FAN WANTS MOREI only have one complaint about [Original American Country]...I wish it were longer! The articles are really good, but there should be more. I blazed through it cover to cover in no time. I'd especially like to see more about country musicians that aren’t already in the news all the time.

GREAT CHOICESGreat new magazine! It’s about time country music fans had more choices. After all, most of America is country, and country music just doesn’t get enough recognition for the amount of fans. Keep up the good work!

READING ROVERYour magazine was so good my dog couldn’t let go of it. He can’t read (yet), but I can and the parts without teeth marks were really good!

NOT JUST NASHVILLEI love the fact that Original American Country finds interesting stories from places outside of Nashville. Don’t get me wrong, Nashville produces a lot of great music, but country music fans need to get out and support their hometown musicians! I see a lot of regional shows, and I always seem to find an amazing band that has yet to be “discovered.”

MORE THAN MUSICI really like how Original American Country covers more than just country music. After all, the music is just part of the country culture. Without all of the “country stuff,” the musicians wouldn’t have anything to write about! I was born in the country but recently moved to the city, and magazines like yours help me keep in touch with my country roots.

Letters

Contents1 The 30 All-time Greatest Country Songs was the hardest list our editors ever had to put together. Take a look, and then tell us what we missed.

3 Tommy Cash is a genuine country legend with fans at home and around the world. But it's his music - not his brother's fame - that has brought him success.

4 Country Stuff. The music isn't the only thing that makes the country great! Check out the good stuff that gives country its rich character.

6 The Kingston Trio's Bob Shane talks about the original legendary folk trio that launched America's folk revival, won the very first C&W Grammy and, some say, saved country music.

9 The Front Porch Country Band is catching ears across the country with its hot rockin' style. This band was born when a rock dropped out the sky - true Original American Country.

Highlights

ORIGINALAMERICAN COUNTRY

A publication of The USAgency Entertainment Group, USAgency, Inc.

© 2002 USAgency. All rights reserved worldwide.Printed in USA.

www.OriginalAmericanCountry.com

Managing EditorDavid G. Williams

Associate Managing EditorEvan A. Dresser

Group EditorJames W. Burschebile

Design EditorE.G.A. Nieli

Associate Design EditorA.D. Tillinghast

Operations ManagerR.C. Kreisher

National Sales Manager & Promotions Director

Jen BrownKatie McKeever, AssistantKelly Callahan,

Group Creative Consultant/EditorDane Richards

East Coast SalesKatharine A. McCord

Sara Ashley, Asst.

West Coast SalesStu Ball

Assistant

–Vince Marshall, OH

–Kayla Oakes, AZ

–Guy Harris, PA

–Jen Swift, SC

–Richard Burrows, CO

2

The

Kingston

Trio

Photo

6

These legendary recording artists and live entertainers own the first Grammy ever given for Best Country & Western song. They shot to worldwide fame in 1958 with the release of their multi-million crossover hit “Tom Dooley.” It was only the first of a long-running string of singles which included “Greenback Dollar,” “The Reverend Mr. Black,” “Worried Man,” “Where Have All The Flowers Gone,” and many more. They began America's folk revival and defined an era.

Their dominance in album sales is historic. Releasing albums for Capitol Records at the rate of 3 or 4 full albums a year - an unheard of pace today - the trio topped album charts for years, demonstrating the huge revenue potential of album sales and changing the recording industry.

Nick Reynolds, Bob Shane and Dave Guard were 3 friends who began singing together in college for beer and pretzels. Their formula for success was often imitated but never equaled: 1) powerful songs 2) brilliantly performed acoustic guitar instrumentals 3) rich blends of vocal harmonies, and 4) their dynamic on-stage presence showcasing their engaging personalities and musical prowess. Kingston Trio concerts have always been summed up in a single word: fun. With only one personnel change (John Stewart replaced Dave Guard in 1961), The Kingston Trio powered the folk revolution from 1958 until they disbanded in 1967. When founding member Bob Shane missed the fun he re-formed with new players. The Kingston Trio continues entertaining audiences to this day. We caught up with Bob on his break from touring to speak with him from his home in Phoenix:

OAC: It's said the roots of today's country music are found in American folk music, which The Kingston Trio re-introduced to the country in the late 1950's. Some say The Kingston Trio saved country music.

BS: They didn't have a folk singing category the first year of the Grammys, which was 1958. They wanted to give us a Grammy for Tom Dooley, after they had just called us folk singers. Now, we didn't call ourselves folk singers. We were just guys having a good time chasing chicks, you know (laughs). So they looked around and they realized that country music was at an all time low in sales in '57 and '58, and a lot of people couldn't get work. So they used us to help country music out. We won the first Grammy ever given for best country and western presentation that year.

OAC: So you see a connection between country music and folk music.

BS: The roots are all the same and they're all church music. My great-great-grandfather was a congregational missionary from Boston who sailed to Hawaii to do good and did well. I grew up in Hawaii learning Hawaiian music.

OAC: So you see a connection...?

BS: Well, Hawaiian music: verse, chorus, verse, chorus. Folk music, verse, chorus, verse, chorus. Country music, verse, chorus, verse, chorus. Very simple. But the origins of all of them basically came from church music in a way. It was the missionary families, one of which I was from, and they taught that (structure). Before that, Hawaiian music only had chants. Then they took the church music and made beautiful music out of it. And folk music is what was brought over, and that probably includes country music. And it was all originally based on church music.

OAC: The Kingston Trio is often mentioned as a candidate for some of the new Halls of Fame.

BS: I've had friends who have tried to get us to be recognized from the Kennedy honors, and who have said we should be in

the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and The Country Music Hall of Fame. But when you've been around 45 years, all the people who run those things today have absolutely no idea who we are (laughter). You know, in the music business you have an actual maximum period of time that usually lasts no more than ten years. And so, my idea after our run was, now we've got all that stuff out of the way, the records and all of that, now we have material we can call on for the rest of our life.

OAC: Did your original success with the trio come as a surprise?

BS: Well, I was expected to go back and take over my dad's business which was a wholesale sporting goods and toy business. We covered the entire Pacific area. After "Tom Dooley," I sent him $10,000 to be invested for me. My mother wired me back and said, "Don't ever do that again. Your Dad almost had a heart attack!" (laughs).

OAC: The trio always had such great material. You introduced America to a lot of great new songwriters.

BS: We started off getting songs out of grade school song books. Songs that'd been around for a long time, but some of the oddball ones, you know. And then we realized there is a tremendous number of songs around that are public domain, so we were the first ones to get a hold of them. Nobody else was doing this yet. We went in and got all the really good songs. We discarded loads of songs that became hits by other artists later on. But you know, we just did the songs that we were interested in ourselves. And it worked out. Later, when we got a writer that we liked, like Gordon Lightfoot or Billy Ed Wheeler, who had a prolific background in songwriting, we automatically went back to them. We did three or four albums a year and toured 280 days a year. You know, nobody's ever heard of that since then. And we also wrote. We had a recording session and they said it was too short. We need another song by tomorrow. So we went home and we said, "Okay, so let's make it a little story." We drew straws and said who gets the first verse, second verse, third verse. We wrote “Worried Man” in about an hour. We were young and full of interesting stuff like that. Today we perform only our original album songs. But we have over 400 to choose from which we recorded from '57 to '67. So we can perform our classics plus great songs folks never heard before.

With their on-stage mastery of song and story, The Kingston Trio is still thrilling audiences today, touring the country to sold-out shows 28 weeks a year. Shown at a recent sold-out concert at the famed Kirby Center are George Grove on vocals and banjo, along with original founding members Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds, both on vocals and guitar.

AMERICANORIGINALS

acoustic instruments in the world for over a century and a half. And like a well-crafted song, fine guitars result from careful attention to detail. “How to build a guitar to give this tone is

not a secret,” Frank Henry Martin explained in 1903. “It takes care in selecting the materials, laying out the proportions, and patience in giving the necessary time to finish every part. A fineguitar cannot be built for the price of a poor one, but who regrets the extra cost for a good guitar?” The Martin Guitar Company continues to adhere to the principles that have guided it through six generations and continues to produce the finest guitars in the world. To learn more about Martin or to buy your very own quality Martin guitar, just visit

www.martinguitar.com.

Martin GuitarMaker of Legends

7

It All BeganIn The Country

The end came with a season suspending walk-out on August 12, 1994. For the first time in nearly a century, The World Series was cancelled. In the small college town of Lewisburg, PA, two friends Tom “Terminator” Miller and Craig “Catfish” Fogel mourned the Series' cancellation over a cold brew. Glancing at his half-empty can, Terminator

reminisced about the game his great grandfather had once described, Beer Can Baseball.. Together, they realized it was the perfect time to resurrect the original spectators' version of the game on the very night the World Series had been taken from its millions of fans.

They scoured obscure newspaper clippings, researched private papers and weathered old scorecards until one night they knew they had it! The play. The rules. The magic. Now the game embarks on another new passage along its storied journey through time as the rebirth of The Original Beer Can Baseball adds yet another chapter to the still unfolding

pages of baseball's fabled traditions. Catch the action and get the game at www.beercanbaseball.com.

Just like today's hottest country recording artists, Martin guitars were born in the country. When C.F. Martin moved his operation to the rural outskirts of Nazareth, Pennsylvania in 1838, he was relieved to get out of the harsh environment of New York City and back to tranquil settings reminiscent of his birthplace in pastoral Germany. His wife was happy as well – her love of the beautiful rolling hills being a big reason for the move. Not only did The Martin Guitar Company begin in the country, it has played a major role in influencing country music. Martin's legendary D-28 “Dreadnought” guitar helped shape the sound of country music by paving the way for the larger body style that is so popular today.

Because of its large size and deep bass response, country performers picked them up in a big way. Since country music traditionally lacked a bass instrument, the D-28 was perfect for backing up vocals, fiddles and banjos. Today the guitar is prevalent in all types of acoustic music today, and accounts for about 80 percent of Martin's yearly production. Not only did Martin help shape country music, country music helped to shape Martin guitars as well. In 1933, country star Gene Autry helped spawn another style of Dreadnought. It was based on his idol Jimmie Rodgers' guitar, but used the new larger body style popularized by Martin. The guitar had Autry's name written in pearl script on the fretboard. The guitar maker received another big boost when The Kingston Trio featured Martins on their world-wide best-selling albums and international concert tours in the late 50’s and early 60’s. Martin has produced some of the finest

Two lifelong friends,

Tom "Terminator" Miller celebrateThe Original Beer Can Baseball.

Not a drinking game.

Craig "Catfish" Fogel and

Many know that in 1876, the National League was chartered creating baseball's first true professional major league. But few are aware of the game that legend says was baseball's forerunner, begun that same year by spectators. According to the legend, “Beer Can Baseball” was the invention of a savvy young brewer, and was played by baseball's first fans, who made predictions whether the "batter" or "pitcher" would prevail on the pitch of the ball. The game was simple and fun, making it perfect to play while watching the athletic contest on a sunny day. As baseball began to increasingly focus on the skills of its athletes and less on fan involvement, Beer Can Baseball slowly faded into obscurity. The game of baseball continued to grow in fan acceptance as the National Pastime, and it enjoyed immense popularity for over a century before facing a crippling strike (no pun intended) in 1994.

Rockin'The Country

by William John Christian

It was always about the music. Six superb session musicians. Consummate stage performers. Shared friendships and earned respect. Years spent separately and together in endlessly different combinations in studios and on the road in great regional bands. Openers. Headliners. Careers spent mastering mostly other people’s music. Ready now to lay down their own markers. To make their own musical statements. In their own style. “Original American Country” they call it. C u l t i v a t e d a n d harvested in the rich g r e e n v a l l e y s o f Pennsylvania’s rolling Susquehanna River basin. And yes, the legend is true. A rock dropped out of the sky and this band was born. And exactly like that 30-t o n m e t e o r t h a t exploded in that nearby wheat field on 23 July 2001, almost nobody saw it coming. But millions heard it when it h i t . These s inger -songwriters heard it too, during a recording break on their studio porch. Really. Within 72 hours they were suddenly making their own musical shock waves as their first hot original single rolled across radio airwaves. Audiences took immediate notice. Requests for live shows. Talk of an album. New original songs. Rehearsals scheduled. And then the tragedy. Like millions of their fellow countrymen, the utter anguish. But they’re musicians, and the Sunday night rehearsal turns spontaneously into a 36-hour recording marathon instead.

Their shared outpouring of grief. A creative explosion. A chance to help.

thAnd on September 18 2001, exactly one week after the attacks, the airwaves roll again, this time in tribute to fallen heroes: AMERICA STANDING TALL – THE AMERICAN TRILOGY. “Historic…the greatest album ever to

c o m e o u t o f Pennsylvania…” the writer said. Now people really are listening. Heavy airplay in markets f rom New York to Hawaii. Scheduling the first national tour. Now finally, audiences coast to coast will see and hear the magic for themselves. The kick of their hot country rock. The emotion in their classic country love ballads. Three different lead singers, 3 different drummers, everyone sailing on guitars. This really is different. Not a formula. Whatever the music demands. Somehow they manage to make it all look so effortless. And maybe it actually is this easy when so much musical talent and experience come

together in one place at one time. Tight. Natural. Intuitive. Just a look among them and they’re off together on the next riff. Where it’s leading not even the players know. But we know. It’s only beginning for them now. This much musical ability and passion must and will be heard. Great historic moments have always been heralded by meteorological events. All of America has been ready for this for a long time, and we’re all listening. Because after all, it was always about the music.

TWO GREAT ALBUMS. ONE GREAT BAND.ONE GREAT AMERICAN CAUSE.

9

SOMEBODY TONIGHT:Their second album in 6 months features

14 new original tracks.

Rockin'

Johnny:America's Country Rocker

Alison:The Nightingale of C ountry

Kimbo:Rockin' Bass. Velvet Country Vocals.

When he's on stage, audiences can't seem to help but sit up and pay attention. A veteran of the U.S.Army for more than a decade, Johnny is a commanding presence as a lead singer and guitarist for The Front Porch Country Band. His distinctive country vocals are the first thing fans notice, which fits well with his disarming down-home country personality. When the pace kicks up, however, he loves to get audiences jumping with his upbeat vocals and energetic guitar. Johnny's performed as lead singer and guitarist with his own band for years, opening for top Nashville Recording Stars like Confederate Railroad, Ricochet, Hank Williams II, David Lee Murphy, Chely Wright, Jeff Carson, Steve Wariner and Mel McDaniel to name a very few. His own original country tunes have been heard on syndicated radio stations in 150 cities and 49 states across the USA and Canada.

Alison takes center stage on The Front Porch Country Band's live performances, and all eyes are on her as she provides a natural center for the band. Whether singing lead solos or backing vocals, playing guitar or keyboards, she exudes a natural charisma and fun-loving charm that make it obvious that she's at home out front. By the young age of four, Alison was already exhibiting her intense love of music. She grew up singing at home and in her father's church, but it wasn't until college that she met Richard to form the powerful musical partnership that was eventually good enough to get them signed to a label. Together, they've entertained audiences from New England to Nashville. They've opened for national recording artists Pam Tillis, Mark Wills, Marty Hagard, Jesse Hunter, Lionel Cartwright, Neal McCoy and many others. Fluent on keyboards, guitar and drums, Alison employs her own distinctive interpretations to create the sensitive lead vocals and delicate harmonies that help make up the special musical character of The Front Porch Country Band.

DJ Chris Conman Conn has said of Johnny, "This guy is called The Country Rocker for a good reason. He writes and plays music that makes you want to crank up your stereo…and dance."

Out front on bass guitar and lead vocals for The Front Porch Country Band, Kimbo projects a relaxed style as smooth as southern comfort. With his versatile vocal range he can deliver any musical mood, from laid back ballads to rockin' country.

Kim has mastered the art of live performance with his inventive bass style that anchors the hard driving thunder and rich melodies of The Front Porch Country Band. When he steps on stage he's bringing over 30 years of his special professional experience in the music industry as a songwriter, lead and backing vocalist, and instrumentalist on bass, acoustic guitar, mandolin and keyboards. He's opened for numerous national acts, including The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Mitch Ryder and Chuck Mangione. A longtime member of the renowned David Rose Band, his rich rock music background helps provide the band with its unique country rockin' style. And much like his vocals can warm any stage, his presence warms up rooms off stage, as well. His approach to his lifelong passion of music is all about making the music a joy - both for himself and for his fans. "Play in time. Play in tune. And eat the food…it's free."

10

ORIGINAL AMERICAN COUNTRY

On the evening of July 23, 2001, millions of Americans saw and heard the fiery 30-ton meteor as it streaked across the daytime skies of the northeastern USA. Taking a break on the porch of their rural recording studios following an all-d a y r e c o r d i n g s e s s i o n ,

these artists heard it too. Moments later they felt the shock of the meteor's blast as it slammed into a nearby wheat field. Within 72 hours this song was receiving heavy radio airplay. The Front Porch Country Band was born.

“America Standing Tall” is already being heard in radio markets from New York to Hawaii. Their newest album, “Somebody Tonight” features 14 all-new songs that are so hot they guarantee “Country Rocks!”

America's newest recording artists are exploding onto radio airwaves with their own brand of all-new “Original American Country” songs. Catch the fever as they get set to take off on their first national tour.

America Standing TallTHE UNITED WAY CONCERT SERIES FOR AMERICA

Coming To A Front Porch Near You. Catch Their Two Hot New Releases!

TWO GREAT ALBUMS.ONE GREAT AMERICAN BAND.

www.frontporchcountryband.com

THE INTERNATIONAL BENEFIT TOURTHIS COUNTRY ROCKS!