Renowned country music songwriter Larry Bastian passed away on Sunday, April 6, at age 90. Born on September 1, 1934, in Porterville, California, Bastian initially worked as a biologist before pursuing a successful career in music. He made his mark in the 1970s as part of the influential Bakersfield Sound movement, collaborating with musicians like Jim Shaw. Throughout his career, he penned songs recorded by iconic artists such as Merle Haggard, Tammy Wynette, Conway Twitty, Reba McEntire, and George Jones, among others. His most notable successes came in the 1990s during a fruitful creative partnership with Garth Brooks, penning smash hits like “Unanswered Prayers” and “Rodeo,” along with fan favorites like “I’ve Got a Good Thing Going,” “The Old Man’s Back in Town,” “Cowboy Bill,” “Nobody Gets Off in This Town” and “Man Against the Machine.” “There was no doubt in my mind that I could write a song,” Bastian said during The Paul Leslie Hour in 2020. “I think you have to be that driven to succeed, and then there’s a lot of luck. They have a saying, ‘You can’t get out of the way of a hit song,’ and that’s so right.” (Billboard)