Country music – Three chords and the truth

Sunday, Sept 8 – Bill and I watched “Live at the Ryman”, a concert special celebrating the upcoming 8-part documentary by Ken Burns,  Country Music, A Film by Ken Burns.  The concert was two hours of one great song after another performed by a stellar line-up of country Western musicians.

After the special, Bill reminisced about his introduction to country music…

“I was born in 1925 and grew up on a cattle ranch on the Montana Hi-Line during the hardscrabble years of the Great Depression.

In order to listen to the radio, we had to disconnect the battery in the Model T Ford and hook it up to a small radio on the kitchen table. Listening was limited to 30 minutes a day to preserve the car battery. The first country music I heard was Hank Williams.

I’m 94 now and been around a bit, but I’ve never forgotten my Montana raisin’. And I still love country. As someone said, ‘it’s three chords and the truth.'”

“Country Music, A Film by Ken Burns” premieres Sept 15 on PBS. Click for the dets

(Cover photo on Montana Memoir: The Hardscrabble Years, 1925-1942: Bill McGee, age nine, center. Taken on the Holm ranch, Bennett Lake community, Montana, circa 1935.)