David inducted into the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame
“To be inducted into the Blue Ridge Hall of Fame is a great honor for me. To be inducted at the same time as two of my musical heroes, Charlie Poole and Snuffy Jenkins, is doubly meaningful to me. I have always pursued mountain music because I loved it. To be recognized for my contributions is icing on the cake and I deeply appreciate it.” David
Fifth Annual Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony
June 9, 2012 at the Stone Center for Performing Arts.
The Wilkes Heritage Museum is pleased to announce the Fifth Annual Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame dinner and induction ceremony at the Stone Center for Performing Arts on Saturday, June 9, 2012. The 2012 inductees include: George Hamilton IV, Nationally Known Artist; Robert “Tut” Taylor, Master Musician and Tradition Bearer; DeWitt “Snuffy” Jenkins, Regional Musician; David Holt, Recording Industry; The Chuckwagon Gang, Gospel; Cindy Baucom, Promoter, Organizer, and Special Contributor; Charlie Poole, Pioneer Artist; William “Oliver” Swofford, Honorary Inductee; and Dr. T. R. Bryan for a special Wilkes County Heritage Music Award.
The initial artists scheduled to perform during the ceremony include Cindy Baucom, David Holt, Tut Taylor, David Johnson, Eric Ellis and Scott Gentry. We will be adding to the lineup in the days and months to come and will be announced later. Tickets for the ceremony are on sale at the Wilkes Heritage Museum gift shop or website. Prices are $35 in advance or $40 at the door. Price includes the dinner and ceremony. Seating is limited so purchase your tickets early!
George Hamilton IV was born in Winston Salem in 1937. When he was twelve he bought his first guitar and persuaded his parents to allow him to travel alone by bus to Nashville. In 1956 he began recording for Colonial Records, but later he moved to Nashville and into the field of country music. Chet Atkins got him signed to RCA and was instrumental in having this person 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.
Robert “Tut” Taylor was born in Baldwin County, GA on November 20, 1923. He began playing mandolin when he was twelve and later acquired a six string National-Dobro lap steel and started playing it with a flat pick. He moved to Nashville where he opened GTR, a music store and repair shop, bought a Nashville sign shop, opened the Old Time Pickin Parlor, bought the former Billy Grammer guitar factory and started manufacturing the “Tennessee” line of stringed musical instruments. He has picked and recorded with a who’s who list of some of the most innovative and famous musicians of the era. He has been a friend, mentor and personal booster to many young and upcoming musicians.
DeWitt “Snuffy” Jenkins was born in Harris, North Carolina on October 27, 1908. He started entertaining at age five doing a clog dance for a sawmill group and later playing a fiddle, however, he could not use the bow, so he plucked it like a mandolin. He could play almost any acoustic instrument, but switched early from guitar to banjo because the strings hurt his fingers. He immolated pickers like Smith Hammett and Rex Brooks experimenting with using three fingers to try to play a more melodic rhythm. He was the first known banjoist to play that style on the radio. His band went to Columbia, South Carolina to perform on radio station WIS where legendary announcer Byron Parker, joined the group, renaming them “Byron Parker’s Hillbillies.” It was Parker who gave him his nickname “Snuffy”.
David Holt is a musician, storyteller, historian, television host and entertainer, dedicated to performing and preserving traditional American music and stories. He plays ten acoustic instruments and has released numerous award winning recordings of traditional mountain music and southern folktales. Holt is also well known for his television and radio series. In 2002, David and Doc Watson won two Grammy Awards for Best Traditional Folk Recording for Legacy, a three CD collection of songs and stories reflecting Doc Watson’s inspiring life story. After college, he moved to western North Carolina and immersed himself in the vital folk culture there. There he discovered folktales and true-life stories, which he began integrating into his concerts. He founded and directed the Appalachian Music Program at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina. It is the only program of its kind in which students study, collect and learn traditional music and dance.
The Chuckwagon Gang began performing at radio station KFYO in 1935. The group moved on to other radio stations, becoming more popular with each one. They were signed to an exclusive recording contract with American Record Corporation. They recorded twenty-two titles of both gospel and western songs. Their contract and master recordings were purchased by Columbia Records where they remained for thirty-nine years, during which time they recorded 408 known masters. They’ve appeared in movies, been voted “Number One Gospel Act in America”, and been inducted into the Gospel Music Association’s Hall Of Fame. Their rich history and music now spans eight decades.
Cindy Baucom has pursued a passion for Bluegrass Music as an award winning broadcaster, producer, promoter, singer, musician, writer, photographer and MC. Her national radio show went into syndication in 2003 with distribution by the John Boy & Billy Radio Network. Her radio career started at her hometown station, WKSK in West Jefferson, NC. and continued regionally over the next fifteen years at WKBC, North Wilkesboro, NC and WFMX, Statesville, NC. She was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Bluegrass Music Association for two terms and serves as chair of the IBMA Membership Committee. She was producer of the 2008, 2009 and 2010 IBMA Awards Show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN. She has been involved with MerleFest since its beginning in 1988 and started serving as MC in 1990. She was producer on the 2011 Bluegrass release, “In a Groove” by her husband, Terry, bringing together some of the top names in Bluegrass for these recording sessions. She feels fortunate to have been presented the opportunities to promote the music she has loved all her life.
Charlie Poole was born into a family of North Carolina cotton mill workers who settled at Haw River in Alamance County around 1900. As a teen, he acquired a love of banjo music, learning to play on gourd banjo. He was heavily influenced by his older cousin, who finger picked the banjo in a classical style on the model of such players as Fred Van Eps. In the winter of 1924 he, brother-in-law Posey Rorer and childhood friend and guitarist Clarence Foust, played a series of fiddle conventions. They usually won the top prizes in their respective categories, establishing reputations as outstanding musicians. In the summer of 1925 he and his band quit their local jobs and headed to New York, auditioning with a major record company in the city. His courage paid off when Columbia Records decided to give the band a chance to record.
William “Oliver” Swofford was born in North Wilkesboro, NC in 1945. He became a pop music star in the late 60s, appearing on a number of TV Variety Show and specials in the late 1960s, including the Ed Sullivan Show. His single “Good Morning Starshine” reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over a million copies. The song was also awarded a gold disc by the Recording Industry Association of America. His song “Jean” reached #2 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart, also selling over one million copies and garnering his second gold disc. His subsequent music did not reach the popularity as his earlier work and pop music began to morph into teen acts. He realized that he could not continue in the pop genre. Eventually he simply returned to playing the country-folk music he had grown up with. He died at age 54 in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Dr. Bryan was born in Wilkes County, Nov. 1, 1929. He attended Bowman Gray School of Medicine, where he received his Doctorate of Medicine. He practiced in Wilkes County until his retirement in June, 2003. He was a board member of The Health Foundation, Inc. of Wilkes and was the honorary chairman of the fund-raising drive for the New Beginnings Birthing Center at Wilkes Regional Medical Center. He was a supporter of music and musicians at all levels. He created and supported numerous music programs within the community and his church. He was a member of the Wilkes Acoustic Folk Society as well as many other community organizations. He was an active board member of the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame.
The Wilkes Heritage Museum strives to collect and preserve historic structures, artifacts, and documents of Wilkes County and serves as a resource center for every Wilkes County citizen and visitor. Through exhibits, educational programs, performances, and research, the Wilkes Heritage Museum interprets the history of Wilkes County and western North Carolina. The Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame is a component of the Wilkes Heritage Museum and exists to showcase and preserve the rich musical heritage of the greater Blue Ridge Mountains area.
For more information about The Wilkes Heritage Museum and/or the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame, please call 336-667-3171 or go to www.wilkesheritagemuseum.com .