We would like to start off by saying thanks to everyone for making our 15th anniversary party such a success. A special thanks to the Clements for making such a long drive. Also a special thanks to Jerry at Nashville Center Stage for the venue, Kirstin for a great job on set up and great food and to Glenda Montgomery for such an awesome music line up. The musicians that played sounded great and we can’t thank them enough for donating their time to us. We would also like to thank Bob Ries for the anniversary cakes and to David, the lot man, for assisting throughout the evening and for the entire cleanup after our mess.
I still didn’t get the chance to meet everyone. I spent from 4:00 pm until 8:30 pm in the kitchen frying chicken. By the time I went to the office, cleaned up and got back, some people had already left. I did get to spend some time with Mr. and Mrs. Will Clements. Will has been loyally advertising in the NMG since day one. Mr. Clement talked of the old days and his thoughts on Music City today. He praised the new magazine and likes its new look. I was quite shocked but also very honored for the turn out we had. It was memorable evening for all of us for sure. I can’t say enough how thankful I am to everyone who came out. We look forward to the 16th and we only hope it will be bigger and better.
I would also like to give a big thanks to my nephew, Joe Matthews, for all the hard work and the long hours he has put into the magazine and also into the new website. The overhauled website is nothing short of amazing.
The mornings are getting cooler, daylight is getting shorter, and around home is the wonderful smell of tobacco drying in the barns. My first trip to Robertson County was years ago. I was at David Frizzell’s house and I told his wife, Jo, that I saw several barns on fire on my way over. Jo explained to me that it was the process of drying tobacco and the harvest season. So then I asked Jo to explain something else to me: Why did people bring me a pancake with my meal?
She then asked me if I had tried one yet. I said no because I don’t care for pancakes. She laughed and told me to try one because they were not pancakes, they were corn cakes. Once I tried one, I was asking for more. Nothing better than waking up to a Tennessee morning or driving home from town around 3 or 4 a.m. with the windows down, listening to great country music, and the smell of the tobacco. It really is such an amazing feeling.
My time in Tennessee has been really short this month due to kids getting back to school in Oklahoma. But I did make it to a writer’s night at Picks and had the chance to listen to a really cool, different sound. It was the voice of a young math teacher from Florida taking some time off from the classroom to pursue his dream of singing and songwriting. I heard several of the tunes he wrote and I liked what I heard and I wish him great success. I’m hoping to catch him with a live band soon. I heard it was even more impressive. It’s odd how many Oklahomans and Floridians you find in Tennessee. I never knew hicks and hillbillies resided in Florida as well! It was interesting to find out the “Orange State” is country too. But then again I like to hope that there is a little country everywhere.
At the Guide we are still working on changes to bring you a better and more informative magazine. We are forming a destination section and redoing our venue pages. Our new website will also allow venues to update their events daily via our web calendar.
We hope that you enjoy this issue and enjoy our cover story on newcomer Morgan Frazier. Talk about a modern day Loretta Lynn, this little girl is totally humble and an amazing star. Remember that name, it will be in marquee lights before you know it and remember you read it here first in the Nashville Music Guide.
Thanks for Reading!
Randy and Kymberly Matthews
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