• From Springfield, Missouri.
• Formed in October, 1984.
• Won "Best New Bluegrass Band of 1985" at the Kentucky Fried Chicken bluegrass festival in Louisville.
• Dudley Murphey, guitarist and leader of the band, is an art professor at Drury College in Springfield.

• From New Jersey.
• Formed in 2001, recorded a five-song demo and was immediately booked at the Telluride Music Festival. Also played the Grey Fox Festival a week later.
• Members: Andy Groessling (banjo), Tim Carbone (fiddle), John Skehan (mandolin), Carey Harmon (percussion), Dave Von Dollen (bass), Todd Schaeffer (guitar).
• Schaeffer was a founding member of the RCA Records band "From Good Homes."
• Groessling and Carbone formerly had a group called The Blue Sparks from Hell.

• Lives in Nashville. From Alabama.
• A singer/songwriter, sometimes called the "Lost Outlaw" because of the earthy themes of his music.
• He is a former "Captain of the Guards" who managed the Death Row cells in an Alabama prison.

• From Short Gap, West Virginia. Lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
• Real name: Melissa Kay Raines Surratt (also plays a Kay bass!)
• Has played bass with many bands including Stars and Bars (1978-1980), Cloud Valley, The Eddie Adcock Band, The Brother Boys, Claire Lynch and the Front Porch String Band.
• 1997-2007, worked as a duo with guitarist Jim Hurst, both of whom were also members of the Claire Lynch Band.
• 1998, recorded first solo project.
• 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, won IBMA Award for "Bass Player of the Year."
• 2007, formed "Missy Raines and the New Hip" (a reference to her recent hip surgery).

• From Athens, Ohio.
• Name is a spin-off of the "Seldom Scene."
• Formed in 1989 by Jeff Weaver and Jim and Alan Stack (brothers). Jeff and Jim are still with the group.
• 1991, won the "Bluegrass America" band competition in Milton, West Virginia.
• 1992-2003, have won SPBGMA award for "Entertaining Band of the Year." They received the "Gold Masters" award in 2003 for ten consecutive years winning this award. They also hosted the SPBGMA Awards Show in 2005.
• The Stack brothers formerly had a family band called "Frog and the Greenhorns."
• 2002, original members Dan Brooks (Dobro™) and Calvin LePort (banjo) returned after a four-year absence.
• 2003, fiddle player Jeff Hardin narrowly escaped a plane crash in Ona, West Virginia. He was flying home from a performance.

• From Tuscumbia, Alabama.
• Former lead singer with the country band "Shenandoah" (1984-1997).
• 1991, won ACM Vocal Group of the Year Award and had numerous CMA and Grammy nominations.
• 1975, began his musical career in Florida performing in a family band called "American Bluegrass Express" with his brother Tim, winning the Florida State Bluegrass Championship five years in a row. Their father Buck played fiddle.
• 1984, moved to Nashville to pursue career in country music. Formed Shenandoah the next year in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
• Had eleven #1 hits, including "Ghost in this House," "Next to Me, Next to You," "I Want to Loved Like That,"
• 1996, won Grammy for his duet with Alison Krauss "Somewhere in the Vicinity of My Heart."
• 1997, left Shenandoah to record with his brother Tim as the Raybon Brothers(had a hit with "Butterfly Kisses") and to pursue a solo career as a gospel singer and evangelist.
• 1998, sang on Ralph Stanley's Clinch Mountain Country album.
• 2002, returned to his bluegrass roots with album "Full Circle" and formed a bluegrass band with the same name.

• From Brooklyn, New York. Originally from southeast Kentucky.
• Began playing guitar at age 12.
• Has been dubbed the "Father of Brooklyn Bluegrass."
• 1992-1998, performed and recorded with a group called "The Mysterious Redbirds."
• 1992, released first solo album.
• 2000, released second solo album.
• 2001, released album with his band The Barnstormers.
• 2002, recorded with banjo player Walter Hensley as "James Reams, Walter Hensley and the Barons of Bluegrass."

• Originally from Marshall, North Carolina.
• One of first mandolin player in bluegrass to have a style distinguishable from Bill Monroe's.
• Began his career in the early 40's playing mandolin with the Morris Brothers, Johnnie and Jack, and Charlie Monroe.
• Performed and recorded for many years in a duo with his cousin Fred E. Smith ("Red and Fred").
• 1950's, joined Carl Story's Rambling Mountaineers and sang lead when Carl recorded his best-known Mercury and Columbia albums.
• Also worked with with Reno and Smiley, Ramona and Grandpa Jones, Jethro Burns, Mother Maybelle and the Carter Family, Norman Blake, Bill Clifton and others.
• Died in 1990 of a heart attack.

RED AND FRED (See RED RECTOR, FRED E. SMITH)

• Formed in 1972.
• Known as "America's Favorite Whatzit Band."
• An energetic old-time band specializing in a mixture of bluegrass, Irish, folk, cajun, blues, ragtime and old-time country.
• Often heard on the hit TV series, "Northern Exposure."
• Featured on several public TV specials.
• 1992, featured on Michelle Shocked's album "Arkansas Traveler."
• 1992, toured Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan and Syria for the U.S. Information Agency.
• 1988, founding member Jim Watson left the band to join Robin and Linda Williams and Their Fine Group.
• 2003, founding member Tommy Thompson died.

• From Shoreline, Washington.
• A band formed in 2002 to showcase the songwriting and singing of Linda Erickson and Paul Schoenlaub.
• 2003, released album featuring Erickson and Schoenlaub (bass) with John Reischman (mandolin), Dale Adkins (guitar), Paul Elliott (fiddle) and Peter Schwimmer (banjo).
• Schoenlaub, Williams and Adkins formerly were members of the Kate McKenzie Band.

• From Atlanta, Georgia.
• Formed in 1971 by Ginger and Grant Boatwright and Norman Blake.
• 1972, had a hit record with "July, You're a Woman."
• Broke up in the late seventies.

• From Genoa, Italy.
• Formed in 1978.
• One of Europe's first professional bluegrass bands.
• Guitarist Beppe Gambetta was a founding member of this band.
• Founding members Martino Coppo and Silvio Ferretti also perform with a band called "Freewheelin'"

• From Johnson City, Tennessee.
• Formed in 1999.
• Name: they play old-time (string band) music in a "real time" (modern) context.
• Members: Thomas Sneed (mandolin), Martha Scanlan (guitar), Roy Andrade (banjo), Heidi Andrade (fiddle), Brandon Story (bass).
• 2002, performed on the Down From the Mountain tour.

• Born on a tobacco farm in Moore Springs, North Carolina.
• Real last name: Pyrtle.
• Birthday: September 13—same as Bill Monroe's.
• Began playing guitar at age seven.
• Early 1970's, had a band called The Bluegrass Buddies.
• 1973-1979, played banjo with an Atlanta band called Southbound.
• 1979, was a founding member of Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver (as was Terry Baucom.)
• 1982-1986, was a member of the Ricky Skaggs Band.
• 1986-1992, was lead singer and guitarist with The Seldom Scene.
• 1992, tried forming his own band, then worked briefly with Vince Gill and IIIrd Tyme Out.
• 1992, formed Carolina with banjo player Terry Baucom.
• 1997, returned to the Seldom Scene, replacing John Duffey (deceased.)
• 1998, re-formed Carolina (while continuing to perform with the Seldom Scene).
• 2008, recorded and performed with Longview.

• From Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Originally from Ukia, California.
• Was inspired to play mandolin by David Grisman.
• Owns (and plays) a 1924 Gibson F-5 signed by Lloyd Loar.
• 1977, joined the Good Old Persons.
• 1980, joined the Tony Rice Unit.
• 1990, joined Kathy Kallick's "Little Big Band."
• 1993, moved to Canada.
• 1996, worked with Kate MacKenzie and Frontline.
• 2000, formed his own band called The Jaybirds.
• 2001, toured with Bill Evans.

• From Nashville, Tennessee.
• Formed in 1984, broke up as a band (not as brothers) in 2001.
• Includes Dale, Don Wayne and Ronnie—the three sons of banjo legend Don Reno.
• Dale and Don Wayne worked with their father until his death in 1984.
• Ronnie's career highlights: sang and played mandolin with Don Reno, Red Smiley and the Tennessee Cut-ups at age 8; was with the Osborne Brothers (playing bass) when they won the CMA award for "Vocal Group of the Year"; worked with Merle Haggard and the Strangers for eight years; wrote "Boogie Grass Band"—a hit song for Conway Twitty.
• 1982, Don Wayne and Dale played in a group called "The Cripple Creek Quartet" which recorded a Grammy-nominated album for Reader's Digest. It sold more than 100,000 copies.
• Toured with Vern Gosdin, the Whites, Randy Travis, Billy Joe Royal, Exile, Bill Anderson, Porter Wagoner and others.
• Frequent performers on the Nashville Network and CMT.
• 1993, hosted a TV program on the Americana Television Network called "Reno's Old Time Music Festival." (The network folded in 1995).
• 2001, disbanded with Ronnie forming his own band "The Reno Tradition" and Don Wayne and Dale playing with "Hayseed Dixie."
• 2004, Don Wayne formed "The Reno Revival" to teach his father's banjo technique. Conducts banjo camps and workshops.

• From Spartanburg, South Carolina.
• One of the innovators and early masters of the bluegrass (three-finger style) banjo.
• Like Earl Scruggs, learned to play the three-finger style from Snuffy Jenkins.
• Began pro career at age 12, playing banjo with the Morris Brothers.
• Mid-1940's, was playing banjo with Arthur Smith and the Carolina Cracker Jacks when Bill Monroe invited him to join his band. Reno declined in order to serve in the Army, and Monroe hired Earl Scruggs instead.
• 1948, discharged from the Army and replaced Scruggs in Monroe's band.
• 1949, started his own band, "The Tennessee Cutups"—the group he headed up the rest of his life.
• Joined by Red Smiley in the 1950's and 60's. They were inducted together into IBMA's Hall of Honor in 1992.
• Was the banjo player on the original recording of "Dueling Banjos". The tune was written by Arthur Smith and recorded under the original name "Feudin' Banjos," using a tenor banjo played by Arthur and a 5-string played by Don. The tune was later re-named "Duelin' Banjos" by The Dillards and recorded by Eric Weissburg for the hit movie "Deliverance."
• Wrote a total of 457 songs (although most were never recorded.) Most well-known songs: "I Know You're Married, But I Love You Still" and "I'm Using My Bible for a Roadmap." Instrumentals: "Dixie Breakdown" and "Chokin' the Strings."
• Died October 16, 1984.

• One of the of the pioneering first-generation bluegrass bands.
• Very popular and influential throughout the 50's and 60's, but never as commercially successful as Flatt and Scruggs or Bill Monroe.
• Worked numerous radio and television shows across the south, including the Old Dominion Barn Dance in Richmond, VA and the "Top of the Morning" TV show in Roanoke, VA. Also made guest appearances on the old Arthur Godfrey TV Show.
  • Incorporated elaborate comedy routines and skits into their act. As comedians, they were known as "Chicken and Pansy Hot-Rod and the Banty-Roosters."
• Last album recorded together: May, 1971, "Letter Edged in Black" (Wango Records).
• Smiley died on January 2, 1972. Bill Harrell replaced Red for about a dozen years, and Don kept the Tennessee Cut-ups together until his own death in 1984.
• Reno and Smiley's personal manager for many years was Carlton Haney, organizer of the first bluegrass festival in the United States (1965 in Fincastle, VA).
• Inducted into the IBMA's Hall of Honor in 1992.

• From Nashville.
• Oldest son of the late Don Reno.
• Began performing and recording with his father and Red Smiley at the age of 8.
• 1968, joined the Osborne Brothers, playing guitar and singing harmony vocals.
• 1975, joined Merle Haggard and the Strangers.
• 1978, his song "Boogie Grass Band," became a big hit for Conway Twitty.
• 1983, had solo country hits with "Homemade Love" and "The Letter."
• 1980, appeared in a Clint Eastwood film "Bronco Billy."
• 1984, formed the Reno Brothers with brothers Dale and Don Wayne.
• 2001, producer of "Reno's Old-Time Music Festival" TV Show, which was broadcast on the Americana Television Network.
• 2002, formed a new band called "The Reno Tradition."
• 2004, helped launch new cable network "Blue Highways TV."

• Born in Danville, Virginia. Grew up in California. Lives in Virginia.
• A mandolin player, vocalist and songwriter.
• The oldest of the Rice Brothers.
• Late 60's, played in a Southern California band called "Aunt Dinah's Quilting Party."
• 1969, began professional career with J. D. Crowe's first band, "The Kentucky Mountain Boys."
• 1975, joined the Dickey Betts Band.
• 1979, retired from music for several years, but returned in the 80's to record three solo albums, a Rice Brothers album, and to form The Larry Rice Band.
• 1990's, recorded and performed with brother Tony, Chris Hillman and Herb Pederson as "Out of the Woodwork" and "Rice, Rice, Hillman and Pederson."
• 2006, died from cancer.

• From Danville, Virginia. Grew up in southern California.
• Considered one of the great flatpick guitarists in bluegrass and new acoustic music.
• Main influence: Clarence White whom he met in 1963. (Tony owns Clarence's Martin D-28).
• 1970, left California to join the Louisville-based Bluegrass Alliance.
• 1971, joined brother Larry in J.D. Crowe's band, The Kentucky Mountain Boys (later re-named The New South).
• 1975, joined the The David Grisman Quintet, playing jazz-oriented "Dawg Music."
• 1981, arranged the first "Bluegrass Album Band" with friends Doyle Lawson, J.D. Crowe, Bobby Hicks, and Todd Phillips. The album sold so well, five more were recorded and the group won the IBMA award for Instrumental Group of the Year (1990).
• 1985, formed his band, "The Tony Rice Unit." The group disbanded in 1996.
• 1993, his home in Florida was destroyed in a hurricane. His guitar was underwater for three hours, but Tony dried it out very slowly and now "it sounds better than ever."
• 1994, experienced voice problems ("Muscle Tension Dysphonia")and was forced to curtail his singing. He had formerly sung lead in several bands and recorded an album of vocal duets with Ricky Skaggs.
• 1995, the Tony Rice Unit won the IBMA award for "Instrumental Group of the Year."
• Hobby: photography.
• 1997, 2000, recorded and performed with brother Larry, Chris Hillman and Herb Pederson as "Out of the Woodwork" and "Rice, Rice, Hillman and Pederson."
• 2001, began performing and recording with Peter Rowan.
• 1990, 1991, 1994, 1997, 2007, won IBMA award for Guitar Player of the Year.

• Originally from Virginia/North Carolina. Grew up in California.
• Tony (guitar), Larry (mandolin), Ron (bass) and Wyatt (guitar).
• Their father played bluegrass in a California band called The Golden State Boys (with Vern and Rex Gosdin.)
• 1963, the Tony, Ronnie and Larry had a group called "The Haphazards." Tony was 12, Larry was 15.

• Born in California. Lives in Ferrum, Virginia.
• Like his brother Tony, he is an accomplished flat-pick guitarist. Began playing at age 6.
• For 15 years, he was a member of the Tony Rice Unit.
• 1995, formed his own band: Santa Cruz.
• 2003, joined Ronnie Bowman's band.

• From Kingston Springs, Tennessee, near Nashville.
• Plays fiddle and sings lead in her own band, Second Fiddle.
• A former member of The New Coon Creek Girls.

• From Boone, North Carolina.
• Formed in 1989.
• 1993, bass player Jimmy Trivette toured with "Masters of the Five String Banjo" tour.
• 1997, re-named the band "Last Run" to avoid confusion with a country band with the same name.

• From Isonville, Kentucky.
• One of the great tenor singers in bluegrass music. Also plays mandolin.
• Has performed with such groups as Charlie Sizemore, Vern Gosdin, the Bluegrass Cardinals, J.D. Crowe and the New South, True Grass and the Lonesome River Band.
• 1995, replaced Dan Tyminski in the Lonesome River Band.
• 1998, 2000, released solo projects.
• 1997, recorded with the group Longview, winning IBMA awards for Recorded Event of the Year and Song of the Year (1998).
• 1999, toured with Suzanne Thomas.
• 1999, released an album of old-time duets with Dudley Connell (as second came out in 2001).
• Has occasionally appeared on stage as "Soup Bean" with his sidekick "Cornbread" (Kenny Smith) in bizarre comedy routines.
• 2001, left the Lonesome River Band to become Executive Director of the Kentucky Center for Traditional Music (Morehead, KY) and to perform with his own group, Rock County and Longview. (Rock County disbanded in 2004).
• 2006, formed new band "Midnight Call."

• Mandolin player from Sandy Hook, Kentucky.
• 1995, joined Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys.
• 1998, worked 18 months with Melvin Goins.
• 1999, returned to work with Ralph Stanley, playing mandolin. Then, in 2004, switched to fiddle, replacing James Price.

• From Leitchfield, Kentucky. Lives in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
• Began playing guitar at age 13, mandolin a few years later.
• 1988, formed The New Tradition, a gospel group.
• Has also worked with Ronnie Reno and the Reno Tradition, Larry Cordle and Lonesome Standard Time, the Marty Raybon Band, Special Consensus, Charlie Sizemore.
• 2004, a founding member of the Grascals. Toured with Dolly Parton.
• 2004, released first solo mandolin album.

• From Lebanon, Virginia.
• Real name: Joseph Calvin Robins. Nicknamed Butch as a child.
• 1967, won banjo contest at Union Grove Festival. Shortly thereafter, worked briefly with Bill Monroe as a teenager.
• 1969-1971, served in the U.S. Army's entertainment division, stationed in South Carolina.
• 1971, played banjo with Charlie Moore and his Dixie Partners.
• 1972, recorded and toured with Leon Russell.
• 1973-1974, played bass with the New Grass Revival.
• 1975-1977, played banjo with Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper.
• 1977, worked briefly with Jim and Jesse.
• 1977-1981, played banjo with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys.
• 1982-1983, formed The Blue Grass Band with Alan O'Bryant, Blaine Sprouse and Ed Dye.
• 1983, quit performing and pursued a business career, selling real estate.
• 1989, returned to music on a part-time basis with a new version of The Blue Grass Band (including Dudley Connell, Larry Stephenson, Ronnie and Rickie Simpkins, others) to record several albums of bluegrass standards marketed primarily through info-mercials on TV. These recordings were the first for Hay Holler Records.
• 2003, wrote and published a book (What I Know About What I Know) chronicling his life in bluegrass music.

• From Blacksburg, South Carolina.
• A southern gospel group that incorporates bluegrass into their program.
• They have been together since the 1950's.

DAVID LEE ROTH

• Originally from Indiana. Grew up in New York's Greenwich Village where his father owned a nightclug.
• Nickname: "Diamond" David Lee Roth.
• 1974-1985) frontman/lead singer for rock band Van Halen (late 70's, became one of the top rock acts in the world).
• 1983, Rolling Stone called him "the most obnoxious singer in human history, an achievement notable in the face of long tradition and heavy competition."
• 1985, formed his own band and had several hit records.
• 2006, began a radio show on CBS radio to replace Howard Stern. Cancelled after a few months.
• 2006, appeared on a bluegrass Van Halen tribute album for CMH records.

ROCK COUNTY(See also DON RIGSBY)

• From various parts of Kentucky.
• Formed in 2001 by Don Rigsby (formerly with the Lonesome River Band).
• Other members: Glen Duncan, Dale Vanderpool, Ray Craft and Robin Smith.
• 2003, Vanderpool was replaced by Scott Vestal.
• 2004, broke up.

• From Southern Connecticut.
• Best known as the former guitarist and lead singer with the Seldom Scene (from 1978-1986).
• 1970, had a group called Apple Country.
• 1976, formed a group with wife Beth called "Old Dog."
• Plays all the bluegrass instruments (guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, bass) and is a prolific songwriter. His songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash, Bill Monroe, the Osborne Brothers and the Seldom Scene.
• Has own record company, American Melody Records, specializing in traditional folk music for children.
• 1994, named the official State Troubadour of Connecticut.
• 2000, formed a new group called Bluegrass Reunion.

• From Roseburg, Oregon.
• A multi-instrumentalist who has performed with several northwest bluegrass bands.
• His band "Cold Thunder" gets its name from a natural phenomenon from Ozark folklore in which frozen lakes and creeks slowly expand, forcing the earth to move and groan with a thundering roar.
• Ross has promoted an Oregon bluegrass festival called The Myrtle Creek Bluegrass and Arts Festival, or Myrtlegrass."
• Has recorded several albums of sea songs, Scottish, Celtic and children's music.
• Currently performing with "The Celtic Tradition" and "The HotQua String Band."
• Ross is a well-known writer in bluegrass circles, a frequent contributor to Bluegrass Unlimited magazine.
• 2006-2007, released two CD's featuring his original songs, backed by the James King Band and other top session musicians.

• From West Virginia. Moved to Syracuse, New York in 1984.
• 1987, formed his band Chestnut Grove.
• Also performs with Mac Benford's Woodshed All-Stars.

• From Berkeley, California.
• Plays guitar and banjo.
• A close friend of the late Jerry Garcia (of Grateful Dead fame.)
  • Has performed in the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band and produced Jerry's album "Almost Acoustic."
• 1964, played guitar and sang lead for Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys
• Early 1970's, played banjo for Earl Taylor and the Stoney Mountain Boys.
• Has also worked with Clarence White, Don Stover, Red Allen, Larry Sparks, New Riders of the Purple Sage and Country Joe McDonald.
• 1996, recorded an album of bluegrass guitar duets with Steve Pottier, a Bay-area guitarist with High Country.

• From Wayland, Massachusetts.
• Performs a variety of musical styles, including bluegrass, rock, Tex-Mex, Irish, country, rockabilly, folk and reggae.
• Began performing in junior high school with a rockabilly group called the Cupids, playing mostly Buddy Holly material.
• Early 60's, began professional career with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys.
• Mid-60's, formed a rock group with David Grisman called "Earth Opera." Toured with The Doors, other superstars.
• Late sixties, joined fiddler Richard Greene in a California country-rock group called "Sea Train."
• 1973, performed with "Old and In the Way" with Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead and David Nelson of New Riders of the Purple Sage.1974, performed with Richard Greene, Bill Keith, Clarence White and David Grisman in "Muleskinner." Recorded one classic album.
• 1975-1978, performed with brothers Chris and Lorin as the "Rowan Brothers." Recorded three albums for Asylum Records. Reunited in 1992 as "Peter Rowan and the Rowan Brothers."
• 1978, formed two Tex-Mex groups: The Green Grass Gringos and the Mexican Air Force.
• 1983, formed the Wild Stallions in Nashville.
• 1984-present, performs solo and with various musicians. His "Free Mexican Air Force" includes Tony Rice on guitar (2002).
• 2006, formed The Peter Rowan & Tony Rice Quartet. Original group included Sharon Gilchrist and Bryn Davies. In 2008, they were replaced by Mike Bub and Rickie Simpkins.
• Hobby: studying and painting Asian art. He is a devotee of Tibetan Buddhism.

• From Waterbury, Connecticut.
• Since 1986 has performed with Laurie Lewis. Plays mandolin. Owns a rare 1924 Gibson Lloyd Loar F-5.
• Previous bands: (1974) "The Summerdog Experience and Mariachi Ensemble" in Tucson, AZ; (1978) "Geoff Stelling and Hard Times" and "the Rhythm Rascals" in San Diego, CA; (1982) "Flying South" in Flagstaff, AZ.
• 1994, was seriously injured in an auto accident with Laurie Lewis while on tour. Doctors weren't sure he would ever walk again, but he recovered completely.
• Is also an artist (drawing) and has a degree in biology.

• A comedy act specializing in bluegrass adaptations of Motown and classic rock songs.
• The brainchild of Bernie Leadon, once a member of The Eagles.
• Name is a take-off on the name of the popular rap group, Run DMC.
• According to the story line of their first album (1993), Run C&W is a band featuring "The Burns Brothers," a family of bluegrass pickers who migrated from the backwoods of Kentucky to Detroit, Michigan, where they learned to play "that good old soul music—the way God intended for it to be played—bluegrass style."
• First gained recognition when they played at the CMA's Fan Fair in Nashville and did a spoof of Billy Ray Cyrus' "Achy Breaky Heart" called "Itchy Twitchy Spot." What started out as a joke turned into a full-fledged album project.
• Members of Run C&W: Rug Burns is Russell Smith (formerly with the Amazing Rhythm Aces.) Crashen Burns is Bernie Leadon (formerly with the Eagles.) G.W. "Wash" Burns is Vince Melamed (a.k.a. Dan Fogelberg), and Side Burns is Jim Photoglo (a top Nashville writer of such songs as "Walk Away Joe.")

• From Sunflower County, Mississippi. Grew up in Fresno, California.
• Billed himself as "the biggest act in country music" because of his large size. His famous opening line on the Grand Ole Opry was "Can you see me all right?"
• A successful songwriter, who wrote hits for Jim Reeves, Buck Owens, Loretta Lynn and the Beatles.
• As a singer and recording artist (RCA) he scored hits with "The Baptism of Jesse Taylor," "Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer," and several others.
• His biggest song "Act Naturally" was a hit for both Buck Owens and the Beatles.
• 1985, joined the Grand Ole Opry. He not only performed as a singer, but as a comedian.
• 2000, recorded a bluegrass album with guests Buck Owens, Earl Scruggs, Bobby Osborne, Benny Martin, Dolly Parton, the Whites, others.
• Died in 2001at the age of 60.