Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame

With few exceptions, the piano does not play a prominent part in Appalachian or Americana

music, and is rarely the lead instrument. But Jeff Little is an exception – and a remarkable one. His distinctive two-handed style, much influenced by the mountain flat-picked guitar tradition, is breathtaking in its speed, precision and clarity.

Little’s involvement with fiddle tunes, old time country, and traditional blues dates to his growing up in Boone, North Carolina, where his family, owned a music shop. The shop was a regular gathering place for musicians who would just stop by to pick a few tunes. Beginning around the age of six Jeff would regularly sit in with many of the musicians from the region, including one of America’s most influential musicians: Doc Watson. These influences helped shape Jeff’s approach to the piano which is based on these deep musical traditions. But there is also an echo of more contemporary mountain tradition in Jeff’s performances.

A professional musician since the age of 14, Jeff is conversant with traditional old-time country, bluegrass, rockabilly, and blues. With a rack-mounted harmonica and vocals, he can also be a one-man show. Jeff settled in Nashville for a while, where he worked as a session man in between stints on the road. He also worked with a wide range of commercial country artists as a musician or manager most notably Keith Urban. In 2004, Jeff and his family returned to the Blue Ridge where he is the Director of the Music Industry Program at Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, North Carolina.

Today, Jeff continues to have a very busy concert schedule. Performances include The Smithsonian Institution, The National Folk Festival, American Piano Masters, Merlefest and many festivals, performing arts centers, colleges and music venues throughout the US. Jeff has released four CDs, and been featured on National Public Radio several times. He has taken his traditional piano style around the world on U.S. government goodwill tours, performing in Sri Lanka, Bahrain, Oman, France and Tanzania.

Uncle Dave Macon was the first superstar of the Grand Ole Opry and an immortal in the annals of old time and country music.  In a continuously active entertainment career which spanned more than thirty years, “The Dixie Dewdrop” recorded nearly two hundred records and appeared at venues nationwide.  In his time, Uncle Dave was the most popular country music star of the day, and his importance within the American entertainment industry cannot be overstated. Uncle Dave’s most significant and enduring legacy is the preservation of a huge collection of traditional and old time music from a bygone era, ever preserved in his many recordings.  He was also vital to the development and maturation of the Grand Ole Opry and the country music industry.   

David Harrison Macon was born on October 7, 1870, in Smartt Station, Tennessee.  He came from a long line of successful politicians and entrepreneurs with roots in North Carolina which predated the American Revolution.  His father, John Macon, had migrated to Tennessee from North Carolina and married a Tennessee girl, Martha Ann Ramsey. After gaining success as a farmer and business owner, John Macon had served during the American Civil War as an officer in the Confederate Army.

Young Dave had a pleasant childhood, and his parents encouraged him to develop his love for music.  As a youngster, he received piano lessons and learned to play the guitar. Economic hardship eventually prompted the Macons to abandon their homestead in rural Middle Tennessee and to move to Nashville, where they purchased and operated the Broadway House hotel.  Located in the heart of downtown, the Broadway House was a favorite stopover for traveling minstrels and entertainers. Dave was fascinated with the musicians, and at age thirteen, begged his mother to buy him a banjo, which he quickly mastered. Dave’s attendance at the many carnivals and vaudeville acts which frequented Nashville instilled in him an appreciation for the art of public performing and a hunger for the satisfaction of pleasing a crowd.

Tragedy struck in 1886 when John Macon died suddenly.  The following year, Martha Macon sold the hotel and left Nashville, settling in nearby Rutherford County where she owned and operated a country inn.  Dave eventually worked for his mother as a liveryman. He developed a passion for old, traditional music, including sacred and black genres. At the same time, he began to perform in public, putting on shows for overnight guests at his mother’s establishment.

In 1899, Dave married Mary Matilda Richardson of nearby Kittrell, where the couple soon settled and started a family.  For the next two decades, the couple successfully farmed and raised a family of seven sons. Dave also operated a thriving freight line.  But Dave and his banjo were inseparable, and as he started playing at local events, his popularity grew by leaps and bounds. By 1920 trucks were replacing mules and horses, and instead of upgrading his freight line to trucks, Dave decided to close the business and try to make a go as an entertainer.                        

Dave Macon initially entertained at venues throughout Middle Tennessee, northern Alabama and southern Kentucky.  Adorned in his plug hat, gates-ajar collar and gold teeth, Dave picked his banjo and sang of the people and country he loved, gathering much of his song material from personal experiences and local lore.  His natural talent as a musician, singer, comedian and social commentator captivated audiences. He soon adopted the stage name “Uncle Dave Macon”, a title meant to endear him to fans as though he were a familiar, family member.  Appearances at theaters in Nashville soon led to a major contract with Lowe’s Theaters, a national chain. By 1923 Uncle Dave was playing in theaters across the South and in the Northeast. The following year he traveled to New York City for his first recording session, and his increased popularity led to repeated recording sessions throughout the 1920s and 30s.  Uncle Dave eventually recorded nearly two hundred songs. Among his most popular were: “Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy All the Time”; “Chewing Gum”; “Eleven Cent Cotton, Forty Cent Meat”; and “How Beautiful Heaven Must Be”.

WSM began broadcasting in the summer of 1925, and before the end of that year, the Grand Ole Opry took to the airwaves.  Uncle Dave had played previously on WSM, but his debut on the Grand Ole Opry came in April 1926. For the next fifteen years, he was the undisputed headline act of the Opry and eventually played on the show continuously for twenty-six years.  He was deeply loved and respected by his peers and earned a reputation as one willing to mentor younger performers who struggled to manage their music careers. His three-finger playing style and overall performance manner changed little during his long career.  Uncle Dave was primarily a banjoist and vocalist, but hilarious jokes, physical antics, country philosophy, and biting commentaries on politics, religion, economics and the battle between the sexes always put big smiles and laughter on the faces of live audiences and radio listeners.  

By 1940 new changes in music styles, including the rise of singing cowboys and bluegrass, caused Uncle Dave’s career to fade somewhat.  He remained very popular on the Opry, but while touring he became an opening act for new talent. He continued touring throughout the 1940s, but age and infirmity finally took their toll.  On March 2, 1952, Uncle Dave made his last appearance on the Opry, and he died from cancer three weeks later at age 81. His funeral on March 23, 1952, was perhaps the largest ever in the state of Tennessee, unmistakable evidence of the number of people he had touched during a music career of over three decades.                        

Uncle Dave’s music legacy still lives on.  In 1966 he was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.  The Uncle Dave Macon Days music festival, held in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, each July and now in its 37th year, still honors his memory.  Even today, his recordings garner respectable sales, testimony to the fact that no one aided the transformation of the folk music of the nineteenth century into modern country music more than Uncle Dave Macon. 

Ward Eller was born in Wilkes County on May 24, 1930 and began playing the guitar and singing as a teenager with his cousins, the Church Brothers, Bill, Edwin and Ralph Church. Their professional music career began using the name “The Blue Ridge Ramblers.” This group performed on the local radio stations WILX and WKBC in North Wilkesboro. They did many public appearances in schools, theaters and other venues in western North Carolina.

In 1949 the band, using the name “The Church Brothers” signed a five year contract with Rich-R-Tone Record Company in Johnson City, TN. Several records were cut with this label.
Later the Rich-R-Tone contract was purchased by Blue Ridge Label in North Wilkesboro. Ward Eller recorded his solo record entitled “You’re Still the Rose of my Heart” under this label.

Ward served his country in the army during the Korean War from 1951-53. After his discharge, he earned a BS degree from Appalachian State University and a MA from East Tennessee State University.

He spent 33 years serving as a teacher, coach and principal. Ward represented his professional organization, North Carolina Teachers’ Association, at two national conventions.
In 2008 Ward was recognized as a Bluegrass Pioneer for his early recordings. He received life membership in the International Bluegrass Music Museum Association in ceremonies at the International Bluegrass Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky.
Ward continues his music career weekly with the house band at the VFW Hall in North Wilkesboro. This had its beginning in 1955 and continues to be the longest continuous country music entertainment in the area, occurring every Saturday night.

Ward lives in the Mount Pleasant Community with his wife Kate. They have two children, a son, Douglas Eller and wife Alisa, and a daughter Karen, and husband Ty Worley, and three grandchildren, Kendall, and husband Travis Steelman, Brittany Eller and TJ Worley.

 

Ronnie Lee Milsap was born Jan. 16, 1943, in Robbinsville, N.C. A congenital disorder left him almost blind, and he was raised by his grandmother in the Smoky Mountains until the age of five, when he was sent to the Governor Morehead School for the Blind in Raleigh, N.C.

Showing an interest in music early on, at the age of seven his teachers recognized that he had considerable musical talent. He began studying classical music and learned several instruments, eventually mastering the piano.

His youthful passion for rock music led him to form a band with some high school classmates called The Apparitions. Briefly attending Young Harris College on a full scholarship, Milsap left before graduating to pursue a career in music.

In the early 1960s, Milsap played his first professional gigs as a member of J.J. Cale’s band. In 1965, he released “Total Disaster,” his first single as a solo artist, which achieved some local success in the Atlanta area.

In 1965, Milsap signed with New York-based Scepter Records where he scored an R&B Top 5 with the Ashford and Simpson-penned “Never Had It So Good.” While at Scepter, Milsap shared concert stages with James Brown, Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles, who encouraged the young man to apply himself to music.

In 1969 Milsap moved to Memphis to become a session musician. Working with the legendary Chips Moman, he played keyboards on Elvis Presley’s “Kentucky Rain” and can be heard singing background on “Don’t Cry Daddy.” When not doing session work, Milsap and his ensemble served as the house band at the local music hotspot T.J.’s Club.

In 1970, Milsap found success on the pop charts with “Loving You Is a Natural Thing.” He recorded and released his eponymous debut album – produced by Dan Penn -- in 1971.

In 1972, Milsap was performing at the Whiskey A-Go-Go where Charley Pride happened to be in the audience. Impressed with his soulful singing style, Pride encouraged Milsap to focus on Country Music. Moving to Nashville later that year, he began working with Pride’s manager, Jack D. Johnson. A year later, he signed with RCA Records and later that same year released his first Country single, the Top10 “I Hate You.”

In 1974 Milsap scored two No. 1s: “Pure Love” and “Please Don’t Tell Me How the Story Ends,” which won his first Grammy. Another No. 1 followed the next year with “Daydreams About Night Things.”

In 1976, Milsap established himself solidly as one of Country Music’s biggest stars. A string of seven No. 1 hits in a row, including “(I’m a) Stand By My Woman Man,” “What a Difference You’ve Made in My Life,” and “It Was Almost Like a Song,” which was the most successful single of the 1970s. “Song” was the singer’s first crossover hit, peaking No. 7 on the adult contemporary chart; it paved the way for Milsap to be named Billboard’s Artist of the Year (in any genre) in 1976.

This string of hits also kicked off a remarkable run in American pop music. With songs “(There’s) No Getting Over Me,” “I Wouldn’t Have Missed It For the World,” “Any Day Now,” “Stranger In My House,” “Lost in the Fifties Tonight,”  “She Keeps the Home Fires Burning,” “Snap Your Fingers,” and “Where Do the Nights Go,” Milsap did not leave the Top 10 for 16 years.

Milsap also received myriad awards and accolades during this period. He won four CMA Album of the Year Awards (1975, 1977, 1978, and 1986), three CMA Male Vocalist of the Year trophies (1974, 1976, and 1977), and the coveted CMA Entertainer of the Year Award (1977). In addition he won five Grammys for Best Male Country Vocal performance (1975, 1977, 1982, 1986, and 1987) and one Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals in 1988 for the Kenny Rogers duet “Make No Mistake, She’s Mine.”

In 1993, Milsap left RCA and signed with Liberty Records and released the album True Believer.  In 2000, he released the two-CD set, 40 No. 1 Hits.

In 2004, Milsap recorded Just For a Thrill, a collection of American popular/jazz standards, which was nominated for a Grammy. Returning to Country in 2006 at his original home of RCA Records, he released My Life. It was followed in 2009 with Then Sings My Soul, a two-CD set collection of hymns and gospel songs.

On March 18 of this year, Milsap released Summer #17,  his 31st album, which he describes as an homage to the music that inspired him. Hailed by USA Today, The Tennessean and NPR: National Public Radio, the set paid homage to the influences that shaped Milsap’s singular brand of soul-steeped country.

With 40 No. 1 hits and more than 35 million albums sold, Milsap remains one of Country’ Music’s most successful and beloved crossover artists. At 71, he continues to tour the country, playing his music for multiple generations of music lovers.

Scott Greene Wiseman was born November 8th, 1909 on a farm in the mountains of Western North Carolina. This area was a remote part of southern Appalachia. At the time, communications and roads were primitive. The living experience could be likened to living in colonial America before the Revolutionary War.

Scotty grew up with his family, working the farm and all the duties that came with that.

The first school Scotty attended was at the old Walnut Grove one-room schoolhouse about a mile up the valley.

Teachers were in short supply at this time. Many would turn down positions as soon as they saw the small one roomed school houses, packed with children. Some of these students were as old as the teachers.

Scotty’s father, Edward Wiseman, was a farmer and also a teacher. Edward Wiseman was a tall and burly man, who did not tolerate any mischief in his classroom.  There were students that tried Mr. Wiseman’s patience and quickly were regretful, never to challenge him again.

Scotty attended a boarding school at Crossnore for his high school education. Here he studied English, history, Latin and agriculture but did poorly in math.

During his high school years, Scotty continued to practice his banjo and guitar playing, although his interest in music went as far back as his mother, teaching him to sing when he was just able to walk.

In 1927, Scotty graduated from Crossnore, as class president. Scotty went on to Duke University. Unfortunately, financial hardships caused Scotty to only be able to complete one year at Duke University.

A short time after this, Scotty was introduced to radio, a very small station WMMN, owned by Mr. Shad Rowe. The year was 1929 and radio was still in its infancy. It was at this time that Scotty coined his radio name as “Skyland Scotty” and the name immediately took to his listeners.

From WMMN, Scotty went on to station WLS-AM in Chicago, Illinois. WLS-AM’s National Barn Dance was a rival to WSM-AM’s Grand Ole Opry. 

Here, Scotty met his love, Myrtle Eleanor Cooper. They married on December 13th,  1934 and were regular appearances on National Barn Dance on WLS-AM Chicago. They performed under the stage name “Lulu Belle and Scotty”, “Sweethearts of Country Music”.

Lulu Belle and Scotty were best known for their classic song “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?”. This became one of the first country songs to attract major attention in pop circles and was recorded by artists in both genres.

Lulu Belle and Scotty also ventured into featured motion pictures, such as Village Barn Dance(1940), Shine On, Harvest Moon(1938), County Fair(1941) and The National Barn Dance(1944).

Lulu Belle and Scotty had two children, Linda Lou Wiseman and Steve Wiseman. Both are deceased but both married and had children, who have families today.

The couple retired in 1958 and Scotty went on to earning a degree from Northwestern University, Master of Arts. Lulu Belle entered politics, and served two terms from 1975 to 1978 in the North Carolina House of Representatives as the Democratic Representative for three counties.

Scotty Wiseman was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971.

Scotty Wiseman passed away in 1981 in Florida, of a heart attack, on a return trip to North Carolina for the summer.

Lulu Belle (Myrtle Eleanor Cooper) passed away on February 8th, 1999, of Alzheimer’s disease in Ingalls, North Carolina.