The 300th Episode!
I am very proud to announce that we are getting ready to release the 300th episode of Here’s What We Know, the podcast of unexpected conversations.
My team wanted to know if we are going to do something special, cause a number like 300 is pretty significant in the podcasting world. We have had some great guests like Nate Bargatze, Jeremy Piven, Russell Dickerson, Gregg Hurwitz, Kerri Walsh Jennings, Walker Hayes, and TJ Miller, to name a few. I decided to share something special with you.
We are very excited about a new addition to the GST Media family. Once Around the Country will start coming out in August. It’s not replacing the original conversation-based podcast. It’s a standalone entity. It will be a fifteen-minute episode that will cover an important piece of country music history. I started in the industry in 1976, so I am a big part of that history. I have had ringside seats. I will combine research along with my own insight into some very cool things.
My own timeline has seen legendary careers like Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings wind down. I saw brand-new artists (at the time) like Reba McEntire, Alabama, and Kenny Rogers emerge as huge stars. I played singers no one had heard of: Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Clint Black, and Shania Twain. The list continues all the way to superstars like Morgan Wallen, Lainey Wilson, Taylor Swift, and now Ella Langley.
I’ve watched and commented on controversies like the Dixie Chicks, the feud between Travis Tritt and Billy Ray Cyrus, and the tragedy of Mindy McCready. The gatekeepers in Nashville basically decided who would be a star and what records would be released. And the smashing of those gatekeepers which allowed artists who never would have gotten a chance to emerge, like Jelly Roll, Ashley McBryde, and Shaboozey. It’s been a wild ride.
I grew up in South Alabama. The first concert I ever attended was in a cornfield in Red Level, Alabama, on a sweltering Saturday afternoon. I stood in awe watching Porter Waggoner and this little woman with a huge personality perform on the bed of a flatbed trailer. Her name was Dolly Parton. I still marvel at how hot Porter must have been wearing that Nudie suit, but I don’t remember seeing him sweat. I’ve written about how my father, who was raised in the midst of racism, had his life changed when he fell in love with the songs of Charley Pride, an African American singer.
I was on the air on a Thursday afternoon at WKWL in Florala, a little AM station located in a house trailer, when a knock came on the door. Three young men stood there and asked if they could come in and play me a couple of songs they had recorded. They were playing at the Holiday Inn in Crestview, Florida, and had just changed the name of their band from Wildcountry to Alabama. My Home’s In Alabama and Why Lady Why were what I got to hear. I thought they were good songs, but I told them, why would anyone in Pennsylvania care about you being from Alabama? I have a reputation for not being able to pick hit songs, and it started right there. I also thought Chattahoochee would sink Alan Jackson’s career. It was the number one song of 1993.
Here’s a fun fact: I only learned about ten years ago that my own parents had a country music band. I’m an oops baby; I am a lot younger than my older sisters. The joke in the family is that I was a Thanksgiving meal that got out of hand. The group my parents sang in dissolved before I was born, but according to my sisters, they were really good. Unfortunately, my father’s alcoholism derailed the band. But I have heard from many family members that they were really good, and had a chance to make it bigger than they did. My mother sang beautifully, and my father would win crowds over with his humor.
I guess my love of country music came naturally.
The 300th episode will feature my take on the seminal album in Johnny Cash’s career: Live at Folsom Prison. I am proud of it. I think it’s very interesting not only to hear why Johnny wanted to record there, but also everything he battled to even have a career. Johnny overcame his demons when my father couldn’t. I think you’ll have fun learning what spurred him to write Folsom Prison Blues; it’s probably not what you think.
Once Around The Country will start soon, and I already have a list of topics that I think are fascinating. Roger Miller. The rise of Shania Twain. Why Brooks and Dunn almost broke up. The sheer determination and grace of Charley Pride. Feel free to let me know if there are topics you’d like me to cover. This will be a fun ride, and I’m so thankful that you can join me on it.
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Gary