Memoriam

Patsy Stoneman, described as “country music royalty” because of her long relationship with the iconic Stoneman family of talented musicians, died in her sleep on July 23, 2015, at the age of 90. She had been in failing health for

The late Jean Ruth Ritchie was born in the tiny hamlet of Viper, in Perry County, Kentucky, on December 8, 1922, already immersed in the folk music process; that of searching for and the oral handing down of songs. Ritchie’s paternal

Benjamin Franklin ‘Tex’ Logan Jr, best noted for his writing of the bluegrass standard, albeit a seasonal song, Christmas Time’s A-Comin’, passed away at the Morris Hills Center in Morristown, New Jersey, on Friday, April 24, 2015. Logan took after his

Tut Taylor, The Flatpickin' Dobro Man, died on Thursday morning April 9, 2015, at the Wilkes Regional Medical Center in North Carolina. He was 91 years old. The Dobro virtuoso was a US Army and Navy veteran. Robert Arthur Taylor, Sr. was

Another personality whose death we missed initially is that of Judith McCulloh. A pivotal figure in the fields of folklore and ethnomusicology, Judith McCulloh passed away on July 13 (2014). She had been fighting cancer for many years. Employed as an editor

Dixie Hall passed away on January 16 (2015). She had been ill for much of the previous year. She was born in Birmingham Maternity Hospital on May, 26, 1934, and lived for a while in the Birmingham district of Erdington before

Robert Billy ‘Bill’ Yates Sr., who passed away on January 26, 2015, was born on April 30, 1936, in Big Rock, Virginia. He learned an appreciation for music from his family as they worked on the farm, sang in church or

This little weekly bit of journalistic goofing-off has been my attempt at a humor/faux advice/anti-commentary column. Yes, I’ve attempted to be funny, and I’ll leave you to judge if, or when I’ve succeeded. This week, though, I’m not feeling all that

In mid-May of this past year, I traveled to Franklin, Tennessee to interview the beautiful, talented and highly successful songwriter, Miss Dixie Hall. or... Miss Dixie, if you've known her for your entire life - or if you have just met

Lots of folks talk about "paying it forward." Dixie Hall lived by those words. "Miss Dixie," as she was universally known in bluegrass circles, died Friday, at 80, after a difficult struggle with brain cancer. She is, by far, the most