Tag: country music

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 592

By Erik Loomis

In General

On December 7, 2019

This is the grave of Vern Gosdin. Born in 1934 in Woodland, Alabama, Gosdin grew up singing in the church, like many future American musicians. His mother was the pianist in a local Baptist church and as children, Gosdin and two brothers sang gospel on a Birmingham radio station. But was music a real career […]

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 576

By Erik Loomis

On November 4, 2019

This is the grave of Webb Pierce. Born in 1921 in West Monroe, Louisiana, Pierce became a huge fan of country music as a child. He started playing the guitar and by the time he was 15, he had a short

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 575

By Erik Loomis

On November 3, 2019

This is the grave of Jim Denny. Born in 1911 in Silver Point, Tennessee, Denny grew up dirt poor. He went to work as a teenager, moving to Nashville. In 1927, he got a job with WSM, a radio station in

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 541

By Erik Loomis

In General

On September 10, 2019

This is the grave of Porter Wagoner. Born in 1927 in West Plains, Missouri, Wagoner grew up in a farming family. But from a child, he was taken with increasingly popular genre of country music. In his late teens, he formed a band called the Blue Ridge Boys, which played on local radio stations. By […]

General

Mother Maybelle: A Labor History

By Erik Loomis

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

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

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 509

By Erik Loomis

In General

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 in St. Louis and started singing as well. Dumping that ridiculous first name as a child, he […]

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 487

By Erik Loomis

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 Ci

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

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 434

By Erik Loomis

In General

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 Maxine received a recording contract as a duo, which got them a little bit of attention, […]

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 432

By Erik Loomis

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 mus

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

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