FOLKS you remember my three promises I made all of you when I first began this website?
I keep them always and I’m pretty sure you’ll agree. I NEVER will or went “to war” with any artist, I NEVER say anything horribly negative about someone’s music and I will NEVER do album reviews. With that being said I made MYSELF THIS promise, I’ll never blatantly try to solicit money from my readers directly. So I’m in a tight quandary here folks because the Midnight Jamboree needs financial and other support and help in order for the store to continue to bring it to you for FREE every Saturday like it has since over 60 years ago.
THE STORE IS NOT CLOSING NOR ARE ANY OF THE LOCATIONS CLOSING! So let me squelch ANY rumors or accusations against my website of spreading them, HOWEVER I will say I have been in direct contact with Country Music Legend Glenn Douglass Tubb and his associates and we MUST HAVE YOUR HELP to continue this.
I want to be honest with you right now THIS IS the most dire and important article I have EVER wrote and made. THIS is important and needs to be acted on right now. How can you help? Well for one ATTEND the Jamboree and support the store. Folks have stopped buying record albums and CD and more and more people have began buying online music and digital downloads. This is killing the record shop industry and we are loosing some really special historical places. True some folks are complaining the store has low stock and is not offering enough product but I ask you…if we are not spending money there for them to re-invest in that stock where will it come from?
Next weekend Mr. Glenn will be hosting a live Midnight Jamboree for Ernest Tubb’s 101st birthday and will once again feature Troubadors from the past including Jimmy Heap, Lynn Owsley and Leon Rhodes and more.
This will be the 3,549th LIVE broadcast of the event on WSM AM 650 and for a little while they will be rebroadcasting older shows because the store is having trouble hosting the event alone. So that’s where WE come in as FANS and friends of the Ernest Tubb Record Shops and Traditional Country Music in general.
OK I’m going to post a DIRECT QUOTE from Mr Glenn himself:
Many of you are asking how you can help save the Midnite Jamboree. Well, first of all, we are forming a Midnite Jamboree Association for people to join who love Country music and want to keep the Midnite Jamboree on the air. For those of you who are familiar with the MJ, you know what a blessing it has been for so many new artists and for the older established artists who may not have the opportunity to sing on the Grand Ole Opry. Also, those who are familiar with the MJ, you are also familiar with David McCormick, who owns and runs the Ernest Tubb Record Shops and the MJ. He has done so much to help so many people and never asks for anything in return. He has borne the burden of paying the expenses for the MJ for all these years (about $2,500.00 per show) , but the record shops can no longer support the MJ because people have quit buying records, thanks to the free downloads on the internet. For those who want to help, please contact Ken Mosher. For those artists out there who want to get involved; we would like to do a benefit concert this coming June during FanFair (or whatever they call it now). Please talk to your fellow artists and see who would like to appear on the show. If we could get a couple of really big names (Garth, Willie) we would need a big venue and that would be great. That would take care of the expenses for a year or more. Let’s keep the Midnite Jamboree going for the next generation of Country singers. Every cent that is raised will go to keeping the MJ on the air. God bless you all and keep you safe.
What we plan to do is to form a committee of members that pay a yearly one time fee to belong to the group.
They will be sending you items for your yearly fee and to refrain from soliciting anything from you you MUST email one of us for information on the fee. I have been selected to help in various ways for this cause.
ALL OF THIS MONEY will go directly to the store to continue the Jamboree.
WHO TO CONTACT: Gary Hayes Garyhayes2@yahoo.com or Facebook
Ken Mosher kenmosher@yahoo.com or Ken Mosher
Both of us can and will tell you where to send your fees and how much this will cost.
Do I need to continue to tell you readers just how important it is not to loose the Midnight Jamboree or any of the stores? How special are those places to you? Are you like me where you just get glassy eyed and warm all over when you walk in? We already lost half of Printer’s Alley and more places downtown than I can name and in my opinion we lost Tootsie’s. Country Music took It’s hardest blow it will ever take this year when we lost our beloved Little Jimmy Dickens…what would he want us to do? Sit on our butts and complain on social media saying “We hate pop country” or would he want you to GET YOUR BUTTS DOWN THERE AND FIGHT for what we want?
