West Virginia Music Hall of Fame

Last updated

The nonprofit West Virginia Music Hall of Fame was established in 2005, to honor the legacies of the state's performing artists in multiple music genres. This hall of fame is the brainchild of its founder, musician Michael Lipton, who was inspired by a visit to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. The first exhibit was records from his personal collection. [1]

Contents

The organization is staffed and governed by volunteers, and also offers their Music Career Counseling Program. [2] Nominations for artist inclusion into the hall are currently submitted by the public, but the first class of inductees was selected by the hall of fame's board members. Criteria for selection is primarily the nominee's cultural impact on state and national levels. They must either have residency, or place of birth, in West Virginia. [3] The first ten honorees inducted were the class of 2007, and all six of the then-living inductees made a personal appearance at the ceremony. The number of inductees varies by year, but so far have been fewer than the initial class.

Biennial festive induction ceremonies normally take place as a live event at the Culture Center Theater in Charleston, and are aired on television by West Virginia Public Broadcasting. During the 2020 COVID-19 crisis, that year's induction ceremonies were taped at Nashville, Los Angeles, and Bakersfield, California, and broadcast at a later date, as well as posted on the West Virginia PBS Facebook page. [4] The Hall of Fame takes its traveling museum across the state, [5] and works in tandem with the West Virginia Department of Education as part of a West Virginia music history curriculum for the state's elementary schools. [6]

Inductees

Class of 2007

Class of 2008

Class of 2009

Homer Bailes (1922–2013)
Johnnie Bailes (1918–1989)
Walter Bailes (1920–2000)
Kyle O. Bailes (1915–1996)
Grand Ole Opry performers who also helped launch the Louisiana Hayride. [26]

Class of 2011

Class of 2013

Class of 2015

Class of 2018

Class of 2020

Honey Davis (1926–2019) – Mandolin, vocals
Sonny Davis – Guitar, vocals, disc jockey
Edden Hammons, (1876–1995)
Pete Hammons, (1861–1955)
Maggie Hammons Parker, (1899–1987)
Sherman Hammons, (1903–1988)
Burl Hammons, (1907–1993)
Lee Hammons, (1883–1980)
Currence Hammons, (1898–1984)
Mintie Hammons, (1898–1987)
Dona Hammons Gum, (1900–1987)

Class of 2023 [64]

Ezra Cline
Charlie Cline
Curly Ray Cline
Larry Richardson
Bobby Osborne
Paul Williams
Jimmy Martin
Ray Morgan

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Monroe</span> American bluegrass musician, songwriter (1911–1996)

William Smith Monroe was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the "Father of Bluegrass".

Virginia's musical contribution to American culture has been diverse, and includes Piedmont blues, jazz, folk, brass, hip-hop, and rock and roll bands, as well as the founding origins of country music in the Bristol sessions by Appalachian Virginians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Kentucky</span> Overview of music traditions in the U.S. state of Kentucky

The Music of Kentucky is heavily centered on Appalachian folk music and its descendants, especially in eastern Kentucky. Bluegrass music is of particular regional importance; Bill Monroe, "the father of bluegrass music", was born in the Ohio County community of Rosine, and he named his band, the Blue Grass Boys, after the bluegrass state, i.e., Kentucky. Travis picking, the influential guitar style, is named after Merle Travis, born and raised in Muhlenberg County. Kentucky is home to the Country Music Highway, which extends from Portsmouth, Ohio, to the Virginia border in Pike County.

Alabama has played a central role in the development of both blues and country music. Appalachian folk music, fiddle music, gospel, spirituals, and polka have had local scenes in parts of Alabama. The Tuskegee Institute's School of Music, especially the Tuskegee Choir, is an internationally renowned institution. There are three major modern orchestras, the Mobile Symphony, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra; the last is the oldest continuously operating professional orchestra in the state, giving its first performance in 1955.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom T. Hall</span> American country musician (1936–2021)

Thomas Hall, known professionally as Tom T. Hall and informally nicknamed "the Storyteller", was an American country music singer-songwriter and short-story author. He wrote 12 No. 1 hit songs, with 26 more that reached the Top 10, including the No. 1 international pop crossover hit "Harper Valley PTA" and "I Love", which reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. He is included in Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Songwriters. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008, and the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame alongside his wife Dixie in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hazel Dickens</span> American bluegrass musician, singer, and activist

Hazel Jane Dickens was an American bluegrass singer, songwriter, double bassist and guitarist. Her music was characterized not only by her high, lonesome singing style, but also by her provocative pro-union, feminist songs. Cultural blogger John Pietaro noted that "Dickens didn’t just sing the anthems of labor, she lived them and her place on many a picket line, staring down gunfire and goon squads, embedded her into the cause." The New York Times extolled her as "a clarion-voiced advocate for coal miners and working people and a pioneer among women in bluegrass music." With Alice Gerrard, Dickens was one of the first women to record a bluegrass album. She was posthumously inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame alongside Gerrard in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Clark</span> American singer, musician, and TV host (1933–2018)

Roy Linwood Clark was an American singer, musician, and television presenter. He is best known for having hosted Hee Haw, a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969 to 1997. Clark was an important and influential figure in country music, both as a performer and in helping to popularize the genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Rice</span> American bluegrass musician (1951–2020)

David Anthony Rice was an American bluegrass guitarist. He was an influential acoustic guitar player in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Jimmy Dickens</span> American country music singer-songwriter (1920–2015)

James Cecil Dickens, better known by his stage name Little Jimmy Dickens, was an American country music singer and songwriter famous for his humorous novelty songs, his small size, and his rhinestone-studded outfits. He started as a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1948 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1983. Before his death he was the oldest living member of the Grand Ole Opry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhonda Vincent</span> American bluegrass singer

Rhonda Lea Vincent is an American bluegrass singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reno and Smiley</span>

Reno and Smiley were an American musical duo that was composed of Don Reno and Red Smiley. They were one of the most acclaimed duos in country and bluegrass music in the 1950s and early 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Osborne</span> American musician (1931–2023)

Bobby Van Osborne was an American bluegrass musician. He was the co-founder of the Osborne Brothers, a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. Osborne was a member of the United States Marine Corps, received a Purple Heart for his service, and was honorably discharged in 1953.

Woodrow Wilson "Red" Sovine was an American country music singer and songwriter associated with truck driving songs, particularly those recited as narratives but set to music. His most noted examples are "Giddyup Go" (1965) and "Teddy Bear" (1976), both of which topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pee Wee King</span> American country music songwriter and recording artist (1914–2000)

Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski, known professionally as Pee Wee King, was an American country music songwriter and recording artist best known for co-writing "Tennessee Waltz".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim & Jesse</span> American bluegrass duo

Jim & Jesse were an American bluegrass music duo of brothers, Jim McReynolds and Jesse McReynolds. They were born and raised in Carfax, a community near Coeburn, Virginia, United States.

Wilma Lee Leary, known professionally as Wilma Lee Cooper, was an American country music entertainer. She was a guitarist, banjo player and vocalist, and was given the title of “First Lady of Bluegrass” by the Smithsonian Institution in 1974. In 1994 She was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award from the IBMA. She was posthumously inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ricky Skaggs</span> American musician, producer, and composer

Rickie Lee Skaggs, known professionally as Ricky Skaggs, is an American neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, mandocaster, and banjo.

Buddy Spicher is an American country music fiddle player. He is a member of The Nashville A-Team of session musicians, and is Grammy-nominated. He was nominated as Instrumentalist of the Year by CMA in 1983 and 1985. He was the first fiddler in the "Nashville Cats" series of the Country Music Hall of Fame. He recorded with virtually every major country star of the sixties, seventies, and early eighties, including Faron Young, Johnny Paycheck Little Jimmy Dickens, Reba McEntire, George Jones, Don Williams, Dolly Parton, Crystal Gayle, Loretta Lynn, Bob Wills, Asleep at the Wheel, Don Francisco, Ray Price, Willie Nelson, George Strait, Bill Monroe, David Allan Coe, and Emmylou Harris.

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in 2021.

References

  1. Deutsch, Joni (June 25, 2016). "Take Out Your Notebook! It's Time for a #WVmusic History Lesson with Michael Lipton". WVPB. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  2. "West Virginia Music Hall of Fame – Inductees Tell Their Stories & Sing Their Songs". FestivALL. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  3. Lilly, John (January 21, 2016). "West Virginia Music Hall of Fame". West Virginia Encyclopedia. West Virginia Humanities Council. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  4. "West Virginia Music Hall of Fame 2020 Class Includes Larry Groce, Mayf Nutter". WOUB Public Media. November 11, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  5. Burnside, Mary Wade. "WV Music Hall of Fame traveling museum set for stop here". WV News. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  6. "WV Music Hall Of Fame Brings Traveling Museum To Harr. Co. Schools". Shinnston News & Harrison County Journal. September 25, 2014. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  7. "Leon "Chu" Berry". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  8. "George Crumb". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  9. "Hazel Dickens". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "Remembering Hazel Dickens". Smithsonian Folkways Magazine. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  10. "Little Jimmy Dickens". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "Country Music | Little Jimmy Dickens Biography". PBS.org. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  11. "Johnnie Johnson". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; Fricke, David (April 15, 2005). "Keith Richards Remembers Johnnie Johnson". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  12. "Clark Kessinger". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "Clark Kessinger, Fiddler – Old-Time Country Music". Smithsonial Folkways Recordings. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  13. "Molly O'Day". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "July 9, 1923: Singer Molly O'Day Born in Pike County KY". WVPB. July 9, 2019. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  14. "Blind Alfred Reed". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "Blind Alfred Reed's family honors late singer before mural is moved in downtown Princeton". WVNS. November 9, 2019. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  15. "Billy Edd Wheeler". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "Billy Edd Wheeler". Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  16. "Bill Withers". West Virginia Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; Greene, Andy (April 3, 2020). "Bill Withers, Hall of Fame Soul Singer, Dead at 81". Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  17. "Ann Baker". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.
  18. "Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  19. "Phyllis Curtin". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "In memoriam: Phyllis Curtin, soprano". Yale University. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  20. "Robert Drasnin". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; Burlingame, Jon (May 15, 2015). "Robert Drasnin, 'Twilight Zone' Composer, Dies at 87". Variety. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  21. "The Lilly Brothers and Don Stover". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "The Lilly Bros & Don Stover: Bluegrass at the Roots, 1961". Folkways Recordings. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  22. "Charlie McCoy". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "Charlie McCoy Biography". PBS.org. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  23. "Maceo Pinkard". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "Maceo Pinkard". Songwriters Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  24. "Red Sovine". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "Red Sovine". Country Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  25. "Frankie Yankovic". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "Frankie Yankovic". National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  26. "Bailes Brothers". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "Bailes Brothers | 74 min. – OHC201". Country Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  27. "Larry Combs". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "LARRY COMBS". Centerstage. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  28. "FRANK DE VOL". Vintage Music Fan. Vintage Music. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "Frank DeVol". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  29. "Hawkshaw Hawkins". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "March 5, 1963: Country Music Star Hawkshaw Hawkins Killed in Plane Crash". WVPB. March 5, 2019. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  30. "Don Redman". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "Don Redman (1900–1964) – The Red Hot Jazz archives". The Syncopated Times.com. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  31. "Nat Reese". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "March 4, 1924: Blues Musician Nat Reese Born in Virginia". WVPB. March 4, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  32. "Doc & Chickie Williams". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "Doc Williams". The West Virginia Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  33. "Billy Cox". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; Bass Player Staff (January 8, 2020). "Billy Cox: "Jimi and I were locked together spiritually... that doesn't happen so much nowadays"". Guitar World. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  34. "Kathy Mattea". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "Kathy Mattea Biography". Country Music – a film by Ken Burns. PBS. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  35. "August 27, 1902: Blues Legend 'Diamond Teeth Mary' Born in Huntington". WVPB. August 27, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "Diamond Teeth Mary McClain". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  36. "Butch Miles". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.; "Miles, Butch". Austin Jazz Society. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  37. "Jack Rollins". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  38. "Connie Smith". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.; "Connie Smith". Grand Ole Opry. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  39. "Tommy Thompson". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.; "January 24, 2003: Musician Tommy Thompson Dies". WVPB. January 24, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  40. "The Goins Brothers". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.; "Interview with Ray and Melvin Goins, May 10, 2005". Kentucky Oral History. University of Kentucky. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  41. "The Swan Silvertones". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.; Ricci, Michael. "Jazz news: Claude Jeter Gospel Singer with Wide Influence Dies". All About Jazz. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  42. "Peter Marshall". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.; "Peter Marshall". Music of Your Life. April 14, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  43. "Wayne Moss". West Virgniia Music Hall of Fame.; "Wayne Moss". Country Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  44. "Tim O'Brien". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.; "Tim O'Brien Sings of American Life, Then and Now, on 'He Walked On' (Part 1 of 2)". The Bluegrass Situation. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  45. "A Night at Bricktop's: Jazz in 1930s' Montmartre". The Jim Cullm Riverwalk Jazz Collection. Stanford University.; "Ada Bricktop Smith". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  46. "Eleanor Steber collection, ca. 1920–1990". Harvard University.; "Eleanor Steber". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  47. "John Ellison". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  48. "Ed Haley". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  49. "Russ Hicks". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  50. "Buddy Starcher". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  51. "Bob Thompson". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  52. "Harry Vann Walls". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  53. "Hasil Adkins". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  54. "The Morris Brothers". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  55. "Frank Hutchison". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  56. "Ann Magnuson". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  57. "Fred "Sonic" Smith". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  58. "Michael W. Smith". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  59. "Ethel Caffie-Austin". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  60. "Larry Groce". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  61. "The Davis Twins". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  62. "Mayf Nutter". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  63. "The Hammons Family". West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  64. Lawrence, Chris (September 7, 2022). "W.Va. Music Hall of Fame announces 2023 inductees". WV MetroNews. Retrieved December 9, 2022.