August 12, 1927 – October 28, 2007
Porter Wagoner was an American country music star and television presenter who was known as much for his music as for his dazzling Nudie suits and his blonde pompadour hair cut. His eponymous syndicated television show ran from 1960 to 1981 and gave the world country and western hits, classic gospel performances, comedy…and Dolly Parton.
October 20, 1913 – February 19, 1998
Banjo player and country music icon, Louis Jones, earned the nickname “Grandpa” at the unlikely age of 22 when he was performing on early-morning radio shows in Boston. A guitar player and singer, the young Jones had made his way to Massachusetts by way of his home in Kentucky and a stint in Ohio. His pre-dawn grumpiness led to the nickname…which Jones not only accepted, but made his entire on-stage persona going forward.
Grandpa Jones delighted audiences for nearly 7 decades with his rousing banjo playing, old-timey ballads and affable stage presence. He mastered the banjo and became a popular performer. Early in his career, he bounced from town to town playing live radio shows. He briefly served in the U.S. Army during World War II and, in his mid 30s, he found his way to Nashville. Continue reading
November 21, 1933 – September 25, 2016
One of the pioneering female voices in country music, Jean Shepard rose to fame in the early 1950s with the hit duet “A Dear John Letter” with Ferlin Husky. The song reached number 1 on the country charts and the duo recorded a follow-up single later the same year. Jean would go on to record more than two dozen albums and chart more than 40 singles over the course of her 60 year career.
June 19, 1914 – May 11, 1979
Guitarist, mandolinist, singer and songwriter, Lester Flatt, played in a number of bands during his 20s all throughout the American south. In 1945, he joined Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys and the history of country music was altered forever. Flatt played rhythm guitar and sang lead vocals for the legendary group for 3 years, churning out dozens of hits that shaped the eponymous new genre: Bluegrass.
In 1948, Flatt left the Blue Grass Boys along with banjo player, Earl Scruggs. The two would team up to form Flatt and Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys and become one of the most popular bluegrass acts of all time.
September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996
William Smith Monroe was a hugely influential country musician. Born into a musical family in the “Bluegrass State” of Kentucky, young Bill took up playing the mandolin since his older brothers had already learned guitar and fiddle. They formed a family band, the Monroe Brothers, to play local dances and other shows and Bill (along with brother, Charley) eventually landed spots on regional and national radio programs and a recording contract with RCA Victor. Over the next several years, Bill gathered a stable of talented musicians and eventually formed the Blue Grass Boys where he leaned heavily on his Scottish roots and the music he grew up with. By the time Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys had found and fine-tuned their unique sound, an entire new genre of country music was born.
January 6, 1924 – March 28, 2012
There are banjo players…and then there’s THE banjo player.
Earl Eugene Scruggs not only reinvented how the instrument was used, but he opened the door for an entire new genre of music. As a young man, Earl joined the fabled Blue Grass Boys (led by the legendary Bill Monroe) where his patented 3-finger picking style helped shape and define the band’s sound. “Bluegrass” would eventually become an entire sub-genre in country music and many of the sounds that came from the Blue Grass Boys became archetypes for the style. Maybe none more so than Scruggs’ fast-paced, solo banjo picking. Continue reading
September 15, 1903 – November 23, 1992
“He’s the biggest singer this music ever knew. You booked him and you didn’t worry about crowds. For drawing power in the South, it was Roy Acuff, then God.” – Hank Williams
As a young man in Tennessee, Roy Claxton Acuff wanted to be a baseball player. When that didn’t work out for him, he found solace in some country-western records his dad gave him. With his mind successfully off of baseball, he decided he wanted to be an entertainer and so he set out to become one. Continue reading
June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001
Iconic guitarist, instrumentalist and producer, Chester “Chet” Atkins rarely basked in the limelight during his 50+ year career. He was more than happy to play on a friend’s record, or churn out hit after hit from the helm of the now-legendary RCA Victor studio in Nashville, Tennessee. That is not to say he wasn’t gifted in his own right. You don’t win 14 Grammys, 9 CMA awards or earn the nickname “Mr. Guitar” by being a slouch. But his biggest contribution to the music industry was undoubtedly his time spent cultivating the “Nashville Sound” that allowed Country music to successfully cross over to Pop audiences throughout the 1950s and ’60s.
October 25, 1912 – March 4, 1996
All together now: “How-DEEE!”
The stage of the Grand Ole Opry is hallowed ground. Whether it was the historic stage of the famed Ryman Auditorium, or the newfangled stage at the modern Opry House, setting foot upon it can be life-changing for anyone with the fortune to do so. It transforms performers. None more literally than a young comedienne named Sarah Colley, who stepped onto the Opry stage and became…Minnie Pearl.
September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963
If country music has official royalty, Patsy Cline was its first queen.
Virginia Patterson Hensley knew she wanted to be a singer from the very beginning. Though she worked odd jobs in her Virginia hometown out of a need to help her family, it wasn’t long until she was aiming higher and soliciting auditions wherever and whenever she could. Following a brief illness at the age of 15 that affected her throat…and therefore her voice, Ginny realized quickly that she had been given a gift. Local radio shows and a stint with a regional country band followed and soon, her gift was being shared on television and larger radio markets.
Celebrity Graveland 