A few years ago at Fan Fair -- known these days as the
CMA Music Festival
-- I was walking through the exhibit hall, looking at the booths promoting various country artists. Along the way, I noticed
a display for a female country singer who'd enjoyed success in the '70s. Ironically, it was positioned across from another
one devoted to
Hank Williams Sr., who died on New Year's Day in 1953. As I pointed out
to a friend, "The difference between the two of them is that Hank's dead, but his career isn't." Country music fans and historians
will be discussing Williams' music for many generations to come, and his enduring popularity is evidenced with the arrival
of
The Last Ride, a new film opening June 22 in New York City and June
29 in Los Angeles. Henry Thomas, who gained fame three decades ago as a child actor in
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,
stars as the country icon in the film that chronicles his final, ill-fated road trip to a show in Canton, Ohio. The soundtrack
album features songs performed by Jett Williams (Hank's daughter) and contemporary Christian vocalists Russ Taff and Michael
English, among others. The entire soundtrack album is
now being
streamed on Facebook in advance of its release on June 19 on Curb Records.
The Last Ride will be released nationally
to theaters this summer and is expected to be available on DVD and Blu-ray early next year.
