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Recently, reggae-country fusion singer, Gramps Morgan, got the phone call he had long been waiting for. He was offered the opportunity to represent the genre at a star-studded tribute concert for Country Music Hall of Fame legend, Dean Dillon.
Morgan was justifiably excited to be invited to perform on Song and Stories of Dean Dillon at the Propst Arena at VBC in Huntsville, Alabama, on Wednesday, October 9. Several of country music’s biggest stars will honour Dillon by singing some of his greatest hits. Among those confirmed to perform are George Strait, Vince Gill, Ronnie Dunn, Riley Green, Justin Moore, Pam Tillis, Mark Chesnutt, Billy Currington, Gramps Morgan, Due West and Dillon himself.
“Dean Dillon is one of the biggest songwriters of all times … including writing songs for George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Chris Stapleton. His famous song that Chris Stapleton sang is Tennessee Whiskey,” Morgan told The Gleaner of Dillon, who is also a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
The one night only concert will be filmed for national broadcast on a major television network.
“I am just waiting to confirm whether it will be ABC or CBS,” Morgan shared. “It will be some of the biggest names in country music ever and I think this is the first time an artiste from Jamaica … reggae artiste … is collaborating on such a huge project like this bringing together both genres. I am excited because this is a phone call that I have been waiting on to represent the love that we as Jamaicans have for country music. So to be a part of it means so much.”
More than a decade ago, Gramps, then a member of the Grammy Award-winning sibling reggae band Morgan Heritage, began working on a new sound that merges country and reggae. He even moved to Nashville, the city synonymous with country music. He steadily made inroads and a 2021 album saw him grabbing a headline in Forbes magazine stating ‘Gramps Morgan beautifully blends reggae & country on his Positive Vibration album’.
Speaking with The Gleaner previously about his passion for country music, he said: “On a Sunday when yuh a cut up the scallion and the thyme for the rice and peas and a grater the coconut, yuh a listen to country music. We in Jamaica grow up on singers like Charlie Pride, Marty Robbins, Kenny Rogers and Randy Travis. We have had artistes like Toots and the Maytals do a country album, although it was covers, but there was that synergy with the genres happening right there.”
The People Like You singer believes that being part of the Dean Dillon tribute is “a big thing for country music and a big thing for Jamaica and reggae music”.
“It will be in front of 6,500 people … a live audience. It’s going to amazing,” he added.
A three-time Grammy nominee, Dean Dillon’s stats as a songwriter are impressive. His bio notes that he has composed or co-written 55 songs for George Strait, including 19 singles, 11 of which went to No. 1. Some of the Dillon titles are Marina del Rey, The Chair, I’ve Come to Expect it From You, The Best Day, Easy Come, Easy Go, and She Let Herself Go.
Dillon was named the 1985 Billboard Country Artiste of the Year and in 1986, he was awarded the Nashville Songwriters award. The Country Music Association honoured him with the CMA Triple Play Award in 1995, 1996 and 1998 for penning three No. 1 songs in a 12-month period. In 2002, Dillon was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and in 2020, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
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