In honor of the passing of a musical legend, I thought I would share a story that shows the highs and lows of the music industry.

As some of you may or may not know, my Dad was a successful touring drummer in Nashville during the 70's, 80's and 90's. He moved to Nashville in the early 70's and began working with a string of lesser known artists (Nat Stuckey, Donna Fargo, Jody Miller) before joining Dolly's band in late 75.

North Louisiana has a rich tradition of musicians moving to Nashville and doing well. Joe McGuffie from Enterprise played steel for Dolly and Vice Gill for years. Lon Wilson from Monroe is one of the most recorded Nashville drummers of all time. Michael Rhodes was one of the top recording and touring bassist in Nashville for decades, finally ending his with Joe Bonamosa. Derek Mixon from West Monroe has been the drummer for Chris Stapleton for several years and has even won a Grammy for co writing the song, "Cold".

Most of 1976 was taken up recording and shooting the "Dolly" television series in Nashville, but the band still did short tours here in the states, Europe and even went to Hawaii.

Towards the end of 76, rumors began circulating amongst the band that Dolly had been flying to LA when not touring to write and record an upcoming album. Until that time, almost 100% of all country artists recorded in Nashville with musicians and producers more suited for the genre.

By early 77, my Dad went to management and point blank asked what was going on. He was told that Dolly was indeed recording in LA for a movie that she would be starring in. When my Dad asked if the band was in jeopardy of being replaced, he was assured that would not be the case.

By the spring of 77, Dolly had almost stopped touring, dedicating the majority of her time to preparing for the movie and 9 to 5 album. On a personal note, I never knew it took so long to make a movie, but when you compare the timetable of this story with the movie release date, you get an idea of how long some of these things are actually in the works before making it to the public.

Once again, my Dad went to management and asked about the rumors of the band eventually being replaced. This time he was told that the band would be reworked, but that every musician would be allowed to audition. By this time my Dad along with his bandmates had learned that the music being written for the soundtrack would be more straight forward pop, and that the musicians being used were some of the very best LA studio guys. Skunk Baxter, Larry Carlton, Abraham Laboriel, Lenny Castro and so on. The rumors all came to fruition after Dolly flew steel player and Enterprise native Joe McGuffie to LA to record after producers couldn't find a suitable steel player in LA.

Towards the end of 1977, the word finally came down that not only would the band be replaced, but that they wouldn't be allowed to audition. Producer Mike Post had convinced Dolly that her band wouldn't be able to perform the new pop material live.....an absolute joke when you consider my Dad grew up playing Boogie Kings, Tower of Power, James Brown and other STAX artists. In fact, a future phone call would prove this point to be valid when in the summer of 77, the legendary Louisiana sax man, Jon Smith (Toto), called Dad to offer him a job with Edgar Winter and White Trash.

The decision by Dolly absolutely crushed my Dad, and in the fall of 77, he packed up his things and decided to move home, forgetting about the music business. He was only 29 at the time and sharing an apartment with a friend He had finished loading up the U Haul trailer and went back in the apartment for one more check to make sure he'd not left anything when the phone rang.

On the other end was Dave Thornhill, Loretta Lynn's band leader, offering Dad the job. Dave began telling him that they were going to make a movie about Loretta and Sissy Spacek was going to play Loretta. It was probably the worst thing Dave could have said at the time. My Dad explained to him he had no desire to work for another artist who wanted to have anything to do with movies, and a short time later he was on the road head home.

In the coming years, Dave continued to call Dad and offer him the job, and eventually in 1984 he took it and returned to Nashville where he spent 12 years as Loretta's drummer.

The music business can be tough and is terribly unpredictable for the vast majority of those who make their livings in it.

On a personal note, I met Dolly when I was 10 years old, and even as a child I could tell there was something different about her. All the other artists I'd met over the years (Conway, George, Merle, Donna, Jody, Barbara, Tammy), all took time to speak with me and ask me questions. Dolly had plans and was always laser focused on business. She was a great artist and eventually became an even greater person.