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Dugg Collins comes from the farming and ranching community of Hall County, Texas. He was born and raised in Memphis, Texas. This is an area of the state known as "Bob Wills Country," so from a very early age he was exposed to Western Swing.

Dugg says his musical ability was inherited from his Mother Dollie Mae. If it had strings on it, she could play it. When Dollie died in 1956, Dugg's desire and love for music continued. By age fourteen he was playing guitar and by age fifteen had started playing for dances, mostly as a singer.

By the age of seven he had a desire to be in radio, inspired by the great Paul Kallinger who broadcast his show over XERF in Del Rio, Texas. This of course was the powerful Mexican border station that covered much of the United States. By age sixteen his radio dreams came true when he got his start in Childress, Texas. From that time forward, it's been radio and music for Dugg Collins.

After working many small stations up and down Highway 287, Dugg moved his family to Amarillo, Texas in 1968. He immediately started recording song demos for writers Junior Keith and Johnny Hathcock. It was a Junior Keith song that got him noticed by Aubrey Mayhew and Little Darlin' Records in Nashville, In 1969 Dugg did his very first professional recording session. The label was the home of Johnny Paycheck, who would, in 1970, become Dugg's record producer. In the mid 70's, Dugg signed a contract with SCR in Dallas and placed two songs in the national charts.

During the 80's, Dugg recorded for a record label in Los Angeles, California with little or no success from those sessions. He kept himself busy working night clubs and shows and didn't record again until he made an agreement with StarTex Records in Austin, Texas. Jim Loesberg and Justin Trevino thought too much time had elapsed since his last session and ask him to be their first artist on their new label. "SOUNDS LIKE TEXAS" turned out to be the best work Collins ever produced in the studio.

Dugg says he has met and worked with every hero he ever had in radio and the music business. During the course of his life he has been a concert promoter, worked hundreds of dances, played hundreds of shows, enjoyed a great radio career and with the help of his loving wife Joyce, whom he married in 1963, raised four children and now enjoys seven Grandchildren.

HERE ARE A FEW OF THE HONORS IN HIS LIFE:

• 1979 CMA'S DISC JOCKEY OF THE YEAR - NASHVILLE
• 1996 THE COUNTRY MUSIC DISC JOCKEY "HALL OF FAME" - NASHVILLE
• 1996 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE BROADCASTERS "HALL OF FAME" - AMARILLO
• 1999 THE TEXAS COUNTRY MUSIC DISC JOCKEY "HALL OF FAME" - CARTHAGE
• 2001 AMERICA'S OLD TIME COUNTRY MUSIC "HALL OF FAME" -AVOCA, IOWA
• 2002 THE PIONEERS OF WESTERN SWING "HALL OF FAME"-SEATTLE
• 2002 "SONG OF THE YEAR" FROM THE ACADEMY OF WESTERN ARTISTS
• 2004 KANSAS WESTERN SWING SOCIETY "HALL OF FAME" -TOPEKA
• 2005 WESTERN SWING MUSIC SOCIETY OF THE SOUTHWEST "HALL OF FAME" – OKLAHOMA CITY
• 2005 WESTERN SWING SOCIETY "HALL OF FAME" - SACREMENTO, CALIFORNIA
• 2006 "DISC JOCKEY OF THE YEAR" - FROM THE ACADEMY OF WESTERN ARTISTS