Country legends Bobby Bare reflects how “Things Change”

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Bobby Bare

Country Music Hall of Famer and GRAMMY® award-winning legend Bobby Bare will release “Things Change” on May 26 featuring a collaboration with Chris Stapleton. The album is Bare’s first studio project in five years and is available for pre-sale now at BobbyBare.com and all CD’s purchased through Bare’s website will be autographed.

“Things Change” features 10 tracks written by Bare, Mary Gauthier, Guy Clark and the producer of the project, hit singer/songwriter Max T. Barnes. “Things Change” will be released by Hypermedia Nashville and BFD through RED Distribution. The album will include “Things Change,” which will be the first video by the 82-year old. Bare will also return to the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, where he was once a member from 1964-1974, on May 27.

The album features a special collaboration on Bare’s iconic hit, “Detroit City” with Chris Stapleton adding vocals. The 1963 song was written by Mel Tillis and Danny Dill. It became Bare’s most highly requested songs and won a GRAMMY® in 1964 for Best Country/Western Recording.

Stapleton, the two-time reigning CMA Male Vocalist of the Year, says working with Bare was too good of an offer to pass up.

“I think it’s important to show up and do things like that. Plus….it’s ‘Detroit City.’ Man, why wouldn’t you do that. I just served as a background singer to Bobby,” he said. “That was my goal. You get to be a kid again in those moments. That was a song that I heard on the jukebox when I was a kid. My dad and granddad liked this song. Those are cool things. That kind of stuff is as cool to me as anything that I get to do.”

Bare said he is excited about the collection of songs he has assembled.

“This is a special collection of songs to me, not just another record,” he said. “Great songs from Mary Gauthier, a song I co-wrote with Guy Clark that turned out to be his last and a song that my buddy Hoyt Axton inspired me to write called ‘Things Change.’ That’s the title of the album and the first single. Things do change but my love for songwriters and the fans never, ever will!”

Bare knows what he’s talking about when he talks about great songs, having recorded compositions from fellow legends as Tom T. Hall (“Margie’s At The Lincoln Park Inn”), Ian Tyson (“Four Strong Winds”), Kris Kristofferson (“Please Don’t Tell Me How The Story Ends”), and several compositions from the late Shel Silverstein – including his 1974 chart-topper “Marie Laveau.”

“I hit the road as a lead guitar player with Bobby Bare when I was 20 years old, ,” said Max T. Barnes, President of HYPERMEDIA Nashville. “To imagine I would produce my hero all these years later is a dream come true. We had so much fun touring the world in the 1980s. We laughed until we hurt! That’s what it was like in the studio with Bare on this album. He has a wicked smart song sense, and a delivery that will cut you to the bone. Bare is a true giant.”

For more information on Bobby Bare visit www.bobbybare.com.

New music from bluegrass legends Lawson and Williams

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Two masters of bluegrass bring their next installment of the music that helped make them legends. Doyle Lawson and Paul Williams present Chapter 3 from Mountain Home. It’s the style they first learned together as members of Jimmy Martin’s influential band years ago before labels were differentiating Country, Western and Bluegrass music and songs of heartbreak stood side by side with inspirational Gospel numbers
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It’s classic Country and Gospel Music with the natural blend of unsurpassed brother style vocal harmonies. Songs of longing over lost love and of hope found by looking to the hereafter. Nearly all from the pen of a single writer, making them deeply personal, and each reminding us of what Country music, in terms of style, used to be.

The lead-off song is a vintage Dolly Parton number, “Til Death Do Us Part.” A cautionary message about vows of love. Next, comes Bluegrass with “I’ll Still Write Your Name in the Sand” and a banjo kick from guest, Joe Mullins, a man skilled in this classic style of the early form. It gives Williams the lead vocal duties and demonstrates that he is still in his prime at 83.

The album continues with selections handpicked by Doyle Lawson from his mental vault of curated rare gems he has always kept in mind for a special recording like this. Duet style vocal arrangements like in the gospel song “I Feel Better Now” and unique rhythmic phrasing heard in “Big Fool of the Year” give these heart-tuggers a treatment that makes evident they were chosen for emotional impact and because they are a natural fit for these two.
It also boasts three tracks written by Williams including the recently penned “What I’m I Gonna Do with This Broken Heart” which shows how naturally this classic style comes to him.

It takes a studio band that can capture the soul of the Classic Country intention and the players here do just that. Tim Surrett on bass, Josh Swift on resonator guitar and drums, Stephen Burwell on fiddle, David Johnson on pedal steel and the aforementioned Joe Mullins on banjo. Lawson and Williams command the two instruments they have mastered, guitar and mandolin respectively.

Chapter 3 is a continuation of a legacy series of recordings that began with Old Friends Get Together (2010) and was followed by Standing Tall and Tough (2014) which included Lawson, Williams, and now retired banjo legend J.D. Crowe. This new release pays tribute to the music that shaped the style as well as the careers of these men. It is this early style that gave form to so much of what today’s Bluegrass and Roots Country music is. Rest assured the story is not over, just beginning a new chapter.

 

For more information, visit http://mountainhomemusiccompany.com/, and http://doylelawson.com/.

The father of bubblegum pop – Tommy Roe

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As I was growing up around Georgia Music Hall of Famer Cotton Carrier, a name which often came up was Tommy Roe, a fellow Atlantan who Carrier had worked with through Bill Lowery Publishing.

Roe is now in his 55th year in the music business, an achievement not many artists can brag about. He celebrated his first No.1 single in 1962 on the Billboard charts with the release of “Sheila,” a song he wrote when he was only 14 years old.

“It’s hard to believe it has been 55 years since “Sheila” topped the charts and after all these years it still brings a smile to the face of my audience when I sing it at one of my concerts,” said Roe, known as being the “Father of Bubblegum Pop.”

Roe, who turns 75 years young on May 9, recently released his autobiography, “From Cabbagetown to Tinseltown,” featuring co-writer Michael Robert Krikorian. The book is available at Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, various independent book stores, and online at TommyRoe.com and Amazon.com.

In his book From Cabbagetown to Tinseltown, Roe correlates his journey to Hollywood with the historical events of that time period that were changing and shaping America and, in turn, the music industry. In this autobiography, Roe doesn’t hold back. He uses his down-home humor and unique perspective to share about his years and experiences both inside and outside of music.

“My journey from a working class section of Atlanta called Cabbagetown to the glamour that is Hollywood was anything but easy. I stuck by my principles and values making a name for myself that I could be proud of. Writing this book was sometimes a struggle for me and very cathartic indeed. It took the better part of three years, and brought back a lot of memories, the good and the bad. I have been truly blessed to live this life, and I’m glad that I can look back with no regrets.” said Roe.

One of the most influential and foundational figures in popular music, Roe has had four Gold Records: “Sheila,” “Dizzy,” “Sweet Pea” and “Jam Up and Jelly Tight.” He has also had 4 Billboard top 100 Albums. He is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, The Iowa Rock and Roll Association Hall of Fame, as well as the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.

Tommy Roe is a multifaceted, international artist who wrote, co-wrote, and recorded six Top 10 hits between 1962 and 1969 more than any single artist/songwriter during that period of the sixties. With a total of 11 records reaching the Billboard Top 40 and 23 Billboard Top 100 chart records, Tommy is considered one of the early pioneers of the American Pop music culture.

In the spring of 1966 with his release of the smash hit, “Sweet Pea,” spring breakers started to hit the beaches in Florida, and they embraced the new sound that Tommy had created called Bubblegum. However, the media was not as receptive as his fans were to the new genre Roe had created. They began voicing their opinion by malevolently labeling him “The King of Bubblegum.”

More recently, Roe scored big with his hits, “Devil’s Soul Pile” and “Memphis Me.” His new music parts ways with his expected style instead showcasing his talent as both a singer and a songwriter.

Roe hasn’t let the success of his career stop him from doing what he loves. He continues to write new songs and perform around the globe.

For more information and tour dates, or to purchase “From Cabbagetown to Tinseltown,” please visit www.tommyroe.com.

A little funny never hurts

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One of my readers said that I needed to share a bit of comedy in my column to raise the spirits of the folks back home. Well I don’t know if I can do that but I’m willing to take aim at it.
One of my favorite places to find funny comments or situations is in church and sometimes the funniest thing you find relates with youngin’s and church thinkin’
I remember a few years ago my nephew asked me if he had a guardian angel. I told him ‘Sure you do. Your guardian angel is always with you.”
“Does he eat with me?” he asked.
“Sure,” I said.
“Does he sleep with me?”
“Sure,” I said.
“That must have been who kicked me out of bed last night,” he said.
 
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Now I won’t take credit for this next one, its one I heard from an older feller which will remain nameless:
Do you know where radio was invented?
Where?
The Garden of Eden.
What?
God took Adam’s rib and made the first loudspeaker.
 
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A little known fact about Noah’s Ark:
There were three camels on board.
The first was the camel many people swallow while straining at a gnat.
The second was the camel whose back was broken by the last straw.
And the third was the one who shall pass through the eye of a needle before a rich man enters the kingdom of Heaven.
 
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Farmer Jud and his wife Jeweldine, a childless farm couple prayed to have a child.
As an answer to the prayer, the couple received the blessing of triplets.
The preacher commented as to how their prayers were answered.
Jud said, “Yep, but I never prayed for a bumper crop.”
 
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A lady searched endlessly to find the love of her life with no success so she finally turned to prayer:
“Oh Lord, I am not asking for a thing for myself but please send mother a son-in-law.”
 
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A father asks a prospective son-in law “Can you support my daughter in the manner she is accustom to?”
He replies “ She ain’t gonna move is she?”
 
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I have always heard that bread cast on the water always returns. Bread cast on the water, may return but all the bread we send overseas sure doesn’t.
 
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Laughter has always been an important part of life in our family mainly because of the nature of our ancestors to lean towards being stoic in their approach in life. That approach comes even more naturally to me than laughter does. I am often asked “Why don’t you smile more.” My answer is sometimes “I am smiling on the inside.” Moments of joys and laughter are even more cherished to me. May laughter always fill your days because God does have a sense of humor otherwise, he would have never made someone quite like us, would he?

The patter of tapping fingers

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I can look back just a few years ago to when I had little exposure to the thoughts exposed on the internet. I saw it mainly as a vehicle for research as I sought sources for various topics I was writing about.

Then seven year ago, I realized that as a musical artist and actor, I had to begin the process of making a presence on the web or others would totally define who and what I was as a performer. Another side of that was engaging in social media. Connecting with others, seeing what was important to them in their lives through their posts and interactions and telling others what was important to me. It was like being Jimmy Stewart in the film “Rear Window.”

I could peer into other people’s lives but not through a window looking out into other people’s apartment windows but through the window we all now allow into our lives – a screen connected to the internet. The only difference was what is seen is what people want others to see. Unlike Stewart’s character in the film who was seeing people going through their lives without editing except for what happened outside of view.

As I have watched interaction over social media in recent months, I have seen that people often say things without concern for others. They are sometimes cruel, feeling free to express opinions that might at one time would have been shared with a circle of five or six, that now reach thousands.

Why does this matter? Well let’s think, if someone said something you might consider to be mean spirited or cruel about you or one of your loved ones and thousands of people had the ability to read it, does that matter?

Would it matter if what they said was the truth or an untruth? Would it matter if the words they typed just shared their opinion of you, but to your knowledge, they do not know you, never met you, but based on something they read, something someone else said, they reached a negative conclusion about you and shared it without consideration to its impact upon you?

It used to be public bullying and hate-filled gossip was limited within the reach of our small circle of friends, the school we attended, the business in which we worked, the town that we lived. If something was too much to take, often the choice was leave that group and move on to another group. Beyond that, national meanness or ridicule was left to celebrities, politicians and public figures. Pre-computer tabloids stuffed the ridiculous between their pages and the masses lapped it up like the final drops of spiked punch in the bowl.

Today, no one is immune to a social media attack. Sometimes, we get ourselves into these opportunities but what I find so distasteful, are those who choose to state an uninformed opinion on a subject and then feel emboldened to attack someone else as part of their thoughts who was not even engaged in their social media discussion. Then others pile upon their assertion creating a cascade of a false narrative that then causes harm or hurt to someone else.

The ability to sit and malign others has become a pastime for many. In some cases, it is done in anonymity. The impact of this seen in deaths resulting as a response to online bullying, and even physical actions against others spurred by things said within social media.

If I was not a public person, I would choose not to be engaged in social media. Now that would not stop others from possibly typing something about me, but at least it would not be something I could read without some effort.

We often say we stuck our foot in our mouth about taking the wrong path in something said. I don’t know what could be a proper analogy in the social media age but the tapping of letters into a keyboard can now move public policy, drive people to end their lives and even topple a government. It would seem to me that greater care should be given when letting one fingers do the walking across other’s lives! Next time you are led to tweet or share on Facebook or some other medium, think first then type. Do you really know anything about what you are considering to share? If not, maybe you should let others think you are smart by not typing anything rather than letting your fingers show your real hand.

Bluegrass artist Larry Cordle’s new CD “Give Me Jesus Now”

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Larry Cordle, a Kentucky Music Hall of Famer, is also a multi-award IBMA Award Winner, two-time Grammy nominee, and one of Nashville’s most revered Singer-Songwriters penning such hits as “Murder on Music Row” and “Highway 40 Blues.” His songs have been recorded by artists such as Ricky Skaggs, Alison Krauss, Rhonda Vincent, Garth Brooks, George Strait, Trisha Yearwood, Reba McEntire, Diamond Rio, Alan Jackson, Trace Adkins and many others.

He rounded up some of his closest friends to bring the album to life.  He is joined by Carl Jackson, Jerry Salley, Val Storey, Don Rigsby, Bradley Walker, Lethal Jackson Angie La Primm and Gail Mayes on vocals.

“I’ve been working on this new gospel album for about a year and a half,” he said. “I had to practically stop working on it while I was undergoing chemo for my leukemia, which by the grace of God is now in remission. I want to thank you all for the prayers sent up for me during and since my treatment.”

Cordle and Larry Shell wrote three songs on the album including one of the stand out tracks “The Old Thing’s Walkin’ About.”

Shell wrote on the liner notes, “The Lord, knowing that Larry is a songwriter, gave him the words and melodies to many of these songs. In fact, if you listen to this collection, you will literally hear Larry’s personal testimony of his strong and enduring faith.” 

“The Lonesome Road” includes lead vocals by Carl Jackson’s dad, Lethal Jackson and also “God Had A Hand In It,” written by Carl Jackson and Jerry Salley, featuring guest vocalists Carl Jackson, Jerry Salley, Bradley Walker and Chris Latham.

He tours and records with his band Lonesome Standard Time, performs with as a Trio with Carl Jackson and Jerry Salley, and performs every Monday night for New Monday at the Station Inn in Nashville with Val Storey, Carl Jackson and more friends.  In addition to his songwriting and role as a bandleader, Cordle is sometimes featured as a lead and/or background vocalist on some of Nashville’s most awarded and popular music. He’s provided harmony vocals for artists such as Garth Brooks, Blake Shelton, Bradley Walker, Billy Yates, Rebecca Lynn Howard and co-writing pal, Jerry Salley.

His lead and harmony singing is featured on Livin, Lovin, Losin: A Tribute to the Louvin Brothers, which won a GRAMMY for Best Country Album in 2003 and the 2004 IBMA Recorded Event of the Year Award.  He’s also featured on two tracks of Moody Bluegrass, alongside artists such as Tim O’Brien, Alison Krauss, John Cowan, Harley Allen and again featured as lead vocalist on Moody Bluegrass II.  

Please visit larrycordle.com or purchase it at iTunes, Amazon and more retail outlets. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

Musicians Roy Clark and Bobby Osborne, true originals

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Two of America’s top musicians Roy Clark and Bobby Osborne have new happenings in their careers.

I have been blessed to be inspired by and to know both of these American icons.

Country Music Hall of Fame member Roy Clark is being honored with his own exhibit at the American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City. The exhibit, titled America’s Super Picker – Roy Clark, will run through the end of March 2018.
“The banjo is about as Americana as you can get,” Clark said. “It’s such an honor to have an exhibition highlighting my career in the American Banjo Museum.”
The exhibit will feature artifacts from the entirety of his musical career including photographs from his personal collection. Clark was also recently inducted into the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame.

Clark is one of the top entertainers ever in country music, and he has the CMA and ACM awards to prove it. Despite all of the well-deserved accolades for the Country Music Hall of Fame member, Clark remains a household name after two decades of spreading the gospel of country music from Kornfield Kounty into the living rooms of America.

Clark co-hosted HEE HAW for more than two decades after it premiered on June 15, 1969. HEE HAW became one of the longest-running shows in syndication (1971–1992). In addition to his television triumphs, Clark has headlined some of the world’s most prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, Grand Palace in Brussels and the Rossiya Theatre in Moscow.

A partial list of his many awards include the Academy of Country Music’s Entertainer of the Year, Academy of Country Music’s Comedy Act of the Year and a Grammy for “Alabama Jubilee.” Clark became a Grand Ole Opry member in 1987. He was also the first country music artist to guest host Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show.” Clark and wife Barbara live in Oklahoma where he finds time to fish, fly his airplanes and ride motorcycles.
For more information, visit www.americanbanjomuseum.com.

One of the acts I often appeared on shows with was the Osborne Brothers whose hits such as “Rocky Top” became part of the American popular culture fabric.

Multiple Bluegrass Hall of Fame inductee Bobby Osborne has created a new classic with his release, ORIGINAL.

It features the pioneering high-lead vocalist in fine form, floating above inspired song choices and holding court over an all-star group of bluegrass pickers and singers including Sierra Hull, Del McCoury, Sam Bush, Vince Gill, Jim Lauderdale, Claire Lynch, Michael Cleveland, Stuart Duncan, Rob Ickes, Trey Hensley, Missy Raines, Josh Williams, Molly Tuttle, Todd Phillips, and more.

The project’s participants were hand-picked by producer banjo stylist Alison Brown of Compass Records.

Bobby which are available now at the Opry store http://shop.opry.com/media-cat/cds/bobby-osborne-original-cd/ everywhere else June 2.

 

New CD features bluegrass icon Ralph Stanley

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From my earliest days in bluegrass music, the Stanley Brothers sound was an inspiration that touched my musical soul. I never imagined that one day I would stand on stage with Ralph Stanley, record with him or produce him. But life is amazing and often takes us where we never dreamed it could.

With the release of the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ralph cemented his place as an American music legend. His iconic voice became the voice of the mountains, and the last fifteen years of his life and career proved to be a celebration of this, with Grammy awards, all-star collaborations, and induction into the Grand Ole Opry. In a unique piece of musical history, the legacy of Ralph Stanley can be witnessed for posterity’s sake with the release of Ralph Stanley: Live At The Bottom Line, available now at all physical and digital retailers. The release is distributed exclusively by BFD through RED distribution.

The live set, recorded at the legendary New York City nightspot on June 12, 2002, features many of Stanley’s signature songs, including “Man of Constant Sorrow,” “Pretty Polly,” and “O Death,” which opens the set. For such a prestigious performance, Stanley carried nothing but the best line-up of musicians with him, with Stuart Duncan (violin), Mike Compton (mandolin), James Shelton (guitar), Dennis Crouch (bass) all lending their award-winning talents to the night’s performance.

The evening marked the only time that Stanley played the venue, but the singer was one of many country/bluegrass to showcase their talents at the Big Apple hotspot, with others including Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, Doc Watson, and Emmylou Harris.

The album’s executive producers are Allan Pepper and Stanley Snadowsky, and Bob Frank. Pepper, who was co-founder of The Bottom Line with Snadowsky, remains mindful of the impact a performance there had on the musical world.

“You could get the New York Times, and Rolling Stone, and The Daily News, and The New York Post, all covering your gig,” he states. “And the record companies would get celebrities to come to the shows, so suddenly you see Andy Warhol coming to see Dolly Parton, and there’s a picture and a big story about that. There was a buzz factor that played heavily into building this scene nationally. An artist could be on a morning or an evening news show, and could even do a live radio broadcast. In that way, New York was pretty big for the country music scene. Plus at our place, you could sit, and it was comfortable and intimate, and that was very important for getting the fans and press to come out. It was all part of the star-making machinery.”

Ralph Stanley: Live At The Bottom Line is the first album released featuring the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor inductee since his passing in June 2016. I encourage you, if you have never included Ralph in your listening, to check out this good opportunity.

Jimmy Fortune: Sings the Classics

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I remember standing backstage one night at one of the Country Music awards shows many years ago and as I watched rehearsals I looked over to my right and found a future Country Music Hall of Famer standing beside me – Jimmy Fortune, member of the legendary Statler Brothers,

He had stepped out of the studio from where they were filming their popular top-rated TV show as best I recall. We stood and passed the time and began a friendship that continues. I was excited to hear he has just completed an all-new recording, Jimmy Fortune: Sings the Classics. The album, which will be available April 21, features collaborations with some of my other longtime friends Ricky Skaggs, The Isaacs and also the Voices of Lee. The Gaither Music Group project will be available at music retailers everywhere, along with Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® locations nationwide.

“This project is very special and dear to my heart,” said Jimmy Fortune. “A lot of hard work and thought went into picking each song, songs that shaped my life. I love them all and I think anyone who hears it will feel the same way.”

Known for his unmistakable tenor voice that has captivated audiences since his 21-year tenure with The Statler Brothers, Fortune puts a new twist on some of his old favorites on the upcoming album. Jimmy Fortune: Sings the Classics features 14 new studio recordings of classic songs that have all left their mark in music history.

Standout tracks on the project include the classic Hank Cochran-penned “Make the World Go Away,” which has been recorded over the years by some of music’s greatest voices including Ray Price, Eddy Arnold and Donny & Marie Osmond. Another highlight is the country classic “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” which is one of the most well-known songs in the history of the genre. Paying homage to his Statler Brothers’ heritage, the project also features a new recording of the signature Grammy® Award-winning hit “Flowers on the Wall,” a tune which Fortune knows well, as it was the first major hit for the iconic quartet.

The past year has been a career-defining time for Fortune, who was honored by the Academy of Country Music at the 10th Annual ACM Honors with the “Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award” for his incredible contribution to country music, along with each member of The Statler Brothers. The Gospel Music Hall of Fame hit maker also received his first GMA Dove Award for “Bluegrass Recorded Song of the Year” for the track “Life’s Railway to Heaven” featuring The Oak Ridge Boys and found on his previous critically-acclaimed album, Hits & Hymns (Gaither Music Group). The ACM Award-winner will be hitting the road in 2017 in support of the upcoming album, with a 40-plus city tour where fans can hear him sing No. 1 Statler Brothers’ hits such as “Elizabeth,” gospel favorites, and classics featured on his upcoming album. Fans who want an up-close and personal experience can set sail with Fortune on the 14th Annual Jimmy Fortune Alaskan Cruise, set for departure this July.

Jimmy Fortune: Sings the Classics will be featured as part of a special television offer on DISH TV, DIRECTV, Gaither Television Network, TBN, RFD-TV, FamilyNet, CTN, GMC, GMTN, Guardian, Liberty, TCT and TLN. It will air in Canada on Vision TV, CTS, The Miracle Channel, and Hope TV.

The recording will be exclusively distributed by Capitol Christian Distribution and Universal Music. It will be available throughout general market stores and the Christian marketplace and through online retailers including iTunes, Amazon, Walmart.com, crackerbarrel.com and www.gaither.com.

For further information regarding Jimmy Fortune, visit www.jimmyfortune.com or follow www.facebook.com/jimmyfortune.

Come as you are

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If there is a place where folks come as they are these days, it’s on social media and often it does not reflect our best. Have you ever wondered what happened to dressin’ up when you go to town or when placing yourself in an environment to be seen such as online? When I was growing up in Chamblee, Ga. we would often make the trek to town.

In our case, town would either be downtown Atlanta or Decatur. Whether we were out for a day of lookin’ and feelin’ at Rich’s department store or a trip to Starne’s Barber Shop for a shave and a haircut on the square in Decatur, when we walked out our front door, we looked our very best.

Notice how I said “lookin’ and feelin’” rather than shopping. That is what women folks would do with youngsters in tow. They would look and feel, only occasionally would the trip bear fruit with something being bought. In those days, many folks, like us, didn’t have air conditioning at home. A trip to the store on a hot summer day was a welcome relief.

I never did get a shave at Starne’s but I sure did lose a lot of hair. Mr. Starnes gave me my first haircut as my cousin Arthur, who was in barber training, watched. I would soon be turned over to Arthur for several of my early haircuts. In looking at early pictures, I can only say they were fond of flattops.

Course as a child, being dressed up often would include a little bit of dirt within just a few minutes of putting on those clothes. I can still hear my mom saying “What am I going to do with you, you get dirtier than an east Tennessee coal miner.” But what is a young boy to do when there is a perfectly good mud puddle just waiting there to be jumped in?

I can still see my mom in a pretty dress gray gabardine outfit with matching black hat, gloves, handbag and high heel shoes.

Maybe the concept of being dressed up has changed. Maybe folks look at designer jeans and a T-shirt or sweats as the fashion of the day. All of them are ridiculously expensive. They are a lot easier to upkeep than walking out in a crisply starched shirt, tie and slacks each and every day.

I just don’t understand what happened to the custom of looking your best. I remember even when we would spend time on my grandparents’ mountain farm, folks worked hard and wore clothes that would carry that load. But when it came time to go to town for something, I remember grandma Kitty going to her cedar wardrobe and pulling out her blue Sunday dress to put on.

Even if folks were dirt poor, they made sure that when they went to town or school or wherever they looked the best they could afford.

Folks generally still dress up to go to church. However, in some churches they don’t even do that anymore. They just say ‘come as you are.’ Now, there is nothing wrong with this. Cause I know God welcomes anyone no matter if they are in overalls or hole-y jeans. But there is just something to be said to giving God your very best effort.

In the past, folks took pride in the way they looked, their dress, their grooming. My dad would never leave the house with a hair out of place. Was that vanity, possibly. But that is one impression of him that people who knew him still remember today.

Now I am not saying that I have never left the house without being perfectly dressed and groomed. I do occasionally run out to the grocery or the gas station in a less than dressed-up fashion.

While I never owned a pair of blue jeans until I was in my teens, I do wear them to town with a nice shirt and even on stage when appropriate.

My parents use to say “We’ve worked hard to get off the farm and out of overalls, there is no reason for you to wear them.”

That was no slight on farming or farmers on their part. When they were coming up, farmers like other country folk were looked down upon by city people and I am sure they endured their share of negative comments from those well-meaning city folks while trying to make a place for themselves in the city. While nostalgic to us today, their roots of walking barefoot behind the mule as the fresh-turned earth came up between their toes was something many folks worked to get away from, especially during the depths of the depression.

With some pairs of jeans these days costing more than a pair of slacks, in a way, I guess they are dressy in their own right. If you really want to get fancy you can buy them with holes already worn in them. I heard of folks in east Georgia making a fortune by firing buckshot at jeans for some company. They can be pre-washed and I imagine somewhere you can buy them pre-worn and be charged extra for somebody else breaking them in. No matter what, they are here to stay.

I guess the days of everyone wearing their best when they go to town is a thing of the past. It is amazing what new coat of paint and little fixing up can do to a house. It only makes since that we do the same for ourselves or we can just “come as we are,” no matter where we go. It could be a little embarrassing for some folks though, depending on what they were doing when they get the invite.