Category Archives: Milestones

Watch Out! Ray Wylie Hubbard “Snake Farm” – Opry Debut

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Ray Wylie Hubbard Opry Debut
Credit: Judy Hubbard

One can only wonder what the hell took so long?

Throughout his career, Ray Wylie Hubbard, like many of his contemporaries such as Jerry Jeff Walker and Terry Allen, has defied rigid country music tropes while simultaneously displaying a strong sense of honor of the past. That’s why, as a fan, Hubbard’s Opry debut on Wednesday night, July 17th, 2019 at the age of 72 very, very satisfying.

Hubbard shared the stage this special night with many artists he’s influenced; Aaron Lewis, Jeannie Seely, Little Big Town, Pam Tillis, Tyler Childers as well as his friend and sometimes collaborator Pam Tillis.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0AJ0YPl92f/?igshid=na38scqkhujw

To my understanding, it was Tillis who was key in getting Hubbard the gig. Introducing him to the stage Tillis said:

“I want to get this next guest intro right because it’s so important to me, This gentleman I’m about to introduce you to has fans as diverse as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Patty Griffin, Ringo Starr, Steve Earle, Lee Ann Womack … so many people know about this man and look up to him as the very epitome of a true artist, a true writer. He has influenced a generation of Texas musicians and songwriters. 55 years making music. Made is debut on David Letterman, and I said, ‘You know, Ray Wylie Hubbard, it is time that you played the Grand Ole Opry.” (Saving Country Music)

“Thank you. Thank you Pam for the nice introduction. I can hardly wait to hear me,” Ray Wylie quipped in his signature wry manner. He then slid into what has become his signature song, his Freebird if you will, “Snake Farm.”

Backing Hubbard on the stage was roots-duo Larkin Poe, and his son Lucas Hubbard and some lucky others.

Responding to our question what this moment meant to him Hubbard said “There are certain moments in time that are more powerful than others. Being present at the birth of a child, hearing the one you love say “I do.” Performing on the Opry stage is equal to one of those moments”

Share the deservedly momentous occasion moment below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBoVE_dWKVs

Twang Nation Americana and Roots Music Holiday List

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– “At the Louisiana Hayride Tonight” – Various artists (Bear Family) $250.
Germany’s Bear Family label has reputation for giving loving (obsessive) detail in creating their box sets and “At the Louisiana Hayride Tonight” continues that osession. The Saturday night music radio show was broadcast by Shreveport, Louisiana’s KWKH-AM from 1948-1960 and rivaled only by the more straight-laced Grand Ole Opry for live radio entertainment.

Country and roots music greats abound – Hank Williams, George Jones, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Kitty Wells, Loretta Lynn, Ernest Tubb, Louvin Brothers and many more in their prime.

A 20-CD set gives us a view back to live radio before studio wizardry and music was still wonderfully raw and brazon and done without a net.

Presley’s first TV appearance on the television version of the Hayride in March 1955 features and electrifying performance of his breakthrough single “That’s All Right,” as well as 14 songs includes “Baby Let’s Play House,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” and “Don’t Be Cruel” and are just a fraction of the more than 500 tunes stocking At the Louisiana Hayride Tonight. The box set also contains long-buried treasury of like a previously unknown recording of “I’m a Long Gone Daddy” by Hank Williams.

The accompanying 226-page book not only identifies all the performance dates and musicians, but also provides plenty of historical context.

Yeas this sweet collectable clocks in at over $200, but it breaks down to about $.40 a song for these treasured performances. That’s quite a deal.


‘Why Bob Dylan Matters’ by Richard Thomas – Richard Thomas $16.50
Harvard Professor of Classical Literature Richard F. Thomas explores Dylan’s music with a lense on his music influence on society as well as style. Dylan is dealt with in a serious tone usually reserved for classical literary and poetic luminaries. ‘Why Bob Dylan Matters’ set his work in it’s proper place and argues that it’s a work deserving of the ages.


‘Woman Walk the Line: How the Women in Country Music Changed Our Lives’ – Holly Gleason, in Woman Walk the Line ( University of Texas Press) $19.65
Music industry vet Holly Gleason presents twenty-seven extraordinary women scribes writing about twenty seven country music greats that just happen o be women. These personal and uplifting stories dig to the heart of what it means to connect to Music. Yes I still believe that #WomennInMusic is not a genre and that self-segregation is nearly as harmful as outside variety, but damn, this is a great read.


Johnny Cash, “Unearthed” (American) – $228.
THere was a real chance that Johnny Cash might have died in popular obscurity in 2003 had Rick Rubin not had the great instinct to spearhead the Country music legend’s breathtaking late-career albums. This 2003 collection of outtakes
serves a bounty with seven LPs featuring alternate takes and unreleased songs. Cash lends his historic baritone to distinctive renditions of gospel, rock,folk blues, and, of course golden-age country as well as covers by
Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Kris Kristofferson, Steve Earle and others so good you might forget their were sung by anyone before The Man in Black.


KHYI 100th Episode Contest – Wynonna & The Big Noise

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Wynonna & The Big Noise

Seems like only yesterday I was introduced to the KHYI morning DJ Chuck Taylor at the 18th annual Texas Music Revolution at South Fork Ranch. Soon after he and general station manager Joshua Jones asked to do a casual morning segment featuring a song of my choice as well as live shows I’d recommend. Oh and happenings at this little blog and on my sundry social media.

Coming up on our 100th episode of our little segment, Twang Nation Radio, and I am here to tell you it’s been a great ride. We’ve celebrated extraordinary music, solemn moments for passing legends and celebrated the miracle that is Nashville hot chicken.

Chuck has become not just an associate and parter in sonic escapades but a friend. I’m in awe of his tireless commitment to sharing great music and making KHYI the preeminent roots music stations in North Texas, In short, he kicks ass.

Enough of the weepy bits and on to the swag!

Leave a memory of Twang Nation Radio, performers you’ve discovered, concerts you’ve found out about, times you wanted to punch me for bad-mouthing Sturgill Simpson, for a chance to win the latest awesome release from Wynonna & The Big Noise. Signed and on vinyl no less. REALLY!

One winner will be picked at random Sunday, April 24th, Wednesday, April 27th 2pm CST. THIS CONTEST IS INTENDED FOR LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE 50 UNITED STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ONLY.

Wynonna & The Big Noise is the rootsy release by Wynonna Judd and her cracker-jack band. Special guests include Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Timothy B Schmit and Jason Isbell. It was produced by Wynonna’s hubby (and drummer) Cactus Moser, and includes songs written by the band, Julie Miller, Raphael Saadiq, John Scott Sherrill and Chris Stapleton.

Good luck, and thanks for listening/reading.

Loretta Lynn Signs With Sony Legacy, New Album In The Works For Next Year

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Loretta Lynn

LynnThe reining Queen of Country Music inked her fist new record deal in more than a decade.

Following Willie Nelson to Sony Legend the new agreement covers “several albums of new material,” produced by Lynn’s daughter Patsy L Russell and John Carter Cash, recorded over the past seven years at the Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, Tenn.

The first title is plannned for release in 2015 and will be the artist’s first collection of new recordings since 2004’s Grammy-winning Jack White collaberation “Van Lear Rose,”

Lynn, Russell and Cash have beenworking togather at Cash Cabin Studio sice 2007. The materian “explores Lynn’s musical history spanning Appalachian folk songs and gospel music she learned as a child, to new interpretations of her classic hits and country standards, to songs newly-written for the project.

Drawing inspiration from personal memories and connections to American music, Lynn’s new recordings “capture the essence of these songs in intimate new performances, the way they might’ve sounded growing up in the 1930’s and 40’s in Butchers Hollow, Ky.”

Lynn appeared on the Country Music Awards last night, signing “You’re Looking at Country” with diciple Kacey Musgraves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M7E_UGE4h0

Listen Up! Hal Ketchum – ‘I’m the Troubadour’

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Hal Ketchum - Photo Pete Lacker

Hal Ketchum has known the road as a veteran of the Texas honky-tonk circuit. He’s also known commercial success a with his 1991 certified gold release “Past the Point of Rescue.”

Ketchum has also known hardship. In June 1998, Ketchum was diagnosed with a neurological disorder called acute transverse myelitis, an ailment of the spinal column, which left Ketchum without the use of the left side of his body. As a result he had to relearn basic tasks, including how to walk and play the guitar. He also took some time to find his way back to music.

Ketchum tells Billboard. “I just kind of lost my powder for a while,” “I just didn’t feel like playing or writing. One day I just said, ‘This is a gift that God has given me, so I better get back to it.'”

“It’s an amazing gift to be able to come back this strong,” says Hal Ketchum in an interview with Billboard, who premiered the title track to his new album ‘I’m the Troubadour’ today. “I feel like it’s the best record I’ve ever made.”

The album, out October 7 on Music Road Records, marks a significant personal triumph for the legendary songwriter and Grande Ole Opry member, who spent the last several years living in a cabin in Wimberley, TX away from the pressure of the music industry, where he could focus on his health as he dealt with the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, including bouts of paralysis and blindness that had also taken a toll on his mental state.

Though he’s best known for hit country singles like “Small Town Saturday Night” and “Past the Point of Rescue,” which have led to more than 5 million album sales, it sounds like Ketchum has decided to enter music this tome from the eclectic Americana back door. His new cut ‘I’m the Troubadour’ (below) blends rock, folk, soul and Cajan elements to create a splendid amalgam.

That newfound creative freedom from genre restrictions and commercial pressure, a result of his partnership with Music Road Records, was just the inspiration Ketchum needed to break free from what he described as a “deep level of depression” that had put him in a “dark place” as he struggled with health problems.

““I had pretty much thrown in the towel. I wasn’t interested in putting out another big country album. IÂ’ve done that. I’ve been there, man,” he says. “I finally said to myself, ‘I can still do this. I can still write.’ This record was a really beautiful departure for me. I think itÂ’s going to be refreshing for people who havenÂ’t heard me in a while to know that the old manÂ’s still swinginÂ’.””

His new album follows 2008’s ‘Father Time,’ will be released Oct. 7 on Music Road Records.

Preorders are available.

Nickel Creek Surprised With Platinum Records

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Nickel Creek Surprised With Platinum Records

It took a while, but it couldn’t have come at a better time. Following their taping for an upcoming Austin City Limits Live the legendary newgrass trio of Nickel Creek was presented with the band’s first platinum record for its Sugar Hill Records debut, Nickel Creek. The band was surprised with special plaques to commemorate the accomplishment by Sugar Hill General Manager Cliff O’Sullivan and Sugar Hill Vice President of A&R Gary Paczosa (who also engineered Nickel Creek.).

“We wanted to be able to share in this moment with Chris, Sean and Sara and where better than this beautiful theater!” Cliff O’Sullivan shares. “Selling a million albums is a tremendous achievement and we are thrilled to be able to celebrate it with Nickel Creek and applaud the enduring success of the album, which is a cornerstone of Sugar Hill’s musical legacy.”

Nickel Creek, the self-titled album from the acoustic trio, was Certified Platinum by the Recording Industry of America earlier this month, having officially hit one million units of the record sold.

The trio reached another milestone this year as they celebrate twenty-five years of making music together. Currently on tour in support of their latest album, “A Dotted Line,” released through Nonesuch Records, the band continues to wow audiences with their live performances. This year’s tour wraps up in Aspen on Sunday August 31.

8-28 Mesa, AZ – Ikeda Theatre
8-29 Albuquerque, NM – Kimo Theater
8-30 Colorado Springs, CO – Pike’s Peak Center
8-31 Aspen, CO – JAS Aspen Snowmass

Bob Dylan to Release Complete Sessions of Legendary “Basement Tapes”

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bob-dylan-basement-tapes

According to Consequence of Sound

The entire collection of work by Bob Dylan and The Band (then known as the Crackers) Basement Tapes sessions will be available to the general public. Coming November 4th via Legacy Recordings, the six-disc collection covers an impressive 138 tracks, 30 of which were never of known to exist until today’s announcement. Several other tracks have only existed as mediocre bootleg recordings.

The Basement tapes are the Rosetta Stone of modern roots and Americana music. These sessions occurred in the wake of Dylan’s post motorcycle crash recovery in 1966. Dylan and the band holed up in the basement of a Woodstock, New York house known as the Big Pink, where members of the Band were using as their base. They proceeded to record over 100 tracks together, including “This Wheel’s on Fire”, “I Shall Be Released” and “Tears of Rage” which appeared on The Band’s debut album, “Music from Big Pink.” Other cuts included “Quinn the Eskimo,” which Manfred Mann recorded and charted in the UK , “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” recorded as a single by the Byrds as well as “Nothing Was Delivered”, which appeared on “Sweetheart of the Rodeo.”

Rolling Stone posts that the unreleased material includes an “epic, apocalyptic rocker” called “Wild Wolf”; an early version of “I Shall Be Released” with slightly different lyrics; a cover of Hank Williams’ 1949 song “My Bucket’s Got a Hole In It”; and “country-fied” versions of “Blowin’ in the Wind”, “It Ain’t Me Babe”, and “One Too Many Mornings”, featuring keyboardist Richard Manuel handling lead vocals on the first verse. “”The stuff that people haven’t heard justifies, in every way, shape and form, all the hype, hubris and myth that surrounds these tapes,” says folk musician and writer Sid Griffin, who wrote the liner notes for this new collection (which is also being released as a two-disc version and three-LP set). “Some of this stuff is mind-boggling.”

Below, stream an alternate take of the original “Odds and Ends”

The deluxe edition of the album also includes a 120-page companion book featuring extensive liner notes and previously unseen photographs and memorabilia. Also available will be a more concise version dubbed, The Basement Tapes Raw, featuring 38 tracks on two discs or three LPs. See the full tracklist below.

Pre-order The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11(Deluxe Edition) vinyl or CD

The Basement Tapes Complete serves as the 11th installment in Dylan’s ongoing “The Bootleg Series.” The release also coincides with the release “Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes” featuring a whos’who of roots-rockers – My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, Mumford and Sons’ Marcus Mumford, Elvis Costello,Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith, Carolina Chocolate Drops’ Rhiannon Giddens, and shephareded by T-Bone Burnett.

The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 Tracklist:

CD 1
Disc: 1
01. Edge of the Ocean
02. My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It
03. Roll on Train
04. Mr. Blue
05. Belshazzar
06. I Forgot to Remember to Forget
07. You Win Again
08. Still in Town
09. Waltzing with Sin
10. Big River (Take 1)
11. Big River (Take 2)
12. Folsom Prison Blues
13. Bells of Rhymney
14. Spanish is the Loving Tongue
15. Under Control
16. Ol’ Roison the Beau
17. I’m Guilty of Loving You
18. Cool Water
19. The Auld Triangle
20. Po’ Lazarus
21. I’m a Fool for You (Take 1)
22. I’m a Fool for You (Take 2)

Disc: 2
01. Johnny Todd
02. Tupelo
03. Kickin’ My Dog Around
04. See You Later Allen Ginsberg (Take 1)
05. See You Later Allen Ginsberg (Take 2)
06. Tiny Montgomery
07. Big Dog
08. I’m Your Teenage Prayer
09. Four Strong Winds
10. The French Girl (Take 1)
11. The French Girl (Take 2)
12. Joshua Gone Barbados
13. I’m in the Mood
14. Baby Ain’t That Fine
15. Rock, Salt and Nails
16. A Fool Such As I
17. Song for Canada
18. People Get Ready
19. I Don’t Hurt Anymore
20. Be Careful of Stones That You Throw
21. One Man’s Loss
22. Lock Your Door
23. Baby, Won’t You be My Baby
24. Try Me Little Girl
25. I Can’t Make it Alone
26. Don’t You Try Me Now

Disc: 3
01. Young but Daily Growing
02. Bonnie Ship the Diamond
03. The Hills of Mexico
04. Down on Me
05. One for the Road
06. I’m Alright
07. Million Dollar Bash (Take 1)
08. Million Dollar Bash (Take 2)
09. Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread (Take 1)
10. Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread (Take 2)
11. I’m Not There
12. Please Mrs. Henry
13. Crash on the Levee (Take 1)
14. Crash on the Levee (Take 2)
15. Lo and Behold! (Take 1)
16. Lo and Behold! (Take 2)
17. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (Take 1)
18. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (Take 2)
19. I Shall be Released (Take 1)
20. I Shall be Released (Take 2)
21. This Wheel’s on Fire
22. Too Much of Nothing (Take 1)
23. Too Much of Nothing (Take 2)

Disc: 4
01. Tears of Rage (Take 1)
02. Tears of Rage (Take 2)
03. Tears of Rage (Take 3)
04. Quinn the Eskimo (Take 1)
05. Quinn the Eskimo (Take 2)
06. Open the Door Homer (Take 1)
07. Open the Door Homer (Take 2)
08. Open the Door Homer (Take 3)
09. Nothing Was Delivered (Take 1)
10. Nothing Was Delivered (Take 2)
11. Nothing Was Delivered (Take 3)
12. All American Boy
13. Sign on the Cross
14. Odds and Ends (Take 1)
15. Odds and Ends (Take 2)
16. Get Your Rocks Off
17. Clothes Line Saga
18. Apple Suckling Tree (Take 1)
19. Apple Suckling Tree (Take 2)
20. Don’t Ya Tell Henry
21. Bourbon Street

Disc: 5
01. Blowin’ in the Wind
02. One Too Many Mornings
03. A Satisfied Mind
04. It Ain’t Me, Babe
05. Ain’t No More Cane (Take 1)
06. Ain’t No More Cane (Take 2)
07. My Woman She’s A-Leavin’
08. Santa-Fe
09. Mary Lou, I Love You Too
10. Dress it up, Better Have it All
11. Minstrel Boy
12. Silent Weekend
13. What’s it Gonna be When it Comes Up
14. 900 Miles from My Home
15. Wildwood Flower
16. One Kind Favor
17. She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain
18. It’s the Flight of the Bumblebee
19. Wild Wolf
20. Goin’ to Acapulco
21. Gonna Get You Now
22. If I Were A Carpenter
23. Confidential
24. All You Have to do is Dream (Take 1)
25. All You Have to do is Dream (Take 2)

Disc: 6
01. 2 Dollars and 99 Cents
02. Jelly Bean
03. Any Time
04. Down by the Station
05. Hallelujah, I’ve Just Been Moved
06. That’s the Breaks
07. Pretty Mary
08. Will the Circle be Unbroken
09. King of France
10. She’s on My Mind Again
11. Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad
12. On a Rainy Afternoon
13. I Can’t Come in with a Broken Heart
14. Next Time on the Highway
15. Northern Claim
16. Love is Only Mine
17. Silhouettes
18. Bring it on Home
19. Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies
20. The Spanish Song (Take 1)
21. The Spanish Song (Take 2)

The Basement Tapes Raw: Bootleg Series Vol. 11 Tracklist:

Disc: 1
01. Open the Door, Homer
02. Odds and Ends
03. Million Dollar Bash
04. One Too Many Mornings
05. I Don’t Hurt Anymore
06. Ain’t No More Cane
07. Crash on the Levee
08. Tears of Rage
09. Dress it up, Better Have it All
10. I’m Not There
11. Johnny Todd
12. Too Much of Nothing
13. Quinn the Eskimo
14. Get Your Rocks Off
15. Santa-Fe
16. Silent Weekend
17. Clothes Line Saga
18. Please, Mrs. Henry
19. I Shall be Released

Disc: 2
01. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
02. Lo and Behold!
03. Minstrel Boy
04. Tiny Montgomery
05. All You Have to do is Dream
06. Goin’ to Acapulco
07. 900 Miles from My Home
08. One for the Road
09. I’m Alright
10. Blowin’ in the Wind
11. Apple Suckling Tree
12. Nothing Was Delivered
13. Folsom Prison Blues
14. This Wheel’s on Fire
15. Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread
16. Don’t Ya Tell Henry
17. Baby, Won’t You be My Baby
18. Sign on the Cross
19. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere

Listen Up! Levon Helm – “The Same Thing” from “The Midnight Ramble Sessions Volume 3”

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The Levon Helm Band

“The Midnight Ramble Sessions Volume 3” sessions represent last musical project with which the late drummer of The Band was involved. Helm personally hand-picked the album’s 13 songs from a five-year period of live Midnight Ramble recordings, 2006-2010 at the Barn, with his longtime band member and musical director, multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell. The album features performances from the Levon Helm Band with special guests including the Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson, Jimmy Vivino, Elvis Costello and New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint, capturing the homespun spirit of those gatherings, a worthy posthumous tribute to Helm’s indomitable spirit and peerless musical abilities. Aside from listening to hours of tapes to come up with the final song selection, Helm also designed the cover art for the album.

Campbell explains that, after the Electric Dirt record, he and Levon began formulating what a third album might encompass. “He wanted it to be more representative of what this band was like at a live show, featuring all of the players,” says Campbell. “Levon was having health problems, so our plan was to go through the archives and pull out tunes that best showed what our lifestyle was like. That was his real, main motive, to showcase the band as best we could. And then he chose the tunes that he liked playing, and we edited it down to fit on a single CD. “There were probably 20 songs that he initially wanted us to include, but these were the ones we all finally decided were best.”

“The Same Thing” from the just-released “The Midnight Ramble Sessions Volume 3″ has Helm in excellent form as his characteristic dynamic drumming drives a Dixieland /rock/soul infused gumbo in front of a lucky audience. Of “The Same Thing” (recorded Feb. 14, 2009) Campbell says : We’d been doing that song for a while and it turned out to be a great show opener. When Levon’s singing was on, it was just magical. Jimmy Vivino is playing slide guitar on this, and Mike Merritt was on bass that night. The song always just set a great mood to start the evening, so we figured we’d start the record with it.”

Buy The Midnight Ramble Sessions, Vol. 3

Charlie Rich Burns John Denver [VIDEO]

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charlie-rich-john-denver

At the 1975 Country Music Association awards in Nashville reigning Entertainer of Year recipient made a statement still talked about today, but now available on YouTube (for now)

The “Silver Fox” had won the honor the year before and obligated to announce the winner of the category the current year.

A visibly buzzed Rich made his way to the stage and proceeded to milk the moment or effect and, apparently, torture the nominees
“I know the people that are up for it are suffering right now.”

As he reads the list of nominees – John Denver, Waylon Jennings, Loretta Lynn (who he proceeds to ask on a date in front of her husband, Mooney) Ronnie Milsap and Conway Twitty.

The audible scattered laughter from the crowd when John Denver’s name was read told you what you needed to know about the attitude in the room to the pop-folk newcomer.

The winning envelope is torn (annihilated) open and the winners name is announced. “My friend, John Denver.” Just after setting the naming card afire.

Talk about an outlaw move.

But Rich was anything but an outlaw. He tore up the charts with singles like “Behind Closed Doors” and “The Most Beautiful Girl.” Pop-country fair that was key in moving country music into cross-genre audience expansion.

Denver was a natural extension of Rich, Eddie Arnold and Glenn Campbell to fuse pop and jazz elements into country, softening it’s edges and filtering out the twang that alienated a coveted uptown audience.

Whether Rich was joking or not is only known by him. Whether he was making some great gesture or just trying to get attention in a drunken stpor has been fodder for speculation for years.

Rich stayed publicly mum on the controversial event. But many in the tight-knit industry took his insubordination seriously and his career suffered as he found it increasingly hard to find work afterword.

The world the Rich and Denver shaped now dominates the industry, airwaves and filled arenas across the nation. There’s not enough lighters in the world to change that fact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXgiCr-V9HM

Austin City Limits Announces Inaugural ACL Hall of Fame in Conjunction With Upcoming 40th Anniversary

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Austin City Limits

Austin City Limits (ACL) announced today the launch of the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame in conjunction with the iconic television series’ upcoming 40th Anniversary. This Hall of Fame’s Inaugural Induction Ceremony will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2014 at ACL’s original home, KLRU’s legendary Studio 6A. Recognizing both artists and non-performers who have made the long-running show a music institution, the ceremony will honor the first class of inductees, featuring two legendary music acts, Willie Nelson and Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, and a pair of individuals who have played an invaluable role in the genesis of the series, show creator Bill Arhos and longtime University of Texas football coach Darrell K. Royal.

Performers for this intimate evening include inductees and Doyle Bramhall II, Mike Farris, Buddy Guy, Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett, Lukas Nelson, Robert Randolph and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Former University of Texas football head coach Mack Brown will participate in the inductions, as well as special guests. More information about performances and additional guests will be announced prior to the event. Details about the physical ACL Hall of Fame will also be unveiled at the ceremony.

Guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan and “Coach” Darrell K. Royal will be inducted posthumously during the ceremony. Willie Nelson, ACL show creator Bill Arhos and Vaughan’s longtime band Double Trouble, featuring Chris Layton, Tommy Shannon and Reese Wynans, will be inducted at the event. The Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be an annual event, honoring a new class of inductees each year. This year’s Inaugural ceremony will be an invitation-only benefit for ACL parent station KLRU-TV, Austin PBS.

“There are other Halls of Fame, but none quite like this,” says ACL Executive Producer Terry Lickona. “Austin City Limits has become a unique American institution, in both the worlds of popular music and television. It has such a rich history and legacy that we decided it was time to celebrate and honor the artists and individuals who made it what it is today.”

ACL began broadcasting in 1976 as a live-music show that served to showcase musicians; it has since grown to feature performers of all genres from all over the globe. Since its inception, the Peabody Award-winning series has become an institution that’s helped secure Austin’s reputation as the Live Music Capital of the World. ACL continues its mission of producing great television with the debut of its 40th Season in October 2014. The program airs weekly on PBS stations nationwide and episodes are made available online at http://acltv.com/watch/.