Rattling Bones

My story "Dragons at the County Line" is set in Aldo's Domino Parlor, a place where the old men rattle bones and chew the fat. The jukebox at Aldo's is filled with country gold, though the domino players occasionally debate the merits of various country artists. In "Dragons at the County Line," the ol' boys get in a brief, though heated, debate about Ray Price, the Cherokee Cowboy.

I had the opportunity to see Ray Price at a couple of Willie Nelson's Fourth of July Picnics. At the picnic in Selma (near San Antonio) in 2008, Ray told the story of how at one point he had hired Willie to be his bass player. After Willie had been playing with Ray for a while, he said something like, "I bet you didn't know that I don't play bass," to which Ray replied with something like, "Willie, I know that very well."   

Here is Ray Price performing "Heartaches by the Number."