Every day I drive past the Academy of Country Music right off the 101 freeway in Encino and wonder why it is there. Seriously, I thought country music was relegated to the Ozarks in Missouri and Nashville, TN. Needless to say, I got my answer when I saw Billy Mize & The Bakerfield Sound. You see, even though Nashville, by all accounts, is considered the “Capital of Country Music”, Bakersfield is really where the country sound we enjoy today was born.
Billy Mize, Buck Owens and Merle Haggard are all pioneers of the Bakerfield sound that was more a rock based country sound born from those southerners who migrated west during the dust bowl era in America. Billy Mize was HUGE!!! He had hit records, a television show and the respect/admiration of all his peers. So, why didn’t I know who he was? Billy Mize didn’t tour to keep his…
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