I got the pleasure to meet my Facebook friend Juelane Porter today over on Music Valley Drive for a CMA Fest showcase and I have been trying to meet up with her for some time now. She is SO NICE and very talented. She is in the process of forming her band and recording some songs, and I got to watch her play “Blue Moon Over Kentucky” and two more songs. One was called “I Fell In Love” by Carlene Carter and the other was called “Playing Every Honky Tonk in town” which is a Heather Myles song.
Miss Juelane is a truly kind individual and she is a nurse, and she helps patients who are preparing to pass away. You can FEEL her warmth and her heart when you look at her, and it takes a very special person to do what she does. I have the world of respect and admiration for her and I look forward to covering her music in the future. I forgot my digital camera at home and had to use a disposable one and I am waiting on the pictures, I apologize there aren’t any, folks.
Now let me tell you about Lynn Woodruff Gray and her new book I Guess You Had To Be There. And I cannot wait to read it and all the stories and wonderful things she has to say. She signed the book for me and we talked for a good length of time about everything from Shooter Jennings to Sheb Wooley.
I am extremely proud of buying this book and meeting her, I could also feel the history that she has. This is from her managements website and you can buy her book by clicking on the book name.
In Lynn’s Own Words
I can’t remember a time when music was not a part of my life. Growing up a farm girl, country music played a big part of my life, coming from the home of the Mid-Day-Merry-Go-Round, The Cas Walker Show and later in the evening on Saturday night, listening to the Grand Ole Opry. It was my dream to one day sing on stage, and I did, once or twice. I memorized every song I heard and made my move to Nashville at the age of 18. Time would prove I would not make it to the stage but become a big part of promotion and involvement with those who did……………the rest is history.
I worked for Hank Snow, promoted artists and releases for White Horse Records, managed, sold ads, and had my own air time on three radio stations and then at long last had a few songs recorded…..dreams come true in strange ways. I married a musician, had three wonderful children and as they say, “went on with my life,” then it all came back full circle to booking talent, writing more songs and writing the book about all the excitement I had experienced in this business called music.
It has been said, “While Lynn ate, breathed and slept country music, she some how skipped the fan status to these musical celebrities, and instantly found herself deeply entrenched in the friend category. ” I can only say to this, that every step of my past was a step closer to where I am now and I cherish each friendship and memory made along the way. My life, I can truthfully say has been a song, and those who have professionally shared this music with me, my friends. I don’t feel like I missed a thing by not claiming the stage I sought, because my life has been a challenge of all the facets of the business. I Guess You Had To Be There to appreciate my journey. I know I have enjoyed living it.
Friends this book showcases her stories and thoughts from one of my favorite periods of Country Music that we call the “Golden Era”. THIS IS truly the “roots” of our precious genre right here folks. I am going to share a piece of the preface of the book that made the hair on my arms stand up. I mean it stood out to me and makes my eager mind CRAVE this book and ALL OTHERS like it. I do not want to seem like I am just re writing her material but this was truly soul enriching stuff.
There is a definite change in the country music world today and possibly ten years from today, there will be an even greater change. Some may like that change, and others may not, however, my focus is not on the change but on the reality of yesterday and the memories I have of that golden era. I will forever cherish those memories just as I cherish those those friendships forged during that special time in my life. The golden era of country music was a time when artists , fans, producers, venues and all others involved in the various aspects of the business was family based. Not to be confused with a blood-line family family but that of a relationship family. We all worked together for the same goal: to succeed.
When I’m finished with this book I think I’ll write another article on this fine piece of work, by a really nice person.
