25,000 and counting …

I just wanted to post and thank everybody who’s ever visited the site.  Less than 3 months after launching, we passed 25,000 hits early today.  We’re very grateful you all like what we’re posting – and we hope you keep coming back to make the next 3 months even more successful.  And a very special thanks to the guys at The 9513 for including us in so many of their daily news round-ups. And to Kevin at Country Universe, CM Wilcox at the awesome Country California blog and every other site who’s linked to us. Thanks for lending us your readers.

Keep checking back as we spotlight Eric Church throughout March, and for a very special interview with a true country music legend coming soon. And thanks again for visiting. You guys are the greatest.

Remembering March 5, 1963

Forty-six years ago today, on one of the darkest days in country music history, a private plane carrying Opry stars Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Patsy Cline, as well as Cline’s manager Randy Hughes,  crashed near Camden, Tennessee, killing all on board.  They were returning from Kansas City, where they had taken part in a benefit concert for the family of Cactus Jack Call who had died in an automobile accident.  Hawkshaw Hawkins was married to Jean Shepard who is still a regular performer on the Opry.

Cline’s musical legacy is well known, but Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins are unfamiliar names to many people today.   Here are some examples of some of the great music all three of them left behind:

The person making the introduction in this next clip is Little Jimmy Dickens, who is currently the longest serving member of the Opry, having recently celebrated his 60th anniversary as a cast member: