You can keep your Chesneys, Lukes, and Florida Georgia Lines … I’ll take Kenny Rogers any day

Kenny Rogers in Boise Kenny Rogers in Boise

Last weekend, I had the honor of watching my very first Kenny Rogers concert when he came to Boise, Idaho. 

And it's a concert I don't think I will ever forget. 

I remember being a kid in the 80s and my mom love, love, loving her some Kenny Rogers, so I was pretty happy when I was able to score two tickets and bring her along for the fun ride. I have four singers/groups who stand out strongly from my really young days: Bob Seger, which I remember because my mom went to his concert while I was in the hospital having my tonsils removed; Rod Stewart because I was in love with his highly-inappropriate-for-a-youngster Do Ya Think I'm Sexy; and The Gatlin Brothers because All The Gold In California was my favorite song and I sang it constantly. But then there was Kenny Rogers who I had a special place in my heart for because he was my mom's favorite singer, which definitely rubbed off on me, and I grew up thinking that he and I were related. See, my maiden name was Rogers and so in my young mind Kenny Rogers was some sort of a long lost uncle of mine.

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Continue ReadingYou can keep your Chesneys, Lukes, and Florida Georgia Lines … I’ll take Kenny Rogers any day

Kenny Rogers Set To Visit Children’s Center and Host Benefit Concert June 1st

Kenny Rogers

Not very many performers can say they've been in the “business” for over 50 years.  Not many can say they've played an instrumental role in the success of an organization that solely exists for the purpose of helping children with special needs.  Not many can say they've returned five times throughout the years to hold concerts and continue to raise money for that organization.  And certainly not many can say they've held an interest in that same organization for close to 40 years!  But yes, Kenny Rogers has certainly earned his name on the building of that very organization…The Kenny Rogers Children’s Center in Sikeston, Missouri. 

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Continue ReadingKenny Rogers Set To Visit Children’s Center and Host Benefit Concert June 1st

Dolly Parton on ‘Blue Smoke,’ LGBT fans & her Willie Nelson & Kenny Rogers friendships

Dolly Parton - Blue Smoke Album Cover Art

Dolly Parton is rollin' down the track with her newly released Blue Smoke record, a healthy 12-track set that has the living legend sharing her legacy's body of work in cool, new ways. Whether it is the feisty gospel spin of Bon Jovi's "Lay Your Hands On Me" or the tender "You Can't Make Old Friends," a duet with long-time friend and collaborator Kenny Rogers, Parton is as sharp-shooting as she ever was.

"I usually don't get played on the radio that much anymore. I don't try taylor-make things just for radio," she told reporters at a press event last month of the album. As a whole, Parton wanted Blue Smoke to be a project her fans "would want to hear, something that means something to me."

"I thought, 'well, here at this age, I've been around this long. I've had the chance to do some of everything.' I just wanted to put together a record–I wrote a little liner note in the album where I talked about that I felt like this was just a whole assortment of all the different things I'd done through the years," she described. "I'm a girl of many colors. It was an album of many colors. I think it touched on the bluegrass, the gospel, the mountain and the more pop and rock things."

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Continue ReadingDolly Parton on ‘Blue Smoke,’ LGBT fans & her Willie Nelson & Kenny Rogers friendships