As we continue our musical tour of the NBA, I look forward to such sonically rich cities as New Orleans, Memphis, Motown, etc. Sacramento does not fall into this category. Granted, it is one of the smaller markets in the league. On the other hand, I spent a few days in Sacramento a decade or so ago and found it thoroughly unremarkable. In fact, I remember next to nothing about it.

But that doesn't mean there isn't great music, past and present, from the Sacramento region. More recognizable names include Tesla, Cake, Spiral Staircase, the Deftones, Lee Greenwood, and Timothy B. Schmit.

As a group, our interests have tended towards rock/roots/alternative with a little hip hop. I am going in a different direction here with country. Repping the Kings is Lynn Anderson, best known for her Grammy-winning rendition of the late Joe South's "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden."

Here she sings a title that brings to mind our hopes for when we'll see Ricky Rubio back in action:

There's a version I like even better from her 2000 album "Live at Billy Bob's" where the arrangement is more hard core and her voice has a few more decades of living on it but (gasp!) it's not on YouTube.

And for all the great pop, punk and funk that has come out of the Land of 10,000 Lakes, the state's contribution to country music has been meager. Yes, country originated in the south and has also flourished out west (Bakersfield, y'all). But it's certainly been popular in Minnesota for a long time and influenced Bob Zimmerman among others. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

The following country song was recorded at Kay Bank Studios in Minneapolis in the early 1960s and became a big hit. I found a live version (from 1970, the same year Lynn Anderson originally recorded "Someday Soon").

The Wolves are in the middle of "Six Days on the Road," playing four times in that span. We can still get a split by beating the Kings and then doing the same to the Clippers. And perhaps listening to Dave Dudley will create good karma for those of us hoping we acquire Jared Dudley.