Merle Haggard and Other Great Meet & Greets

I had a "memory" pop up on my Facebook page this morning. I got to get my picture taken with Merle Haggard before his show at Alberta Bair Theater seven years ago.

He was quite friendly and asked many questions about me and my radio career. Very cordial.

Charlie Daniels, Garth & Tricia, Ray Price and all the guys from Sawyer Brown were the same way.

Henry Paul of Blackhawk was great to visit with, although, I had to pay for our beers because he didn't have any money on him before the show. He said they did one year for "Black Tie, Blue Jeans."

Emceeing concerts is not what you might think. You don't get a lot of time to hang out with the singer or the band. It's more like "you have to be at the venue 90 minutes before the start of the show. Stand here. Don't be out there too long. Make sure that you mention the record company. When you're done, don't hang out backstage." Glamorous, huh?

Some of my other favorite artist interactions were with Janie Fricke, Travis Tritt, Razzy Baily, Mel McDaniel, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Kenny Rogers, and Williams & Ree.

My mom always said, "It's nice to be important but it's important to be nice."