2019 Inductees

Originally from Iola, Jim Dale graduated from Emporia State Teachers College, and currently lives in Burlington, Kansas. While a student in Emporia, he cut his first record, a 1959 single on Inner-Glo Records called “Guitar Pickin’ Man”, on which he called himself Jimmie Dee. The song’s co-writer, Chuck Cowan, sang the flipside. While working as a teacher in Madison, Kansas, Jim recorded the regionally successful “VW”, (backed by the Lawrence band The Comancheros, who’s instrumental “TP” was on the flipside) which spent some sixteen weeks on the local charts in 1963. That success led to a contract with Mid Continent Entertainment and engagements throughout the Midwest. By early 1965, Dale put out another single called “Who’ll Be The Fool Of The Year” on Command Records. A move to Nashville provided Jim a chance record with likes of Ray Stevens, Jimmy Bryant, Charlie McCoy and Jerry Reed. While in Nashville, Jim co-wrote “Stampede” for a young Hank Williams Jr. Jim eventually landed in California where he sang and wrote with some the top names in the industry. In addition to a contract with the Buck Owens group, Jim collaborated with Freddie Hart to write “Cravin’”and “Jesus Is My Kind of People”. “Cravin’“ appeared on Freddie Hart’s “Bless Your Heart” album that ended up as the number three country album of 1972. In addition to Freddie Hart, “Jesus Is My Kind Of People” has been covered by the likes of Gladys Knight and Etta James. While in California, he was handpicked by Gene Autry to take over Gene’s Melody Ranch radio-turned-television show, which Jim hosted as the New Melody Ranch. Some of Jim’s additional recording credits include “Mountain Dew” and “Little Boy Blue” (Monument Records), “Learn To Cheat And Steal” and “Goin’ Is A Long Way Home” (Shasta Records), “A Tale Of Two Cities” and “Hard Workin’ Man” (Lincoln Records), “Copper Pennies, Silver Dollars And Golden Memories” (Dore Records), and “Prayer For Peace” and “Point Of No Return” (Boone Records).

Bill Glenn started his professional career in the late 60’s, playing in various rock and show bands throughout the mid-west (Last Free Exit, Spider & The Crabs, etc.) . Joining the Army Band program in 1971, Bill was a top honor graduate of the Armed Forces School of Music. After a tour in the military came college at Wichita State University, where he graduated with a percussion performance degree. Following college, Bill toured nationally with multiple lounge and show bands (The Jesse Lopez Show). In 1981, an audition landed him a touring position with international recording artists The Lettermen, which lasted until 2012. As a freelance artist, Bill has performed with The Wichita Jazz Orchestra, Music Theater of Wichita, Dan Hearle, Don Lanphere, Hank Mobley, Mose Allison, Martha Loren, Eddie Daniels, Alan Wise, George Graham, Glenn Holmes, Craig Owens, Rich Matteson, Jerry Hahn, Mike Steinel, Dawayne Bailey, The Four Lads, The Ink Spots, and Wayne Newton. Bill has been teaching at Friends University since 2011.

Scatband was a popular group out of Topeka during the 80’s. Scatband was born at Theodore’s, a local Topeka “speak-easy,” in 1981, and was active through 1985. While often performing there, as well as other Topeka venues, the group later spent much of their time on the road, primarily in the midwest and southeast. Scatband opened for Tina Turner in 1983, doing two shows at Topeka’s Grand Theater. Scatband’s style was very eclectic, with 5 strong musicians who were also 5 strong vocalists. They include: guitarist/composer Ric (“R.B.”) Barron, bassist Danl Blackwood, composer/keyboardist/vocalist Nancy Engelken, composer/keyboardist Chaz Harrison, and composer/drummer C. Jaisson H.Taylor. During their time together, the band released a self-titled EP. With the advent of MTV in the early 80s, local Topeka TV stations recognized their unique Pop/Rock/Jazz/Reggae original music, and competed to produce music videos of the band. Many of these are currently available on youtube, including “Old Friend- Scatband”, and “Scatband Live, Topeka Civic Theater 12/19/83”.

Bruce Bureman and Tim O’Rourke have been bringing their special vocal blend and musical stylings to both KC area and national audiences since 1964. Performing under several band names over the years, with many great local musicians, they are once again simply Bureman & O’Rourke. Bruce and Tim were drafted into the Army, and ended up at the same post in Ft. Mead, MD, playing gigs during nights and on weekends. They performed at an Armed Forces Music Festival, with headliner Roy Clark and master of ceremonies Ed Sullivan, before top brass and an audience of thousands. Back in KC during the 70’s, Bruce and Tim formed a band with bassist Bob Schad and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Mark Higbee (2008 KMHoF inductee with The Fabulous Four) that was very successful both locally, and for notable runs in Reno and Lake Tahoe, NV. A live album ,“Strawberry Pickins” resulted during the 70’s, as did a 1976 studio LP “Somebody Give Me A Smile”. Composed mostly of original songs by Bruce and Tim, the additional session players included Lynn Pillar (steel guitar) Eric Bikales (keyboards) Peter Jacobs (drums) and Allen Blasco (guitarist, multi- instrumentalist, producer) all of whom are KMHoF inductees. A 45 single, “Pleasure to Love” b/w “Foolsgold” was released in 1979. Bureman & O’Rourke’s latest production, the 2013 CD “Shoulder To Shoulder” features 100% original songs by the duo. Along with the usual great session players, longtime friends and KMHoF inductees Brewer & Shipley are guest vocalists on the title track.

Ida’s musical style is so unique that it’s hard to classify. Over the years her repertoire has included Pop style ballads, Jazz and Blues, Show Tunes, Funk, R&B,gospel, and well known Standards. By the age of five, Ida McBeth knew she wanted to be a singer. Born in Kansas City, Kansas, Ida was provided early exposure to a variety of talented vocalists by her mother. Today, some 30 years and five albums later, the critics still laud the talents of Ida McBeth. The New York Times applauded her “technique, taste and sass… her precise intuition, guts and raw confidence.” And Ida’s lithesome vocals continue to embrace the subtleties of jazz, pop, blues and soul, both in her home base of Kansas City and on the road.

Fyre’s story begins in Hays, KS in 1968, upon the dissolution of The Blue Things, who had experienced a lineup change. The Blue Things re-dubbed themselves as Fyre and moved to the west coast in the hopes of gaining massive exposure. The band managed to land a contract with Dot Records and embarked on a national tour with Them, but by early 1970 the band had dissolved with some members staying in California and others relocating back to Kansas. Several years later in Emporia, KS Fyre was resurrected with a mostly revamped lineup and was packing clubs all over Kansas as well as select venues in Hollywood. By mid-’77, the band was holed up in Leon Russell’s home studio tracking their debut LP, “Pyromancy”. In the liner notes the band sends “a special thank you to our fans, especially those in the state of Kansas, for believing in our music and making this album a reality.” Upon its release, Billboard magazine was singing the band’s praises and expectations were high. However, limited distribution in some major markets kept the album from breaking big nationwide. Several other recordings were also released during the band’s tenure before Fyre split again sometime in the early ’80s. Since then, Fyre embarked on a brief reunion tour in 2007. Members of Fyre include John A. Richard, Marvin Hunt, Richard Bisterfeldt, and Tom Malcolm.

The Secrets* (Brent Hoad, Kevin Davis, Norm Dahlor and Pat Tomek) released a 1979 single on Kansas City’s Titan Records. Only 1000 copies of “It’s Your Heart Tonight” b/w “Get Your Radio”, two Brent Hoad songs, were pressed and were quickly gone. The Secrets* were a good match for the power pop record company, but the one single is all they ever did for Titan. In addition, the band had a song on KY102’s “Homegrown 1980” album. A couple of years later, the Secrets* did another single and an album for Canada’s Quality label. During the band’s six year history, the only personnel changes were when, early on, guitarist Kevin Davis left to be replaced by guitarist Steve Davis (no relation), and when drummer Pat Tomek left to join Kansas City’s Rainmakers, and later the Bombpops. Randy Miller replaced Tomek on drums for the rest of the band’s tenure.

In 1970 five guys from two different bands got together in a small house in Prairie Village KS. Guitarist Kevin Davis and bassist Bill Roe had been in a band called Phoenix. Not much was happening with Phoenix and Kevin knew of three guys looking to form a better band than the one they were in. Bruce Johnson was a young pro grade drummer playing in a band with Hammond B-3 organist, Craig Young, and their singer, Doug Land. The five formed a new group called Sidereal (Doug’s idea, being it was astronomy term, he thought it was cool). Bill came up with the name NATION instead. It seemed a nice short name that everyone would know how to pronounce (after all, most midwesterners would have pronounced Sidereal as “Side-real”). Their first gig was a private party. Then within weeks, they started playing high schools, colleges and bars, eventually playing some of the largest venues in Kansas City and the midwest. They were all in their late teens and early twenties, having the time of their lives. Doug was soon replaced with Chuck Boyd, a great singer and drummer from a Kansas City band called White Lead. He brought percussion to NATION – congas, timbales, claves – and an excellent voice. They bought an old bus from their friends, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, and limped it over five states. Eventually, Chuck got tired of the road (it’s not as much fun as people romanticize). Desperate for a new singer, they heard through friend Kerry Livgren of the band Kansas about a young keyboardist-singer with a Steve Winwood-type voice that was available. Enter Michael Murphy, just out of high school and ready to join a real band. NATION would be quite a transition for Michael. They had been road hardened for almost three years, but Michael had to run the untested gauntlet of a rock’n’roll lifestyle while still getting up on stage to sing every night. Somehow, he lived to tell the tales. In 1973 bassist Bill Roe had an epiphany and decided to quit living the sex, drugs and rock’n’roll lifestyle. He announced he was leaving the band, but guitarist Kevin Davis ended up leaving first; within a few months, they all decided to call it quits….for a while. A few years later keyboardist Craig Young reformed the band with different members….and a few years later, yet another version. Around 2000, their old roadie Dyno ran into Bill Roe in Columbia MO, where he had ended up. Dyno had stayed in contact with the other members and they all met in Kansas City for a reunion dinner. It turned out no one had quit playing music, everyone was still playing and their chops were as good or better than ever. Someone proposed putting on a reunion concert. Chuck was living in Nashville, Bill in Columbia and their rehearsals were on the Kansas side of greater KC – so some travel was involved in the resuscitation. NATION started playing reunions in the KC area for a few years, until the band elected to simply reform in 2004. They played regularly until 2008, with their latest reunion in 2011. Now, in 2018, they’re on the ballot for induction into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame. Will wonders never cease?

The 2019 Bill Lee Award winner Samantha Fish grew up in a musical family in Kansas City. Samantha became obsessed with music early life, taking up drums before switching to guitar at the age of 15. By the time she was 20, she had formed her own trio and self-released her first album locally in 2009. She soon caught the ear of the renowned Blues label Ruf Records, which in 2011 released Girls With Guitars, which teamed her with fellow axe-women Cassie Taylor and Dani Wilde. The same year saw Ruf release Fish’s solo studio debut Runaway. The album was named Best Artist Debut at the 2012 Blues Music Awards in Memphis.
Black Wind Howlin’ (2013) and Wild Heart (2015) followed. Wild Heart reached the top slot on Billboard’s Blues chart, winning considerable critical acclaim and further establishing Fish as a prominent presence in the Blues community. She also collaborated with Blues-Rock veterans Jimmy Hall and Reese Wynans on the 2013 project The Healers. That same year, she jammed onstage with Blues icon Buddy Guy, and guested on Devon Allman’s album Turquois. By 2017, she was maintaining a relentless tour schedule of over 300 dates a year, but still found time to record and release two very different albums: the Soul-Blues flavored Chills & Fever, and the Traditional-Blues inspired Belle of the West. The success of these stylistically divergent records simply reinforces Samantha’s eclectic no-holes-barred approach to making music.
As of 2019, Samantha is working on a new album while maintaining her rigorous international touring schedule. She has also formed her own label, distributed by Rounder Records, where she will be producing other artists. Her website is samanthafish.com
In June of 2020, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Dion DiMucci released a new album, titled “Blues With Friends”. Those friends include Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison, Billy Gibbons, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon….and Samantha Fish.

In 1972, entrepreneur Warren Bernhardt and his wife Nelda created the War-Nel Center, just outside the town of Holton, KS, fifteen miles north of Topeka on Hwy 75. The sprawling property included a bowling alley, mobile home park, and a strip of motel rooms. But most importantly, it was home base for The Jolly Troll Lounge, and eventually, The Jolly Troll Stardust Amphitheater. That entertainment complex was christened “The No. 1 Boogie Spot of N.E. Kansas” and certainly lived up to its billing. The Jolly Troll featured popular regional bands of the day such as Limousine, Cocky Fox, The Pott County Pork and Bean Band, Stone Wall, Fyre, Bluebeard, Morningstar, White Clover, and The John Roller Band. National acts that performed include The Amazing Rhythm Aces, Dr. Hook, Flash Cadillac, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Kansas (both before and after their record deal), Steppenwolf, Head East, Earl Scruggs Revue, Fanny, The Ozark Mt. Daredevils, Sugarloaf, and more.
In the days before “social media” promotion, things like posters and handbills were important tools. Warren’s son Dean and daughter Sandy were recruited to put up posters anywhere they could all over N.E. Kansas: grocery stores, gas stations, hardware stores, convenience shops, etc. Predictably, word got around and hundreds, even thousands of folks would descend upon The Jolly Troll on any given night, much to the consternation of the local police and fire marshal.
From 1972 until his death ten years later, Warren Bernhardt held court at The Jolly Troll. Universally liked by all who knew him, Warren made both patrons and performers alike at his establishment feel like guests in his home, even family. With the 2019 Bob Hapgood Award, Warren Bernhardt and The Jolly Troll are forever ensconced in Kansas music history.

In 1871, Dr. Brewster M. Higley moved from Indiana to Smith County, Kansas under the Homestead Act. He lived in a small cabin near West Beaver Creek. He was so inspired by his new bucolic surroundings that he decided to create a poem in praise of the prairie. Thus, the early lyrics to “Home on the Range” were originally published as a poem in the Smith County Pioneer in 1872 under the title “My Western Home”. That home is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Home on the Range Cabin.
The music was later added by Daniel E. Kelley (1808–1905), a carpenter and friend of Higley. Higley’s original words are similar to those of the modern version of the song, but not identical (the original did not contain the words “on the range”). The song was eventually adopted by ranchers, cowboys, and other western settlers and spread over time across the United States, evolving in various forms as most classic folk songs do.
The song remained a beloved obscurity for many years until a major hit version was recorded by Bing Crosby in 1933, thus turning a little-known saddle song into a most renowned western anthem. Others who have recorded the song over the years include Frank Sinatra, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Pete Seeger, Johnnie Ray, Burl Ives, Slim Whitman, Connie Francis, Steve Lawrence, and Tori Amos.
“Home on the Range” was officially adopted as the state song of Kansas on June 30, 1947.