Del Reeves passes away

I shuddered yesterday when I read the news that Del Reeves had passed away. While I had known that he had been ill for some time, his death still came as a shock. Reeves was easily one of the greatest entertainers on the Grand Ole Opry--right up there with Little Jimmy Dickens and Porter Wagoner--but unfortunately, because the powers that be at the Grand Ole Opry deemed him too old and not popular enough to perform as often as he once had, for the past few years, fans had been deprived of seeing him there. What a loss we suffered then--and are suffering now. Rest well, Del!

For the new year, let's support all of those great Opry legends who are still living. They may no longer perform on the Opry as much as we'd like (Stonewall Jackson, for example), but we can still buy their new albums (Charlie Louvin has a new one coming out this year) and go to their shows. Although 2007 in country music has begun on a sad note, let's make the year a great one musically.