GaryOsberg.com

Good morning from Collegeville,

Stepping outside this week, it is hard to believe it’s February in central Minnesota. At this rate, we will be trading in our cross-country skis for water skis on Lake Sag pretty soon.

Fifty-three years ago today will forever be known as “The Day the Music Died.” Rock and roll pioneers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P Richardson were killed when their plane, headed for Moorhead, MN, crashed into a frozen cornfield near Clear Lake, IA, just six miles from take-off. Holly chartered the flight after his tour bus broke down and fellow musician Carl Bunch ended up in the hospital with severe frostbite. Perhaps if the weather was like it has been lately, we never would have lost so much incredible talent.

Fans of the late, great musicians call the plane crash “the first and greatest tragedy rock and roll has ever suffered.” Over the years several memorials have been created in their honor, including a steel guitar and three records bearing the three performers’ names, a giant pair of Holly’s famous Wayfarer-style glasses marking the crash site, and Don McLean’s hit song “American Pie.”

Fittingly titled “A Place Where it’s Nice and Warm,” this week’s show is another live broadcast from St. Paul at The Fitzgerald Theater featuring special guests vocalist Heather Masse and the sister-act Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele. Also making appearances are Butch Thompson on piano and clarinet, and the Royal Academy of Radio Actors sitting in with The Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band. Enjoy the show!

“One kind word can warm three winter months.” Japanese Proverb