Okaloosa County BOCC — June 3, 2014 — Bill Barnhill Email

From: Roland Sims To: Rick Owen Subject: FW: H J KUNTRY Date: Thursday, May 22, 2014 11:53:52 AM Importance: High Rick, Information for Proclamation Thanks, Roland Sims Jr. Executive Assistant II Okaloosa County Administrator's Office 1804 Lewis Turner Blvd., Ste. 400 Fort Walton Beach, FL 32547 850-651-7515 Please note: Due to Florida's very broad public records laws, most written communications to or from County employees regarding County business are public records, available to the public and media upon request. Therefore, this written e-mail communication, including your e-mail address, may be subject to public disclosure. -----Original Message----- From: Bill Barnhill [mailto:bbarn11@yahoo.com] Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2014 11:52 AM To: Roland Sims Subject: H J KUNTRY H J KUNTRY Herbert John Carter, aka H J Kuntry, graduated from Leon High School in Tallahassee, Fl in 1958. He then served a stint in the US Marines, came back home to Tallahassee and went to work with the Tallahassee Fire Department. He worked there for 15 years and during that time he opened his own recording studio. There he worked with other artists with recordings and writing songs of his own. It wasn't long before he finished his first album and began promoting it. After a couple of trips to Nashville and after turning down a Nashville contract he left the Tallahassee Fire Department and in August, 1975 he left St Marks, Florida and began a 10 year Odyssey to promote his music. His travels over the next 10 years carried him thru all but 100 Counties in the lower US and Alaska. While on these travels he promoted his music and began to build a following. He sold albums and cataloged over 30,000 names of people he had sold to. It was during these travels he developed the concept of Dixie Phonics. Just as American Folk Music has its origins in the Appalachian Mountains, Cajun Music is identified with southern Louisiana, Texas Swing was created in the State of Texas, and Bluegrass is identified with rural Kentucky, Dixie Phonics has its own roots. So, what characterizes Dixie Phonics and makes it different. Dixie Phonics recognizes the CULTURE OF THE LYRICS in each song. The music might be Country, Blue Grass, Cajun, or American Folk. But the LYRICS, so long as they deal with a Culture make it Dixie Phonics. The Culture might be about life on the Mississippi, Plantation Life, Coal mines in Kentucky, or Building automobiles in Detroit. The list goes on and on. And it should be said, the concept of Dixie Phonics deals not only with music, but poetry and the arts as well. H J Kuntry recognized and identified these attributes as a Cultural exchange between artists and people in different regions. He continues to promote the concept of "Dixie Phonics" and should be recognized and given credit for it. Sent from my iPad