Hank Snow

     

     Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian-American country music artist. Most popular in the 1950s, he had a career that spanned more than 50 years, he recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on the Billboard country charts from 1950 until 1980.
     Snow was an accomplished songwriter whose clear, baritone voice expressed a wide range of emotions. His music was rooted in his beginnings in small-town Nova Scotia where, as a frail, 80-pound youngster, he endured extreme poverty, beatings and psychological abuse as well as physically punishing labor during the Great Depression. Through it all, his musically talented mother provided the emotional support he needed to pursue his dream of becoming a famous entertainer like his idol, the country star, Jimmie Rodgers. 
     As a performer of traditional country music, Snow won numerous awards and is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. The Hank Snow Museum in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, celebrates his life and work in a province where his fans still see him as an inspirational figure who triumphed over personal adversity to become one of the most influential artists in all of country music. 
     In 1996, Snow began experiencing respiratory problems which forced him to retire from performing. He died three years later at 12:30am on December 20, 1999, from heart failure at his Rainbow Ranch in Madison, Tennessee, and was interred in the Spring Hill Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee.

Cities mentioned in the song are: 
Reno, Chicago, Fargo, Minnesota Buffalo, Toronto, Winslow, Sarasota Wichita, Tulsa, Ottawa, Oklahoma Tampa, Panama, Mattawa, La Paloma Bangor, Baltimore, Salvador, Amarillo Tocopilla, Barranquilla, and Padilla Boston, Charleston, Dayton, Louisiana Washington, Houston, Kingston, Texarkana Monterey, Faraday, Santa Fe, Tallapoosa Glen Rock, Black Rock, Little Rock, Oskaloosa Tennessee to Hennessey, Chicopee, Spirit Lake Grand Lake, Devil's Lake, Crater Lake Louisville, Nashville, Knoxville, Ombabika Schefferville, Jacksonville, Waterville, Costa Rica Pittsfield, Springfield, Bakersfield, Shreveport Hackensack, Cadillac, Fond du Lac, Davenport Idaho, Jellico, Argentina, Diamantina Pasadena, Catalina, Pittsburgh, Parkersburg, Gravelbourg, Colorado Ellensburg, Rexburg, Vicksburg, El Dorado Larimore, Admore, Haverstraw, Chatanika Chaska, Nebraska, Alaska, Opelaka Baraboo, Waterloo, Kalamazoo, Kansas City Sioux City, Cedar City, Dodge City,