Randy Wood, who founded Dot Records and brought Nashville native Pat Boone to pop-music stardom, has died in California at age 94.
The entrepreneur’s Randy’s Record Shop, based in Gallatin, was a key institution in the evolution of rock ‘n’ roll. Wood sold r&b records to white teenagers via mail order by advertising via the 50,000-watt WLAC on the shows of disc jockeys such as Gene Nobles and Hoss Allen. He founded the mail order business in 1947 and created Dot in 1950.
The label recorded a complete cross section of American music, from the ragtime piano of Gallatin’s Johnny Maddox to the pop harmonizing of Bowling Green’s The Hilltoppers, from the gospel sounds of Nashville’s The Fairfield Four to the comedy stylings of the Grand Ole Opry’s Lonzo & Oscar, from the Nashville dance bands of Frances Craig and Beasley Smith to the blues songs of the city’s Cecil Gant. Wally Fowler, Billy Vaughn, Snooky Lanson and Sam McCrary were also on the label’s roster.
Among Dot’s most notable country successes were Jimmy C. Newman’s 1954 hit “Cry, Cry, Darling” and 1957’s “A Fallen Star,” Mac Wiseman’s early bluegrass favorite “Tis Sweet to Be Remembered,” Bonnie Guitar’s 1957 “Dark Moon,” Leroy Van Dyke’s 1957 “The Auctioneer” and Sanford Clark’s 1956 “The Fool.” The label also recorded Cowboy Copas, Ned Miller, Hank Garland, Zeke Clements, JamUp & Honey, Reno & Smiley, Tommy Jackson, Roy Wiggins, Kenny Roberts and Big Jeff Bess (whose wife Tootsie immortalized the downtown honky-tonk that still bears her name).
In addition to chart-topping Boone hits such as 1955’s “Ain’t It a Shame” and 1957’s “Love Letters in the Sand,” Dot achieved major success with Gale Storm’s 1955 “I Hear You Knocking,” The Dell- Vikings’ 1957 “Come Go with Me,” Jim Lowe’s 1956 “The Green Door,” The Fontane Sisters’ 1954 “Hearts of Stone,” Nervous Norvus’ 1956 “Transfusion” and Tab Hunter’s 1957 “Young Love.” In addition to Hunter and Storm, the label also recorded such Hollywood stars as Debbie Reynolds, Margaret Whiting and Marlene Dietrich in the early 1950s.
Randy Wood sold Dot to Paramount in 1957, relocated to the West Coast and remained president of the label until 1967. Dot was rebranded as a country-music label in 1968. It became ABC-Dot on Music Row in 1974 and was discontinued at the start of 1978.
In his later career in California, Wood co-founded Ranwood Records with bandleader Lawrence Welk.
A native of Morrison, TN, Randy Wood died on April 9 after a fall in his home in La Jolla, CA.

Phil Vassar recruited friends Little Big Town for a sold out concert last week in his hometown Lynchburg, VA to benefit the Miller Home. Together they raised over $100,000 for the safe haven for young girls.

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Tracy Lawrence is hosting the 1st Annual Golf For A Cure Charity Golf Classic on Monday, May 2 benefitting Susan G. Komen Greater Nashville. Lawrence will be joined by Darryl Worley, Brad Arnold (3 Doors Down), Ira Dean, Keith Anderson, Bryan White, Matt Gary, Ty Brown (The Bachelorette) and more at the event at Five Oaks Golf & Country Club in Lebanon, TN. Details at www.tracylawrence.com. For information about sponsorship opportunities or to get involved, contact Tournament Director Joshua Lykins at 615-995-9316.
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The Music City Tennis Invitational will be held April 30-May 1 at the Brownlee O. Currey, Jr., Tennis Center at Vanderbilt University. Organizers are seeking newcomers and old friends who want to play tennis and raise money for the Center for Child Development at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. The tournament is open to all levels. Register at www.musiccitytennis.com. Last year MCTI proudly donated $47,552.64 to the Center.
MCTI will also host a songwriter showcase at the Bluebird Café on Thursday, April 21 at 9:00 p.m. featuring James Slater, Bekka Bramlett, and Greg Barnhill. Reservations are required at www.bluebirdcafe.com.
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The Colon Cancer Alliance’s Blue Note Fund, spearheaded by producer/artist/musician Charlie Kelley, recently awarded more than $31,000 to 104 families with loved ones with colon cancer.
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The Foundation for Bluegrass Music distributed $20,000 in funds to charitable public programs. Among the recipients are the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, KY to support programs celebrating the 100th birthday of Bill Monroe in 2011.

Gamma Blast Director/Editor Jeff Johnson directed the video for Billy Currington’s No. 1 “Let Me Down Easy,” capturing footage of the singer on and offstage as part of Kenny Chesney’s Goin’ Coastal tour to make the finished product. Johnson has also directed projects for Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Josh Groban, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and more. As a Director of Photography and Editor, his work includes Carrie Underwood, Timbaland, CNN, and more.
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Good Housekeeping’s “Shine On” event to celebrate the contributions of women throughout history took place yesterday (4/12) in New York City. Featuring performers Trisha Yearwood, Eve, Lee Ann Womack, K’Naan, and Frangela, as well as guests Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Martha Stewart, Heather Graham and more along with host Rebecca Romijn, the event was a benefit for DC’s National Women’s History Museum. Womack performed “I Hope You Dance” and Yearwood took on the James Brown classic “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” with an all female band.
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RCA Nashville songstress Sara Evans (pictured at right) appeared on the April 12 edition of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, where she performed her Gold-certified Top-10 hit, “A Little Bit Stronger,” from her just-released album Stronger.
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Trace Adkins will serve as a guest judge on this week’s episode of CMT’s Next Superstar, which airs Friday (4/15) at 8 pm CT. Contestants will be given their second challenge where they will have to perform, in trios, on Nashville’s Lower Broadway for tips. The trio with the least tips will have to sing to survive, and one more contestant will be eliminated. The premiere of CMT’s Next Superstar last week (4/8) featured actress Kristin Chenoweth guest judging, and contestant Brian Smith went home.

It’s been three years since Ashton Shepherd released her debut album to promising critical acclaim. Now, she is heading into her sophomore album for MCA Nashville with rising single “Look It Up” leading the way (No. 19 on MusicRow’s Country Breakout Chart). It is the first song she recorded for the new project and has become the fastest-rising hit of her career.
Her second album, Where Country Grows, will be released July 12. She wrote or co-wrote 8 of the 10 songs on the project, teaming with top-notch tunesmiths like Dean Dillon, Dale Dodson, Bobby Pinson and Troy Jones. She also wrote two of the album’s most powerful songs “I’m Just a Woman” and “Rory’s Radio” by herself.
Shepherd reunited with producer Buddy Cannon for the latest album. The two worked together on her 2008 debut, Sounds So Good.
The Alabama native will perform the national anthem at the Aaron’s 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in Talladega, AL on Sunday, April 17, set to be nationally televised on FOX.
The album isn’t the only new thing Shepherd has in the works—she’s expecting her second child this fall.

>>Danville, KY native John Michael Montgomery became one of the newest members of the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame recently, inducted by brother Eddie Montgomery, of the country duo Montgomery Gentry, at a ceremony in Lexington, KY.
 
>>Kris Kristofferson will receive the Nashville Film Festival (NaFF) 2011 Career Achievement Award when the Festival presented by Nissan takes place April 14-21 at the Regal Green Hills Stadium 16. Kristofferson will be presented with the award before the Friday, April 15, 8:00 p.m. spotlight screening of Bloodworth, in which the actor portrays a disgruntled and estranged father and musician returning to his family after 40 years of absence. Chely Wright will be in attendance for the Friday, April 15, 5:30 p.m. sneak preview screening of the documentary Wish Me Away. The documentary, by directors Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf, follows Wright leading up to and after her coming out as openly gay. For more details about the Film Festival, please visit http://www.nashvillefilmfestival.org.
 


>>Rebel Dawg Records artist Eric Lee Beddingfield took part in the 10th Annual Tennessee Governor’s One Shot Turkey Hunt benefiting the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Foundation in Pulaski, Tennessee recently. Participants were paired with a guide and given one opportunity to bag a bird. ELB came away empty handed, but he did get to perform his “The Gospel According to Jones” hit for the 1,000 or so attendees of the banquet that evening.
 
>>Chris Young is preparing to make his second visit to entertain U.S. troops stationed overseas, as part of the Stars For Stripes tour. Young will embark on the PIECE OF HOME tour, performing for service members stationed in Iraq and Kuwait, from April 13-21. Not only will Young and his full band perform 5 concerts at 5 camps, he will also offer special acoustic sets at various remote FOBs (Forward Operating Base) for troops who seldom receive celebrity entertainment.
 

>>Davis Music Group artist Jacob Lyda was in Las Vegas recently to promote his debut single, “I’m Doing Alright” and spent time with Austin “Chumlee” Russell, one of the stars of the History Channel’s hit Pawn Stars. Lyda’s debut album is scheduled for a fall release.