Though music has always been what Sherwin Linton calls his “central focal point,” the spark that nudged him toward a career may have come during a high school football practice.
“I was playing right guard, and we were scrimmaging when the fullback said, ‘You’ve got to get in there and block or I can’t get through,’” Sherwin recalled. He had to explain that he couldn’t hold onto his opponent because he had sprained his little finger.
The fullback was incredulous and, according to Sherwin, replied, “Little finger? I’d break my leg to win a game.”
It was then that Sherwin decided, “I would have to find something I would devote myself to with the same kind of attitude.” He realized he needed to have the same energy for something that the fullback had for football.
After hanging up his uniform, Sherwin grabbed his guitar and headed to the KWAT radio station in his hometown where he knew the manager. There, he pitched the idea of a radio show featuring his own band along with other high school musicians.
“He said, ‘I’ll give you a show on Sunday, and if it goes well, we’ll do another one on Saturday,’” Sherwin said. “Within a few weeks, I had two radio shows and also had a job at the station filing all the records.”
Sherwin was just sixteen at the time, and part of his role at the station involved communicating with national record labels.
“That was the launching pad for me,” said Sherwin, who at the time led a band called Sherwin Linton and the Rocketeers.
That launching pad propelled Sherwin’s career from small-town radio shows to stages across the country. Over the decades, he has recorded hit songs, toured extensively, and has made a name in country and folk music. His journey reflects a lifelong dedication to his craft and a deep love for music that shows no signs of slowing down.
After high school, Sherwin formed a band called the Fender Benders, a name inspired by someone in the crowd yelling, “Bend that Fender!” in reference to the way Sherwin sometimes played with his guitar bent over his leg.
In 1966, Sherwin recorded “Cotton King” in Nashville, a hit that launched his band, the Cotton Kings, and cemented his place in country music. Their sound blended tradition with rockabilly, and they toured for decades.
Sherwin has a special connection with Johnny Cash, whom he met after a show in Minneapolis in 1958. Over the years, they developed a friendship.
Sherwin’s 1971 tribute album Hello, I’m Not Johnny Cash, recorded at the Sioux Falls penitentiary, became a bestseller. Cash called it the nicest tribute he’d ever received and invited Sherwin onto his show many times.
“He was a super wonderful person who did a lot for a lot of people,” said Sherwin. “He was a very giving person, both he and June, his wife. He was very kind to me and invited me to his home and to be on his show. I rode on his bus several times. He was a really great person to help other people.”
In the 1980s, Sherwin went solo after struggling to find musicians willing to follow his rules against drugs and excessive alcohol use.
“It was hard to find musicians that I could put together a band where I didn’t have to deal with that,” he said. “I decided to work as a single for a while.”
Fans who had seen Sherwin perform at Mr. Nibs in Minneapolis later moved to St. Stephen to take over the family bar and invited him to perform there. It was at this bar that his life took a new turn when the owners asked if a couple of young singers could join him for a night.
“I met Patti and Pam, who were maybe sixteen and seventeen at the time, and they came up and sang,” Sherwin said. “I remember they sang ‘Delta Dawn’ and other songs that were really popular then, and they were really good.”
Sherwin told the sisters that when they were out of school, and if they would like to join him on the road, he would put a band together again. A year or so later, that’s just what they did.
“We took a house job at a Best Western motel in my hometown of Watertown, South Dakota, playing six nights a week,” Sherwin said. “I had a band I put together, and they were really popular. People really loved them, so that was our show together.”
By chance, the motel’s bar needed a bartender, so Sherwin told his son about the opening. His son took the job, fell in love with Patti, and they eventually married. Patti went on to perform with country legends like Lorrie Morgan, Toby Keith, and George Jones.
“At the time, there was no romance between me and Pam, but a few years later, there was,” Sherwin said.
Sherwin and Pam will celebrate their 38th anniversary on August 15.
“As we progressed through those early years, I learned a huge amount about the music industry from Sherwin,” Pam said. “I was young, straight out of high school, but had been playing and working in music since the age of twelve. When we married, I took over the business end of our work.”
There is a lot to managing a music career, and Pam found herself taking on the roles of accountant, secretary, valet, bearer of bad news, and all things band manager.
“We’ve managed to navigate the good, the bad, and the ugly very comfortably as husband and wife,” Pam said.
“Pam’s amazing,” Sherwin said. “She does everything, except sing my songs, and she does that sometimes, too.”
Though Pam has always been comfortable as the “sideman,” she received a surprise phone call in the fall of 2023 that led to a recording deal with New Folk Records and a 15-song project titled Pam Linton’s Songs of the Carter Family. Released in January of this year, the album remains on the Americana Music Charts as of August.
“We’ve gotten some phenomenal reviews and acceptance in the world of country music and folk music,” said Pam.
Sherwin encouraged Pam to use the Cotton Kings in the project and was with her every step of the way, flying with her to Lincolnton, North Carolina, to record the album, a special tribute to the musicians considered the “first family” of folk and country music.
At 86, Sherwin is still recording and recently released a Grammy-nominated album titled Sunday Drives with Mom and Dad. The project took a year to complete and features 42 songs his parents used to sing in the car as they drove down gravel roads in South Dakota, where there was no radio.
“It’s quite a historical collection of songs,” Sherwin said of the tunes popular during his dad’s younger years. “I still love those songs, and they’re still applicable in my shows today.”
Sherwin’s parents had a massive record collection and a beautiful phonograph. Their eclectic taste in music inspired Sherwin to love all kinds of music.
Kenny Wilson, the Cotton Kings’ steel guitarist, helped produce the album. Pam described Wilson as a “very gifted musician who truly appreciates the traditional music forms.”
The Cotton Kings also include Norton Lawellin, who plays the keys while covering the bass with his left hand. Lawellin had worked in a recording studio before meeting Sherwin, adding a B3 organ to a track for the band.
“He’s a wonderful person,” said Sherwin. “A tremendous talent and a great asset.”
Their drummer, Don Nustad, lives in Fargo and once worked at the famous Marguerite’s Music in Fargo, North Dakota. He is heavily involved in church, as are the other members of the Cotton Kings. Pam said, “We could not have a better group of people around us.”
Sherwin and Pam Linton and the Cotton Kings will be performing on the North Shore for the Music in the Park free live concert series in Silver Bay on Friday, August 22, with the show starting at 7:30 p.m. Both Sherwin and Pam are excited to make the trip.
Pam said, “We spend a lot of time in the Dakotas, Iowa, Nebraska, much more in the South and the West side of the state. I feel like we’re almost going to a whole different environment. We’re always out on the prairie.”
They promise an entertaining night with a mix of original music, Johnny Cash songs, and oldies. Pam said they love to get to know the audience and tell stories, and there will be a few laughs along the way.
“We’ll never be rich folks but we do what we love every day,” said Pam. “But in the end, all the driving, all the things that can be a challenge are worth it, because you look out at the audience and you see mom and dad and grandma and grandpa and all the kids, and you see everybody together having a good time. You get that interaction with all walks of life. That’s the best part of the business.”
From a sprained finger on the football field to a lifetime of standing center stage, Sherwin Linton found the thing worth devoting himself to and never looked back. With Pam by his side and the Cotton Kings behind him, he’s still chasing the music, still telling stories, and still bringing generations together one song at a time.
