Wendy Holcombe

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Wendy Lou Holcombe (April 19, 1963 - February 14, 1987) was an American banjo player [1] [2] and singer. [3]

Holcombe was born in Alabaster, Alabama and began playing the banjo at age eleven. [4]

As a child, Holcombe appeared on NBC's The Big Show [5] the Country Boy Eddy Show, [6] and later, in 1977, The New Mickey Mouse Club , [7] and was featured on Kids are People Too . [8]

At the age of twelve, she was a regular performer on the television program Nashville on the Road. [9] [10] [11] [12]

Holcombe performed at the Grand Ole Opry [13] and on the Eddie Rabbitt Show. [14] As well as the banjo she also played the fiddle, dobro, steel guitar, and bass. [15]

Holcombe toured throughout the United States, singing and playing the banjo, including The Strip in Las Vegas. [14] [16] She performed at Wembley Festival in London, England. She also appeared regularly on the show Nashville Swing, and recorded a television special, Wendy Hooper, US Army that aired on NBC in 1981. [4] She frequently performed duets and comedy sketches with Buck Trent, and the pair were nominated for a Music City Award. [14]

Holcombe died of a congenital heart defect at the age of 23. [17]

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References

[18] [19] [20]

  1. ↑ The New Yorker. F-R Publishing Corporation. 1981.
  2. ↑ Mary A. Bufwack (2003). Finding Her Voice: Women in Country Music, 1800-2000. Country Music Foundation Press. ISBN   978-0-8265-1432-5.
  3. ↑ Television and Children. National Council for Children and Television. 1980.
  4. 1 2 Colin Larkin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music: Grenfell, Joyce - Koller, Hans. MUZE. ISBN   978-0-19-531373-4.
  5. ↑ "Banjo Baby". The Bryan Times, 30 April 1980.
  6. ↑ Tim Hollis (28 June 2006). Birmingham Broadcasting. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 105–. ISBN   978-1-4396-1733-5.
  7. ↑ "February 25". This Day in Disney
  8. ↑ Francis Earle Barcus (1983). Images of life on children's television: sex roles, minorities, and families . Praeger. ISBN   978-0-03-063883-1.
  9. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : Wendy Holcombe - Foggy Mountain Breakdown. YouTube .
  10. ↑ "Alabama girl becomes country star". Bowling Green Daily News.
  11. ↑ "Tammy the Twirler Picking up a new challenge". Sarasota Herald Tribune. 29 November 1980.
  12. ↑ The Journal of Country Music. Country Music Foundation. 1987.
  13. ↑ "Little Wendy Holcombe gets her wish". August 5, 1977 The Journal News from Hamilton, Ohio · Page 12
  14. 1 2 3 "From Eddie Rabbit Show to Booneville County Fair". Booneville Herald, 23 June 1980.
  15. ↑ "Backwoods produce banjo player". Star-News, 28 June 1983.
  16. ↑ Davis, Doug."Today's Country". Hurst Mid Cities Daily News May 22, 1977 - Page 65
  17. ↑ Armonaitis, Dan (February 27, 2012). "Spartanburg native rose from the South to pick with country stars". GoUpstate.com. Gannett Co. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  18. ↑ Bluegrass Unlimited. Bluegrass Unlimited. 1983.
  19. ↑ Jeannie Sakol (1983). The wonderful world of country music. Putnam. ISBN   978-0-399-50819-6.
  20. ↑ Murphy Henry (2 May 2013). Pretty Good for a Girl: Women in Bluegrass. University of Illinois Press. pp. 182–. ISBN   978-0-252-09588-7.
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