2008 SCHEDULE

JUNE  7  - DON HELMS - with a Tribute to HANK WILLIAMS, SR. (one shows)7:30 PM- $15 per person

   (Don Helms in the 40's)

DON HELMS is the last known cowboy of "The Drifting Cowboys". 

Donald "Shag" Hugh "Don" Helms (Steel Guitar): Born: 2/28/27 New Brockton, AL.
Bio: Don is a legendary steel guitar player. He has recorded with many legends in Country Music, including Lefty Frizzell, Jim Reeves, Ray Price and Hank Williams. While in New Brockton he formed a band called the Alabama Rhythm Boys that was made up of two cousins and two friends (Of which one was Sammy Pruett). His musical relationship with Hank & The Cowboys was off and on. He first became a member of the Cowboys in 1944, but left in 1945 when he was Drafted. Don rejoined the band in 1947/48, but only remained a few months. In 1949 he joined the most famous version of the band. In 1952 he left the band once again.

After leaving Hank, Don became a member of Ray Price's band. In 1957 he joined the Wilburn Brothers' band and became partners with them in Wil-Helm Talent Agency. Don left the band in 1967. In January 1968 Don became a member of Hank Williams Jr's band (The Cheating Hearts). Don stayed with Hank Jr. until 1972. In 1974 Don started a short stint with the great Ernest Tubb. In 1977 Don joined a reformed Drifting Cowboys along with Bob McNett, Hillous Butrum, & Jerry Rivers. In '77 he also appeared in the movie "That's Country" along with the other Cowboys. In 1989 Don and the Drifting Cowboys, minus McNett and Butrum, became the touring band for Jett Williams.

He was voted to The Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1984. In Nov. 2004 he was honored with a monument and "Don Helms Day" in his hometime of New Brockton, AL. Don is still out there playing with Hank Williams' "daughter", Jett Williams.

JULY 19 - JIM ED BROWN & HELEN CORNELIUS (two shows) 3:30 & 7:30 PM- $20 per person

Helen Cornelius and Jim Ed Brown had successful careers before they teamed up in 1976.  Jim Ed Brown was well known as the lead singer "The Browns", which included his sisters.  They had the honor of recording the first country No. 1 hit to crossover to No. 1 on the pop charts.  The first 'countrypolitan' No. 1 hit was "The Three Bells".  Ironically, the alternative name for the song was "Little Jimmy Brown".  Helen Cornelius was well known for her songwriting for major artists, until her voice was discovered and landed a major recording contract in 1975.  Helen was nominated as "Most Promising Female Vocalist" my Music City News in 1977.

" I Don't Want To Marry You", recorded in their first year together, topped the country charts.  Their 1977 hit "Saying Hello, Saying I Love You, Saying Goodbye" reached No. 2.  The duo had six Top 10 hits in total, including "If The World Ran Out Of Love" and "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" (1978), ":Fools" (1979), and "Morning Comes Too Early" (1980).  Their rendition of "Lying In Love With You", whilst not accomplishing this feat, did enter the charts at No. 19, constituting the biggest country chart leap in history.  The duo's final hit "Don't Bother To Knock" (1981) reached No. 13 on the country charts.  Jim Ed and Helen had success on the Awards scene too.  They won the 1977 CMA Vocal Duo of the Year, as well as being nominated for the same category for the three years 1978-80.  Furthermore, their album, "I Don't Want To Have To Marry You", was nominated for the CMA Album of the Year Award in 1977.  Jim Ed and Helen went their separate ways in 1981. 

If you would like more information on Jim Ed Brown and/or Helen Cornelius, check the internet "Jim Ed Brown Biography", or "Helen Cornelius Biography".  There is much more to be learned on both of these very talented artists.

AUG 30 - JOHN CONLEE (two shows) 3:30 & 7:30PM - $20 per person

John Conlee is one of the most respected vocalist to emerge during the urban cowboy era.  John Conlee was known for his superb tastes in material and his distinctively melancholy voice.  Conlee was born and raised on a tobacco farm in Versailles, KY in 1946, and took up the guitar as a child, performing on local radio at age ten.  He went on to sing with the town barbershop chorus, but didn't initially pursue music as a career, instead becoming a licensed mortician.  He also worked as a disc jockey at numerous area radio stations, and made important industry connections, via that area when he moved to Nashville in 1971.  Five years later, Conlee's demo tape got him a contract with ABC.  He released a few singles, but didn't find acceptance until 1978's "Rose Colored Glasses," a song he'd co-written with a newsman at his radio station, rocketed into the country Top Five.  Conlee spent the next decade or so scoring hit after hit, nearly all of them helmed by producer Bud Logan.  He had two number ones in 1979 alone..."Lady Lay Down" and "Backside of Thirty"..and four number two hits through 1981, which included "Before My Time," "Friday Night Blues," "She Can't Say That Anymore," and "Miss Emily's Picture."  Conlee returned to the top of the charts three times over 1983-1984 with "Common Man," "I'm Only In It For The Love," and "In My Eyes," and had his last number one in 1986 with "Got My Heart Set On You."  All Told, Conlee made the Top Ten 19 times through 1987, when he moved from MCA to Columbia and reached the To Five with "Domestic Life."  Never much for touring, Conlee subsequently curtailed his recording activities as well, instead devoting his time to charity work (often on behalf of American farmers), raising his family, and running his own farm outside Nashville. 

OCT 11 - LITTLE JIMMY DICKENS (two shows)  3:30 & 7:30 pm - $20 per person

From his very humble beginnings in the tiny community of Bolt, West Virginia, came a man who has risen to the greatest heights in country music.  He's known the world over as Little Jimmy Dickens.  At just 4'll" tall, he is considered to be country music's foremost entertainers.  Jimmy, the oldest of thirteen children, made his radio debut at WJLS in Beckley, WV at the tender age of 18, while still in high school.  After excelling in 4 years of dramatics in high school, jimmy received a scholarship to attend West Virginia State University.  He opted to begin his pursuit for a career in country music.  After winning local acclaim, he moved to other places such as WIBC in Indianapolis and WLW in Cincinnati.  With the help of Roy Acuff, Jimmy was invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1948 and has been in Nashville ever since.  Jimmy recorded with Columbia records for nineteen years and has recorded over 200 songs.  From the start with light-hearted, up tempo songs like "Take An Old Cold Tater and Wait", (which earned him his nickname of "Tater" from Hand Williams, Sr.), to other hits that followed, including "Country Boy" and "A Sleeping At The Foot Of The Bed", the sound of Little Jimmy Dickens really caught on and he went on to become a household name.  A Timeless road warrior, who for decades, performed 300 nights a year, Little Jimmy Dickens was the first country music entertainer to completely circle the globe on a world tour in 1964.  That same year, after many years of world-wide popularity in the country music field, he won a place in the pop music spotlight with his recording of "May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose".  At that point in his career, he found himself on all national network shows.  In 1983, Little Jimmy Dickens' greatest moment came at the Country Music Awards show when he was elected into the prestigious Country Music Hall of Fame.  After more than sixty years in the music business, complete retirement is not in Little Jimmy Dickens' vocabulary.  Most weekends you'll find him at the grand Ole Opry, when he's not out making limited personal appearances.  The rest of his time, he and his wife, Mona, enjoy the quiet life in their Brentwood home, just south of Nashville.  In recent years you might have seen Jimmy on CMT and GAC as a frequent "guest" in Brad Paisley's videos.  Their friendship needs no words.  They are like father and son.  Although the smallest star at the Opry, his peers refer to Jimmy as "Tater, The Littlest, But Biggest Star At The Opry".

NOV 22 - GENE WATSON (two shows)  3:30 & 7:30 pm - $20 per person -

Gene Watson has returned to us again.  His audience has repeated voiced their love for this man's talent.  He has also stated that he does not want to wait to come and perform for us again.  This will be Gene's fourth appearance at the Middle Creek Theatre.

There are people who sing songs....and then there are the "singer's singers."  Those are the vocalist their peers revere, the ones true music lovers hold in awe.  One of them is Gene Watson, a "singer's singer" if ever one breathed.  Ask Clint Black, Randy Travis, Marty Stuart, Martina McBride, or any number of other stars.  "The world stops spinning when he sings, " marvels Robert K. Oermann, the dean of country critics.  "In his voice is all the ache of existence."

Born in Palestine, Texas in 1943, Gene Watson was one of seven children of an itinerant sawmill worker and crop picker.  He was raised on manual labor and still isn't afraid to get his fingernails dirty.  He quit school in the ninth grade to help support his family, but he has more common sense wisdom than many folks with graduate degrees.  He married his wife Mattie at age 17.  He became an auto-body worker to support her and their children.  On weekends in the 1960's, Gene began singing for $15 a night in the Houston honky-tonks.  I never did go looking for music." Watson recalls, "music found me."  A widening circle of admirers led to recording contracts with such regional labels as Wide World, Stoneway, and Resco.  In 1974, his Resco single of the steamy "Love In The Hot Afternoon" was picked up for national distribution by Capitol Records, igniting a firestorm of national hits.  "Farewell Party", "Fourteen Carat Mind", "Paper Rosie", "Speak Softly", "One Sided Conversation", "Should I Come Home" and the rest of his timeless successes took Gene Watson into the hearts of country music lovers around the world.  "I feel like when I touch somebody inside and see the tears roll out of their eyes, then I've got that person as a fan.  It's easy to tell a joke and make somebody laugh, but in the entertainment field it's difficult to make'em cry.  I've signed a lot of autographs after shows with people still sniffling and red-eyed.  It's for real; and that make me feel so good."  Today his music has found a home on the power independent, Step One Records (SOR), home to his "Uncharted Mind", "Good Ole Days", his first ever gospel recording, "Jesus is All I Need", and "A Way To Survive".  Country music fans will agree, Gene Watson's voice and music have continued to improve throughout his successful career, as evidenced by his success with "Change Her Mind" from his last effort.  Watson made country music history with the single as he and George Jones are the only artists 50+ to chart in nearly a decade, proving country music fans still love the voice and music of Gene Watson.

I've still got that group of hard core fans.  But lately it seems like we're gaining' new ones from that younger generation.  Every time we play a show, there's more and more of 'em out there."  And, that is as it should be.  For a true "singer's singer" is someone whose artistry spans the generations.