Benefit Event for Mo--June 14, 2008
July 3, 2008
Charleston Daily Mail
Charleston, W.Va., concert to honor state's 'Willie Nelson'
A number of area bands will join forces at The Pour House Sunday afternoon to pay tribute to the late Mo Truman, who was known as West Virginia's Willie Nelson for his strikingly similar voice.
Truman, 58, and a regular fixture of The Pour House Band, died unexpectedly last month from complications of a heart condition.
The Clay County native played with area bands including Steve Mullins and the Southern Sound, Driftwood, Cowboy Jazz, Southern Grace and Southern Mix. Filmmaker Mike Lilly included Truman in a 2002 movie called "Correct Change."
Sunday's show, which starts at 4 p.m. and includes The Pour House Band, The Carpenter Ants and Robert Shaffer is a benefit for Truman's family to help defray funeral expenses. Donations will be accepted and other items will be auctioned to raise money.
The Pour House is located at 4030 W. Washington St.
June 15, 2008
What a wonderful event. The music was so beautiful. It was exactly what we all needed to help deal with our grief of losing our dear Mo to be with the Lord. The beautiful God loving music was like a wave of sunshine to our hearts.
I want to thank Allan and his wife Lena Morris for organizing this awesome event. Also, a big hand to all that participated in making the event a success. In four hours, over $1800 was raised to help Mo's family financial hardship. Several of Mo's music was sold to help raise money. Southern Grace Gospel had several CD's when Mo was younger. I really enjoyed listening to them. Also, Mo's CD's--Like I've Never Loved Before and His tribute to Willie Nelson are still available to purchase. You can contact Lindsay, Allan and myself to purchase any of these cds. Mo's CD's are $10 each or if mailed, $16. You can reach me at 304-755-4988 to purchase any of his CD's. We also have professional photos of Mo available for purchase.
Again, thanks to the following bands for helping make Mo's event a great success:
Southern Grace: Allen and Lena Mooris, John and Debbie Peters and Charlie Bledsoe
Royal Hands: Dave and Bonnie Stevenson, Jan and Paul Hudnall.
Buddy Petry and the Old Daugs: Bob Hennesy, Jim Chandler, Allen Morris and Rick ?.
Please email me at kerrations@yahoo.com if I am missing anyone or any information that should be noted.
Also, I would like to thank Governor Joe Mansion III for proclaiming our Mo--a Distingish Mountaineer. What a great honor for our loving Mo.
View the web page for more information: From the Governor's office.
June 14, 2008
Benefit honoring Mo Truman to help raise funds for his funeral and family expenses.Allen Mooris, Mike Evans and Jerry Bird came up with the idea to do a benefit event for Mo and his family. This event is for raising funds to help with the expenses for the funeral, Lindsay's family plane tickets, traveling back and forth to Kentucky University Hospital and West Virginia. The family is so grateful that Allen, Mike and Jerry planned this special event and helping them raise funds for the financial hardship that they have had to endure during his illness and death. This event was set for June 14, 2008. It was not known at the planning that Mo would be taken by the angels.
Carl Steven "MO" Truman Benefit Event
Date: Saturday, June 14, 2008
Time: 5 to 9 pm
Place: Clay Country High School
The AMC will be Brad Quarry and he will also be singing.
The following groups will be performing:
Southern Grace: Allen and Lena Mooris, John and Debbie Peters and Charlie Bledsoe
Royal Hands: Dave and Bonnie Stevenson, Jan and Paul Hudnall.
Buddy Petry and the Old Daugs: Bob Hennesy, Jim Chandler, Allen Morris and Rick ?.
There will be a 50/50 drawing and copies of Mo's cd's will be sold for $10 each. Once the copies are gone, orders can be taken for $16 to cover the cost of mailing and the CD. Mo's photos will also be available for purchase.
Thank you in advance for all the singers and performers for donating their love and time for this heart performing event. Thank you to all of his family, friends and fans for your support. I look forward to seeing you there.
BENEFIT HONORS LATE SINGER MO TRUMAN
Publication: THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE
Published: Thursday, June 12, 2008
Page: 15D
Byline: NOT AVAILABLE
There will a benefit concert to help pay final expenses of the late Mo Truman from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday at Clay County High School. Admission is free, but money will be raised through donations, a 50/50 raffle and the sale of Truman's CDs.
Truman, a singer-songwriter who played with local bands Southern Mix and Pour House and became widely known for his Willie Nelson impersonations, died June 4 in a Kentucky hospital. He was 58. Friends said he died of heart failure.
The son of a coal miner, Truman was born in Widen, Clay County, served in the Army, then worked 14 years in the coalmines while playing music on weekends, said friend Lisa Denise Kerr. When he left the mines, Truman was determined to devote more of his life to making music.
Later he managed Terrace Park East, a 194-unit condominium complex on Kanawha Boulevard, Kerr said. He left that job in 2002 to pursue his music career full time, when he produced the first of his two CDs.
When Willie Nelson had a concert date in Charleston in 1986, someone suggested he go to the Longhorn Club to hear someone who sounded just like him, Kerr said. Truman and Nelson sang on the same stage that night. In later years, when Truman attended a Nelson concert, he would be invited to visit backstage.
Truman sang as a Nelson impersonator for about a year in Memories Theatre in Pigeon Forge, sharing the program with another man who impersonated Waylon Jennings, Kerr said.
- By Bob Schwarz