This Kingsport, TN trio consists of William E. Osborne on lead vocals and guitar, his wife Marlyn Jean on alto, and Ronnie East handling tenor and occasional bass parts. There is an self-titled album out there on the Jayla Records label out of Georgia, which might be their debut, this one on the Bibletone Record…
A decent bluegrass gospel album on the Crusade Enterprise/Records label out of Illinois. The Country Valley Singers Leonard Smith, Pete Price, Mary Martin, Bob Martin, and Gene Weeks Bluegrass gospel music (often referred to as country or mountain music) is one of the most popular genres today. During the recording session, The Country Valley Singers…
Beautiful debut album by The Singing Burke Family from Bypro, Kentucky. The Singing Burke Family – Clinging To A Saving Hand By Faith I Believe by The Singing Burke Family Today, we are beset with fad religions, false prophets, fake gurus, and complicated religious doctrines that are confusing, and often, misleading. There are so many…
I love making mixes for myself and, while I’m at it, for others as well. Over the years I tried several formats for digital mixtapes. There was 8tracks (dead), mixcloud (wants money), a zip with mp3 files (only nerds download music files) and YouTube (advertising hell and bad UX). I now ended up with a…
Harlan Co., KY born, Detroit, MI implant Byon F. Smiddy on Tommy Crank’s IRMA label. On this record, Bro. Byon sings and plays many of his own songs in the Bluegrass Gospel style. Byon F. Smiddy – Jesus Said To Pray He Called My Name by BYON F. SMIDDY IRMA Records – Compatible Stereo ILP-107…
This gospel quartet, out of Indiana, had ties to both Russell County and Pulaski County in Kentucky and the Separate Baptist Church denomination. “Sing his praises” was written by the mother of two of the band members. The Springtime Gospel Quartet proudly presents this first album of songs which have been the most requested since…
Joe Bussard‘s gospel group Sunny Side Sacred Singers, released on the Fonotone Records compilation on Dust to Digital.
A wonderful singing, indeed. Links
Apparently, Conway’s Harrison Mayes Marker, that I documented here and that kicked off my interest in Mayes’ work which resulted in this website, is nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. The Arkansas properties that will be considered by the State Review Board come from all over the state and illustrate the rich and…
The Phipps Family from Kentucky was known as a musical family “in the Carter Family tradition”. Founded in the last years of the depression, Arthur Leroy Phipps and his wife Kathleen Norris Helton started to play their own songs of traditional mountain music. Their friendship with A.P. Carter and the Carter Family, as well as…
I heard about Bowles and Cook first on the Smithsonian Folkways “People’s Pick’s” playlist series that got kicked off by my friend Daniel Bachman in 2015. He described their music best in his notes, writing: It seems appropriate that this is the first song on the playlist because it was the first I ever heard…
Ernest C. Martin was a bluegrass and country gospel musician and evangelist from Clay City, Kentucky. Born on January 27, 1914, in Clay City, he began his career in music at an early age, playing the banjo, guitar, and banjolina, and singing in church, school dances, and pie suppers. He gained his first steady radio…
Dallas Alexander was a prominent figure in the Ohio bluegrass scene, born in Jackson County, Kentucky. He began playing guitar at age 14 and moved to Ohio in 1954. After his spiritual conversion in 1961, Alexander devoted his music to spreading the gospel message. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, Alexander recorded and produced several albums…
Primitive church building, serviced by a group of teenagers from Virginia, close to the Kentucky border. I assume the church was built and active in the summer and fall of 2013. These kids were signs followers and seem to have taken it quite serious. The church building looks like a remodeled shag, has outhouses and…
Since I began documenting Henry Harrison Mayes work online, I knew I would rely on people who know more than I do and visited places I will never be able to visit. I found that the people who conserved the most knowledge before internet posts on blogs or social media were a thing, were three…
I found references to Mayes markers in the book Mountain Holiness: A photographic narrative from 2003 which can be ordered via the UT Press website or borrowed digitally over at archive.org. It features markers in Ewing, VA, Harlan, KY and this cardboard sign by Mayes. Photography by Warren E. Brunner
Last year I found out that Henry Harrison Mayes and Folk Art legend Rev. Howard Finster knew each other and Mayes even influenced Finster with his sign ministry. The first clue about this relationship I found in Norman Girardot’s book Envisioning Howard Finster: The Religion and Art of a Stranger from Another World. And digging…
The YouTube Channel “The Appalachian Storyteller” features Harrison Mayes story. Found my Conway, AR sign in there, so I assume one or another image was sourced from here as well. Which is cool. I found a few more leads in the comments, so maybe I’m able to add more to the map.
It’s hard to tell if this is a genuine Mayes cross. I’ve seen images of crosses with a similar typeface attributed to him. Those were older, and given the bad paint job and the time frame of William R. Ferris photo, this might be one of those older crosses, painted over by someone who “took…
praise the lord, that’s old time holy ghost down home singing Great post by Gospel Boogie podcast
