea. I think I’m coming to Wisconsin in September. You can check out my website. (Editor’s note: Pride’s website just announced a September 17, 2011 @ Crystal Grand Theatre in Wisconsin Dells,Wi.) I used to play in the State league in Fond du lac, Janesville – Wisconsin had some pretty good ball players. They were all black teams, or as they used to say we was colored then (he laughs). In fact we were based in guess what town - - - Andy Williams’ home town, which was Wall Lake, Iowa.

Charley: He told me once. Charley the song you are playing today, they will be playing 50 years from now.

He’s pretty close.

Joyce: He’s right on. What was playing the Grand Ole Opry like for the first time?

Charley: I was scared.

Joyce: (laughing) No you weren’t.

Charley: Oh yes I was! Joyce let me tell you something.

When they said “Ladies and Gentleman” – I was scared.

I was so nervous, I was afraid I was gonna mess up. I still get nervous, but a different kind of nervous. A nervous that you need to stay on your toes.

Joyce: Ever have anything you want to talk about, but nobody has ever asked you about it?

Charley: I don’t think so. I’ve answered everything that you could throw at me. Lots of artist have things written out and only talk about that, not me. I’ve never done anything like that. There are just certain things that you just don’t ask.

I overheard Bones talking with Peter Cooper and Phil Lee about their dogs. Peter has two miniature dachshunds, Russell and Loretta and Phil has the almighty King Biscuit. They have all been featured in this magazine as well. Maybe us critters could all meet sometime and have a little celebrity pet get-together. Tim Carroll and Elizabeth Cook have a couple of cats, I suppose we could invite them over, just to be polite.

Anyway life turned out great for me. I’m a happy fellow, Bones loves me. He’s my “bestest mate” ever!

Story by: Joyce Ziehli Info and photos supplied by: Bones Hillman

Charley: Golf and Baseball. I love to watch TV. I just got done watching the View. I learn something all the time.

They talk about everything. Today it was on Charlie Sheen. That poor guy.

Joyce: Yea, I hope he gets some help.

Charley: Me too.

Joyce: Thank you for your time and best of luck with your new CD. Charley: Thank you so much.

For additional information on Charley Pride, visit w w w . c h a r l e y p r i d e . c o m o r www.facebook.com/charleypride.

Charley: Yup, since the 14th of March I’ve been out every day at 8:15 A.M. I get in my uniform, I go run, I do my calisthenics and I even did some hitting today.

Story by: Joyce Ziehli

Charley: I don’t try to over do anything. I take my time.

It’s like riding a bicycle, I don’t ride as fast, I just try to remember how to ride it.

when he goes on tour playing. I wish I could go along with him. When I see him getting out the suit case to pack for the road, I immediately jump in. Darn, it seems like he spots me right away. Maybe one of these times I will get away with it. Wouldn’t he be surprised when he got to his hotel and opened up the case and I jumped out with a big wet kiss!!!!

Joyce: We’re not going to get into that. (We both laugh.)

What are your hobbies?

Joyce: Do you practice with the team?

Joyce: What a guy!! I’m impressed!!!!

pet note... continued from page 12

Charley Pride bio provided by Charley Pride website and Don Murry Grubbs of Absolute Publicity.

Photos supplied.

rea... continued from page 21

Joyce: Andy, my husband and I always visit Cowboy Jack Clement when we go to Nashville. How did you meet Cowboy Jack?

Charley: I met him through Jack Johnson. There were 2 Jack’s involved in my career. Jack Johnson was my manager, the only manager I ever had and he introduced me to Jack Clement. Cowboy Jack gave me 7 songs to try to learn while I was on vacation. Of those 7 songs,one was “The Snakes Crawl at Night”, which was my first release.

He said work up these songs and send them back down.

I was in Oxford, Mississippi which is about 200 some miles from Nashville. I got them all worked up and drove back to Nashville. When I got to Jack Clement’s office, they put the songs on that I’d worked up. It was almost like Jack didn’t believe it was me singing.

Joyce: That’s what Cowboy told me once. We’ve talked about you!!!!

Charley: (laughs) Jack said take out that guitar and sing.

So I had to sing right there.

Joyce: Yea, Cowboy Jack is quite the guy.

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Bob: I had a business and sold custom log homes for about 18 years, a lot longer than I should have. I sold this about a year and a half ago. I just do the music now.

Joyce: Will you be out touring to promote this CD? Bob: That’s what I’m trying to do. It’s really hard because no one really knows me. I thought it would be hard, but didn’t think it would be this hard. (laughs) I’m having some luck with it though. I just finished playing at the Bluebird Café in Nashville. I’m going to try for some overseas jobs this Fall. My CD was doing pretty good over there, #6 for awhile in Europe.

Joyce: Bob, what are your future goals – your Master Plan shall I say?

Bob: My Master Plan is to spend the rest of the year getting as much exposure as I can, then back into the studio to do another album next year. Then a repeat of this year.

Joyce: Anything you’d like your fans or future fans to know about you?

Bob: Wow,that’s a tough question. I want them to know that I’m trying to write honest songs. Singing about what people live through.

Joyce: One last question before I let you get back to work. If you could perform with anyone, who would you pick?

Bob: Guy Clark and Malcolm Holcombe. Those two would be great!

Joyce: Thank you Bob and maybe we’ll see you this Fall at the AMA Conference.

Bob: Sure, I’ll be there.Thank you.

For more information on Bob Rea check out his website at www.bobreamusic.com .

Information provided by Lance Cowan of LCMedia and bob Rea website.

Photos supplied.

Story by: Joyce Ziehli

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