The Shilo was a honky-tonk. Like a dozen other in Kennett at the time. But when Don Akers brought his band (Scandal?) back to Kennett and became the “house band,” The Shilo was something more. It was Hot & Nasty and The Disco King. It was Foosball. And when Don and Suzy and the band took the stage… it just rocked.
“The new man in Sheryl Crow’s life is Tour de France champ Lance Armstrong, 32. The pair have been quietly seeing each other for the past few weeks, and sources say the rocker, 41, is smitten.”
I’d been hearing/reading that for a few weeks but didn’t think much about until getting some on-the-ground confirmation this week in Kennett. My sources tell me Lance spent Thanksgiving with Sheryl and her family in Kennett. Okay, that’s surreal enough. But the five time Tour de France winner is reported to have gone cycling while in town. Don’t know the full route but he apparently biked down HW 25 to Senath. I just don’t have the words to express how bizarre that strikes me.
He was at home with friends and family nearby. He was 83 and –until very recently– worked his morning shift at a local radio station. I won’t attempt to sum up such a full, rich life. I had the good sense to sit down with him a few years ago and record some of his memories from the early days at KBOA. Mr. Rudy was a radio personality at a time when that really meant something and it was the perfect medium for him. Radio –and those of us that knew Mr. Rudy– are poorer for his passing.
Doug Howard graduated from KHS a few years after I did. I knew he was doing well in some part of the music industry. According to Google, Doug was VP and general manager of Polygram Music Nashville before going over to head up Disney’s Lyric Street Recdords. Follow up: Dan Landrum did a great job of blogging his tour with Yanni.
“In August of 1990, I received a call from the organizers of the Hornersville Sesquicentennial Celebration. They were looking for cheap entertainment and wanted my barbershop quartet. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), that quartet was defunct. What about cowboy songs instead?, I asked. Cowboy songs would be just fine.”
From The Secret Origins of The Sons of the Western Bootheel. I’ve created a little “fan page” although I’m not sure one performance qualifies me as a fan. Download and listen to some of the songs. The guys are pretty good and there’s a real honesty to thier music.
Long-time friend Rudy Pylant is celebrating his 80th birthday (for the third time) with a big blow-out in Kennett this coming weekend. Lots of beer, BBQ and old friends. Event HQ is the Super 8 Motel. Back by popular demand is Willie P. Richardson. I’ve never heard him perform but his website appears to have all the info you need until I can post some video here. Previous Mr. Rudy Day’s featured the Red Neck Rhythm Rangers. One of those bands where the name is the best part of the experience.
One of the things I enjoyed most about my days in small town radio was co-hosting a daily, one-hour talk show (Grapevine) with Tom Colvin. The station owner thought it would be a good place to talk about community issues and events (seems quaint today, doesn’t it?). I like to think that Tom and I had chemistry. I could say “refrigerator” and Tom would laugh hysterically. It was intoxicating for someone who thought he was a funny guy. I must say nobody since has found me as amusing.
We had guests some days, took calls every day (live, no delay). Our Trivia Bowl seemed tdo be a local favorite. The show lasted about twelve years, right up to the time Tom and I left in 1984. I came to Learfield and Tom went to KTTR, Rolla, Missouri. Fast-forward nineteen years. Tom is returning to Kennett next week to take over as operations manager at our old station. Sort of. Many years of call letter and frequency shuffling has left me completely confused, but Tom says he’ll be programming 6 radio stations. We wish him well. I know the listeners to those stations will be well served.
is a collection of photographs by Henry Domke featuring images celebrating the Prairie Garden Trust, a nature restoration project in central Missouri. I attended a reception for the exhibit today. I didn’t think I’d much care for “nature” photos but these jump right past that. Art might be as simple as showing us things we look at but never see.
Thanks to Terry McVey for spotting this classified in The Daily Dunklin Democrat (January 19, 2003). If you missed it, it’s the edition with the story by Buddy Winkle on professional wrestling, featuring James Arness and Psycho.
I heard from a couple of Kennett expatriates this week. Dan Landrum worked with me at KBOA back in the 70’s. He stayed in radio for a while but gave it up to pursue a career in music. On his website he describes himself as “a hammer dulcimer enthusiast and musician, based in Signal Mountain, Tennessee.” He must be pretty good because he’s rehearsing “for an upcoming world tour with Yanni.” That’s pretty cool. Or bizarre. Or both.
