June 2026

Country Music

THE STROKE TOOK HER OFF THE ROAD. THE BROKEN HIP TOOK HER OFF HER FEET. BUT AT 88, LORETTA LYNN STILL WALKED BACK INTO A SONG. In May 2017, a stroke ended nearly six decades of touring overnight. Eight months later, Loretta Lynn fell at her Hurricane Mills ranch and broke her hip. She was in her mid-eighties, with a body that had already carried poverty, teenage marriage, motherhood, heartbreak, fame, loss, and the weight of being the woman country music once tried to quiet. Most artists would have called it enough. Loretta did not. She recorded again, close to home, with the stubbornness of a coal miner’s daughter who had spent her life refusing to let other people decide when she was finished. And when the project came out in 2021, it was not just another album. It was her 50th studio album — a final statement from a woman who had nothing left to prove and still refused to be written off. Reba McEntire and Carrie Underwood stood beside her on the title track. Tanya Tucker and Margo Price appeared across the project too, turning it into more than a record. It became three generations of women singing back to the woman who had opened the door. Loretta died 19 months later, asleep at the ranch she loved. That was not just a final album. It was Loretta Lynn telling time, pain, and Nashville one last thing: she was still woman enough. Loretta Lynn – (“Still Woman Enough”:)

Introduction How Loretta Lynn Walked Back Into a Song at 88 In May 2017, a...

Country Music

Nashville is on the brink of an unprecedented upheaval as a shocking backstage betrayal has finally erupted into open warfare. After enduring years of what they describe as silent pain, seven country music legends—Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, George Strait, Alan Jackson, Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan, and Trace Adkins—have reportedly reached their breaking point, declaring a fierce battle for the soul of the genre they helped build.

Introduction NASHVILLE SHAKEN: COUNTRY MUSIC LEGENDS SPEAK OUT IN A BATTLE TO RECLAIM THE SOUL...

Country Music

Traces of Texas reader John Klier was the photo editor of the University Star newspaper at Southwest Texas State in San Marcos back in 1989. That’s when he took this photo of the great George Strait at the Strahan Colosseum. John said it was a great job and he really misses the San Marcos of that time. If you look close, you can tell that George is hoping he can make it to Amarillo by morning. 😉

Introduction A YOUNG GEORGE STRAIT, A SMALL TEXAS STAGE, AND A FUTURE NO ONE COULD...

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