Photo by Melissa Hennings
Better late than never.
Oak Cliff’s own Ray Wylie Hubbard made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry Wednesday after more than 50 years in the music business.
The 93-year-old weekly show often is considered a right-of-passage for young country and western musicians. Dallas-based singer/songwriter Paul Cauthen made his debut there about a month ago.
Hubbard grew up in what is now the Bishop Arts District, at Eighth and Adams, and graduated from Adamson High School in the ’60s, where he began writing songs and started a band called Three Faces West.
“Michael Murphey was a senior when I was a sophomore at Adamson. And there was a fellow by the name of B.W. Stevenson. He was a freshman, I believe,” Hubbard told the Advocate in 2012. “Then of course Stevie Ray and Jimmie [Vaughan] went to Kimball, and they were more into the garage bands. We were more folk singers in our little world.”
Hubbard is 72, and he’s still writing and recording great stuff. Check out the video below of Hubbard at the Opry singing “The Messenger” with Pam Tillis. A new book about Hubbard is coming out next month. It’s called The Messenger: The Songwriting Legacy of Ray Wylie Hubbard.
