To honor the legacy of award-winning Nashville songwriter Frank Dycus, Music for Seniors (MFS) has named its 2024 Concert Series the Frank Dycus Legacy Free Daytime Concert Series in partnership with an anonymous donor. The concert series will include 10 free daytime concerts in Middle Tennessee and 10 in East Tennessee as Music for Seniors expands its mission to connect local musicians with aging adults through live interactive music events.

“Thanks to the partnership and support of a generous donor who wishes to remain anonymous, we are proud to announce the naming of our 2024 20-event free daytime concert series to honor the legacy of Nashville songwriter Frank Dycus who wrote more than 500 songs including major hits for George Strait, George Jones and Mark Chesnutt,” says Rob Jack, Interim Executive Director for Music for Seniors. “Frank Dycus passed at age 72 and we are proud to honor his life of music-making with our biggest live music event program for older adults this year.”

The Frank Dycus Legacy Free Daytime Concert Series will include 20 public concerts in Middle and East Tennessee. Each event will feature artists of distinction who perform for older adults and their families at a variety of interesting and accessible venues (i.e. Cheekwood, the Frist, and Plaza Mariachi). Attracting up to 300 people, these monthly free mid-day concerts create paid performance opportunities for local musicians; hands on opportunities for community volunteers; sponsorship programs for local businesses; and outreach and access for independent older adults, groups from senior residential communities, and groups with special needs transported by caregiving staff.

The Frank Dycus Legacy FREE Daytime Concert Series schedule will be published on our home page as concerts are announced.

ABOUT FRANK DYCUS

One of Music Row’s best raconteurs, Marion Franklin Dycus was born in Hardmoney, Kentucky and was one of 13 children. He was fronting a country band by the time he was in his teens.

Dycus moved to California in 1955 and soon after joined the Air Force. During his enlistment, he teamed up with Don Gonsalez to form the singing duo Don and Frank, which enjoyed a short period of regional fame and opened shows for such national acts as Buck Owens and Jim Reeves. In addition to his service in the Air Force, Frank worked at Boeing and hosted a radio show before making his moving to Nashville in 1967.

Dycus got his first songwriting job with Pete Drake’s publishing company. Dycus formed his own company in 1970 and sold it two years later to Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner. He subsequently became a staff writer for Parton’s Owepar Publishing.

Dycus first tasted songwriting success in 1970 when George Morgan had a hit with his co-written “Lilacs and Fire.” Porter Wagoner took Frank’s song “Charley’s Picture” to #15 in 1971. The songwriter’s first top 10 hit was with the 1974 Jerry Lee Lewis single, “He Can’t Fill My Shoes.” The Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton 1976 top 10 hit duet, “Is Forever Longer Than Always,” was also from Frank’s catalog.

The songwriter is perhaps best known for the trio of hits he co-wrote for George Strait — 1981’s “Unwound” and “Down and Out,” plus 1982’s “Marina Del Rey.” George Jones won a 1992 CMA Award for “I Don’t Need Your Rockin’ Chair,” which Frank also co-wrote. In 1995, he hit #1 with “Gonna Get a Life,” sung by Mark Chesnutt, earning him SESAC’s Songwriter of the Year honors twice.

Frank also wrote charted singles for Johnny Bush, Red Sovine, Johnny Paycheck, Joe Sun, Stella Parton, David Ball, Doug Supernaw, Gary Allan, Ronny Robbins, The Rovers, Southern Reign, Gary Stewart, and his frequent song collaborator, Dean Dillon. Sadly, Frank passed away in 2012.

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