This turned out to be a wonderful weekend as I received a surprise call from Jim Reeves's nephew, John Rex Reeves (a singer in his own right, who has toured the world), telling me that he was only four miles outside of my Iowa town. He had long talked about wanting me to meet his older brother (and one of Jim's other nephews), Joe Max Reeves. The three of us ended up spending the afternoon and most of the evening together and I must say it was a fantastic experience.

Both men are excellent story tellers and regaled me with one story after another that was humorous, insightful, revealing, and truly engrossing about Gentleman Jim, the Reeves family, their father Buford, the music business, etc. We covered A LOT of ground, shared a lot of laughs and had just a great time.

Being the oldest, Joe had also been around Gentleman Jim many times growing up and after Jim became an international singing star and had many tales to tell that showed the personal side of our favorite artist.

I kept thinking as I was sitting there listening with rapt attention that what they were telling me was an important part of music history and definitely needs to be shared with the fans. I promise you I will do that in the future.

Below is a picture of us; that's Joe on the left and John on the right who, btw, has played shows in New York state, is taping another appearance on the RFD-TV show "Midwest Country", getting a prestigious music award (I'll tell you about later), and getting ready to embark on a tour overseas.

We had such a great time I was sorry to see it end. Both guys are very easy to be around and I think most people would find them enjoyable. John also sang parts of a few songs as we discussed Jim's repertoire, etc.

Our apologies to our respective wives Neva (John's spouse) and Julie, for talking right past dinner!