Myrtle Alice Dugan, nee Kaps, second from left, a flower in her hair and a beautiful smile!
Myrtle Alice Dugan was my Grandmother on my Mom’s side. She died at 45 years old from cancer. I was 5 when she died. I still remember her singing while playing piano. Myrtle was in an all-female band in the mid-1940s. I do have some audio of her on very old reel-to-reel tape. I hope to post some of these tracks eventually. They are not recordings of her band, but of her at our home, playing piano and singing.
Myrtle had a beautiful natural vibrato to her voice. When she played a song for me once, I listened, rapt. When she was done, my Mom asked me how I liked it. I replied that her voice sounded good, except when it “got all wobbly”, meaning the vibrato. They all had a good laugh. These are the only pictures I have of her playing or posing with a band.
An early picture of Myrtle and Raymond Dugan, with their children, baby Donald, my uncle, and Dixie, on the right, my Mom.
Here is a gallery of pictures showing my Grandmother, Myrtle, singing and playing guitar. She was in at least two bands, maybe more.
I love this picture of my Mom, Dolores and my Grandmother, Myrtle. They both look so beautiful and happy!
There were some nights I remember as a small child when the music would be playing. We were supposed to be sleeping but I would sneak in, hide and listen!
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