09-13-2019, 01:03 PM
Minnesota's 11 biggest contributions to country music
By Jon Bream
SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 — 11:19AM
1 Dave Dudley of Spencer, Wis., records "Six Days on the Road" at Kay Bank Studios in Minneapolis. One of the first big truck-driving songs, it zooms to No. 2 on the country chart in 1963. The studio at 2541 Nicollet Av. S., where everyone from the Trashmen to the Replacements recorded, still exists as Creation Audio.
2 After recording three albums in Nashville, including the landmark "Blonde on Blonde," Bob Dylan sings on "The Johnny Cash Show" in 1969, making the country singer cool overnight, as his daughter Rosanne Cash relates in the Ken Burns series.
3 After writing a story about the Grand Ole Opry for the New Yorker magazine, Anoka's Garrison Keillor, in 1974, creates his own St. Paul-based radio show, "A Prairie Home Companion." It features country stars such as Chet Atkins, Emmylou Harris and Brad Paisley — and a Keillor-sung versionof Hank Snow's "Hello Love" as its theme song.
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STAR TRIBUNE
Michael Johnson in 1986. He died in 2017.
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4 Dennis Morgan of Tracy, Minn., becomes a hot Nashville songwriter in the late 1970s, penning "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed" and "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool" for Barbara Mandrell and hits for Ronnie Milsap, Sylvia and others.
5 After playing with the Sky Blue Water Boys in the Twin Cities in the 1970s, Russ Pahl becomes a first-call pedal steel guitarist in Nashville, working on recordings with Florida Georgia Line, Blake Shelton, Dan + Shay, Luke Bryan and Taylor Swift.
6 In 1986, Ree Guyer Buchanan moves from St. Paul to Nashville to establish a song publishing company called Wrensong. The catalog has grown to more than 3,000 tunes, including the Oak Ridge Boys' "Little Things," Faith Hill's "Wild One" and the Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss duet "Whiskey Lullaby."
7 When his pop career slows, Twin Cities singer/guitarist Michael Johnson ("Bluer Than Blue") heads to Nashville and quickly tops the charts in 1986 with "Give Me Wings" and "The Moon Is Still Over Her Shoulder."
8 Brooklyn Center native Jon Vezner co-writes "Where've You Been," a song about his grandparents coping with dementia. Recorded by his wife, country singer Kathy Mattea, it goes to No. 10 in 1989 and earns a Grammy for best country song.
9 Two Minnesotans enjoy success in Nashville bands: Paulette Carlson of Moose Lake scores four No. 1 hits as lead singer of Highway 101 in the late '80s, including "Cry, Cry, Cry," and Ira Dean of North St. Paul triumphs as bassist for Trick Pony, with "Pour Me" in the early '00s.
10 Twin Cities musicians Dan Wilson of Semisonic and Gary Louris of the Jayhawks co-write six and four songs, respectively, for the Dixie Chicks' 2006 album "Taking the Long Way," which grabs the Grammy for album of the year. Wilson shares a Grammy for song of the year for "Not Ready to Make Nice."
11 Bloomington native Kyle Jacobs finds success as a songwriter — most notably Garth Brooks' 2007 chart-topper "More Than a Memory" — and as a reality TV star with his wife on CMT's 2015-17 show "Love Kellie Pickler."[/size][/size]
By Jon Bream
SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 — 11:19AM
1 Dave Dudley of Spencer, Wis., records "Six Days on the Road" at Kay Bank Studios in Minneapolis. One of the first big truck-driving songs, it zooms to No. 2 on the country chart in 1963. The studio at 2541 Nicollet Av. S., where everyone from the Trashmen to the Replacements recorded, still exists as Creation Audio.
2 After recording three albums in Nashville, including the landmark "Blonde on Blonde," Bob Dylan sings on "The Johnny Cash Show" in 1969, making the country singer cool overnight, as his daughter Rosanne Cash relates in the Ken Burns series.
3 After writing a story about the Grand Ole Opry for the New Yorker magazine, Anoka's Garrison Keillor, in 1974, creates his own St. Paul-based radio show, "A Prairie Home Companion." It features country stars such as Chet Atkins, Emmylou Harris and Brad Paisley — and a Keillor-sung versionof Hank Snow's "Hello Love" as its theme song.
STAR TRIBUNE
Michael Johnson in 1986. He died in 2017.
[size=undefined][size=undefined]
4 Dennis Morgan of Tracy, Minn., becomes a hot Nashville songwriter in the late 1970s, penning "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed" and "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool" for Barbara Mandrell and hits for Ronnie Milsap, Sylvia and others.
5 After playing with the Sky Blue Water Boys in the Twin Cities in the 1970s, Russ Pahl becomes a first-call pedal steel guitarist in Nashville, working on recordings with Florida Georgia Line, Blake Shelton, Dan + Shay, Luke Bryan and Taylor Swift.
6 In 1986, Ree Guyer Buchanan moves from St. Paul to Nashville to establish a song publishing company called Wrensong. The catalog has grown to more than 3,000 tunes, including the Oak Ridge Boys' "Little Things," Faith Hill's "Wild One" and the Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss duet "Whiskey Lullaby."
7 When his pop career slows, Twin Cities singer/guitarist Michael Johnson ("Bluer Than Blue") heads to Nashville and quickly tops the charts in 1986 with "Give Me Wings" and "The Moon Is Still Over Her Shoulder."
8 Brooklyn Center native Jon Vezner co-writes "Where've You Been," a song about his grandparents coping with dementia. Recorded by his wife, country singer Kathy Mattea, it goes to No. 10 in 1989 and earns a Grammy for best country song.
9 Two Minnesotans enjoy success in Nashville bands: Paulette Carlson of Moose Lake scores four No. 1 hits as lead singer of Highway 101 in the late '80s, including "Cry, Cry, Cry," and Ira Dean of North St. Paul triumphs as bassist for Trick Pony, with "Pour Me" in the early '00s.
10 Twin Cities musicians Dan Wilson of Semisonic and Gary Louris of the Jayhawks co-write six and four songs, respectively, for the Dixie Chicks' 2006 album "Taking the Long Way," which grabs the Grammy for album of the year. Wilson shares a Grammy for song of the year for "Not Ready to Make Nice."
11 Bloomington native Kyle Jacobs finds success as a songwriter — most notably Garth Brooks' 2007 chart-topper "More Than a Memory" — and as a reality TV star with his wife on CMT's 2015-17 show "Love Kellie Pickler."[/size][/size]
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