Tag: country music

Mother Maybelle: A Labor History

By Erik Loomis

In General

On August 14, 2019

To what extent is the performance of music work and thus has its own labor history? That’s probably not a question you’ve thought much about, but of course it is work and that labor exists within the same context of time and place. The historian Jessica Wilkerson gives us a great labor history of Mother […]

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 521

By Erik Loomis

On August 6, 2019

This is the grave of Earl Scruggs. Born in Flint Hill, North Carolina, a small community in Cleveland County, in 1924, Scruggs became one of the most interesting and innovative musicians in the histor

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 509

By Erik Loomis

On July 15, 2019

This is the grave of Fred Rose. Born in Evansville, Indiana in 1897 or 1898 (there is evidently some dispute about this), Knols Fred Rose started playing piano as a child and was very good. He grew up

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 487

By Erik Loomis

In General

On June 10, 2019

This is the grave of Vic Willis. Born in 1922 in Oklahoma, Vic Willis was part of the Willis Brothers, a country music act that developed in the Sooner State in the late 1930s. They moved to Kansas City, broke up for awhile as they all fought in World War II, and then rejoined after […]

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 439

By Erik Loomis

On March 18, 2019

This is the grave of Jerry Chesnut. Born in 1931 in Harlan County, Kentucky, Chesnut moved to Nashville in 1958 to make it in the country music industry. Like so many aspiring performers, he really di

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 434

By Erik Loomis

On March 12, 2019

This is the grave of Jim Ed Brown. Born in 1934 in Sparkman, Arkansas, his family moved to Pine Bluff when he was a child. They frequently sang publicly as a family. In 1953, Jim Ed and his sister Max

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 432

By Erik Loomis

In General

On March 10, 2019

This is the grave of Billy Sherrill. Born in Phil Campbell, Alabama in 1936, Sherrill’s father was a preacher. But it didn’t stick to young Billy. Instead, he found the glorious sin of music. He started off on the piano and then learned the sax, playing in lots of bands as a teenager. He toured […]

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 426

By Erik Loomis

On March 4, 2019

This is the grave of Mack Vickery. Born in 1938 in Town Creek, Alabama, Willard Vickery, known as Mack, became a musician and was determined to break into the vibrant music scene of the American South

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 416

By Erik Loomis

On February 18, 2019

This is the grave of Pop and Hattie Stoneman, as well as Scotty Stoneman and other various Stoneman Family members. Ernest “Pop” Stoneman was born in 1893 in Monarat, Virginia. In late nin

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 415

By Erik Loomis

In General

On February 17, 2019

This is the grave of Roy Acuff. Born in 1903 in Maynardville, Tennessee to a fairly prominent family for that poor region of the South, Roy Acuff grew up surrounded by music. While his family were doctors and preachers and state legislators, they were also fiddlers and piano players. In 1919, his family moved to […]

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 405

By Erik Loomis

On January 27, 2019

This is the grave of George Jones. Born in 1931, the greatest singer in the history of country music grew up in a musical family. His family bought him a radio at the age of 7 and he became obsessed w

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 404

By Erik Loomis

On January 24, 2019

This is the grave of Red Sovine. Born in 1917 in Charleston, West Virginia, Woodrow Wilson Sovine was known as Red from a young boy because of his hair color. He grew up trying to get into the country

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