The country scene nowadays has gone stale, with solo and duo acts playing along to full instrument backing tracks. Line dancing has replaced the many clubs who ran concert venues, where the audiences would actually sit and listen to performers. That is where I enjoyed my music the most, not playing to folks dressed up as cowboys and Indians whose knowledge of country music could be written on the back of a postage stamp.
Rant over
OK, Mervyn Conn may not have been everyone's cup of tea, but because of him I got to see loads of major US country artists live on package shows the like of which we will never see again. It gave me the opportunity to play festivals in stadiums that were a sheer joy to do. On one show we followed Billie Jo Spears and were in turn followed by the great Bill Monroe. We had Billie Jo, Tammy Wynette, Box Car Willie and others come back to our hotel after the show had finished for a party. Life didn't get any better than that.
