The first of a series of the Best of the Gene Williams Country Television Show will feature Johnny Cash’s Tennessee Three on the next Lucas Oil sponsored, Telly Award-winning show that is taped live in Branson, Mo. and telecast across the nation to more than 60 million homes coast-to-coast and border-to-border.
The show with the Tennessee Three will be telecast Jan. 17 and 18. (EDITOR’S CHECK LISTINGS BELOW). In addition to being telecast across the nation, the Gene Williams Country Television Show can also be seen in Puerto Rico and Canada.
“It was a challenge getting Johnny Cash’s Tennessee Three’s appearances on two of my shows condensed into just one for this special series. Because of the popularity of the movie ‘Walk the Line,’ the Tennessee Three have been discovered by even more fans,” said Gene Williams who grew up with Cash in Dyess, Ark., worked in country music with Cash himself. “My friends, guitarist Bob Wootton and WS Holland on drums, the longest standing members of Johnny Cash’s band, are carrying on the tradition they started more than 40 years ago. They are accompanied by Vicky Wootton, vocals and rhythm guitar; Scarlett Wootton, guitar and vocals; and Lisa Horngren, upright bass; and delighting fans everywhere.”
Cash called Holland “the greatest drummer in the world” and nicknamed him “Father of the Drums.” Holland is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and in 2004 was awarded the International Rockabilly Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award. When Cash hired Wootton permanently, the agreement was that Wootton would be with Cash for the rest of his life. His unparalleled similarity to Cash’s style of singing has fans saying they are watching The Man in Black himself.
In addition to the Tennessee Three the Best of Series will feature Blackwood Brothers, Johnny Lee, Barbara Fairchild, Joey Riley and Mickey Gilley.
Williams will be announcing his new location for the Gene Williams Country Television Show tapings in 2009 in the near future. For more information go to the website genewilliamscountry.com. The next live taping is Feb. 15 at 2 p.m. Admission is free and the doors open at 1:30 p.m. For more information go to the website genewilliamscountry.com.
Williams began his country music television show in Arkansas 50 years ago and for the past eight years has taped the show in Branson live before a studio audience. Guests have included Ed McMahon, Mickey Gilley, the Oak Ridge Boys, Roy Clark, Johnny Lee, Barbara Fairchild, Sons of the Pioneers, the Osmonds, Johnny Cash’s band The Tennessee Three, the Blackwood Brothers, Helen Cornelius, Leona Williams, Charlie Louvin, Mary Lou Turner, Cal Smith, Stonewall Jackson, Norma Jean, “Diamond” Dave Somerville, Little Jimmy Dickens, Porter Wagoner, Jim Owen, Buck Trent and Wanda Jackson.
Williams’ co-host Katie Lynn has received the Branson Entertainment Awards Best Support Vocalist twice for her work in the “Mickey Gilley Show.” She has worked with Gilley for more than eight years and also worked with Jim Owen for seven years. In addition to her singing career, she is a real estate agent. She and the guest stars perform weekly on the television show with the Country Junction Band.
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