Garth, the ultimate artiste

He's in retirement now, but when he was touring, recording and workin' it, he was the best example of doing "it" right.

I should say that I've known Garth Brooks since about 1990, when he was a relative unknown. We had met a few times and had some interesting discussions. In 1993, Garth came to play in St. Louis, and during the backstage event, he remembered not only my name, but also my wife's. He was gracious and humble, and spent a good chunk of time with us.

In 1996, he came to town and again remembered my name, asked about my wife, and spent about an hour just sitting around with me and a few other staff members from the radio station.

My, weren't we both young looking here?

Remind me to tell you the story about how in 1997, I single-handedly forced Capitol Records to release Garth's "Sevens" album about two weeks early. It's a true story, but I have to wait until the statute of limitations passes before I tell on myself.