Nationally Known Artist

Roy Claxton Acuff was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the "King of Country Music," Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its ear-ly string band format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful. Acuff began his music career in the 1930s, and gained regional fame as the singer and fiddler for his group, The Smoky Mountain Boys. He joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1938, and he remained one of the Opry's key figures and promoters for nearly four decades. In 1942, Acuff co-founded the first major Nashville-based country music publishing company, Acuff-Rose Music, which signed acts such as Hank Williams, Roy Orbison, and The Everly Brothers. In 1962, Acuff became the first living inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1991, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts and given a lifetime achievement award by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the first country music act to receive the esteemed honor.

Published in 2014

Roy Acuff

Born in Mount Airy, North Carolina, Andy Griffith brought attention to the people, heritage, culture and music of western North Carolina through his television, broadway and big-screen roles. Andy was an actor, television producer, Grammy-Award winning Southern gospel singer and a writer. He sang as part of some of his acting roles, most notably in “A Face in the Crowd” and in many episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Matlock”. Throughout the course of his career, Andy Griffith recorded over twenty albums ranging from gospel to country to story monologues in addition to his acting and broadway roles.

Published in 2013

Andy Griffith

George Hamilton IV entered the University of North Carolina as a freshman in 1955 then transferred to American University in Washington, DC a year later in order to combine his studies with regular appearances on the Jimmy Dean TV show. In 1956 he recorded, "A Rose And A Baby Ruth", got a national release and became a top five hit and a million seller. In late 1959 he took the brave step of turning his back on the music which had made him a star by moving to Nashville where he made a conscious effort to achieve his ambition in the field of country music. Chet Atkins got him signed to RCA and was instrumental in having George invited to join The Grand Ole Opry, where he has been a member since 1960. He earned his familiar title of "International Ambassador of Country Music" when he became the first American country singer to perform in The Soviet Union and Prague. George IV was given the ROPE (Reunion of Professional Entertainers) award for Entertainer of The Year in Nashville on 8th October 2009.

Published in 2012

George Hamilton IV

Emmylou Harris has been hailed as a major figure in several of America’s most important musical movements of the past three decades. A steadfast supporter of roots music and a skilled interpreter of compelling songs, she also has been associated with a diverse array of admiring collaborators.

Published in 2011

Emmylou Harris

Born in Spartanburg, SC in 1927, Don Reno was a bluegrass banjo pioneer whose style was widely admired. In 1948 Reno became a member of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys. Two years later with Red Smiley, he formed “Reno and Smiley and the Tennessee Cutups”, a partnership that lasted fourteen years and recorded over 100 influential albums. In 1964, after the retirement of Red Smiley, Reno and guitarist Bill Harrell formed “Reno and Harrell” followed by a solo career that lasted until his death in 1984. Reno accompanied Arthur Smith on Smith’s well-known recording of “Feuding Banjos”.

Published in 2010

Don Reno

Brothers Ralph and Carter Stanley were born in the mountains of Virginia. In 1946 the two organized a band called The Clinch Mountain Boys, which became one of the first bands to copy the Monroe style of “Bluegrass.” Carter sang lead and was considered to be one of the finest singers of his time. Ralph sang tenor and played the banjo. Many of their songs like “The White Dove”, “The Lonesome River”, and “The Fields Have Turned Brown” became well known hits. After Carter’s death in 1966, Ralph revived the Clinch Mountain Boys and continued to perform. Ralph Stanley passed away in 2016.

Published in 2009

Ralph and Carter Stanley

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