Coon Creek Girls | |
---|---|
Origin | Cincinnati, Ohio, United States |
Genres | Appalachian music Bluegrass Folk Country |
Years active | 1937–1957 |
Past members | Lily May Ledford Rosie Ledford Esther Koehler Evelyn Lange Minnie Ledford Norma Mullins |
The Coon Creek Girls were a popular all-female "string band" in the Appalachian style of folk music (a precursor of country music) which began in the mid-1930s. Created (and named) by John Lair for his Renfro Valley Barn Dance show, the band originally consisted of sisters Lily May and Rosie Ledford (from Powell County, Kentucky) along with Esther "Violet" Koehler (from Indiana), Evelyn "Daisy" Lange (from Ohio) and Norma Madge Mullins (from Renfro Valley, Kentucky).
On June 8, 1939, when King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited the White House of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, there were numerous musical acts, including Lawrence Tibbett, Marian Anderson, and Kate Smith. [1] Also included were a troupe of Bascom Lunsford's square dancers and the Coon Creek Girls. [2]
In 1979, John Lair revived the name with the New Coon Creek Girls, a combo which remained popular for several decades, despite numerous changes in line-up. [3] Among the former members are Pamela Gadd and Pam Perry, who later became members of the country band Wild Rose. [4]
In 2013, the original touring group of the New Coon Creek Girls from 1985 to 1987 (Vicki Simmons, Pam Perry Combs, Wanda Barnett, and Pam Gadd) made the decision to reunite in order to fund speech therapy music camp for Simmons who underwent surgery for an aneurysm in 2008. As of 2014, Simmons has made an amazing recovery, and the band was still performing various reunion concerts.[ citation needed ]
Pike County is a county in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 58,669. Its county seat is Pikeville. The county was founded in 1821. With regard to the sale of alcohol, it is classified as a moist county–– a county in which alcohol sales are prohibited, but containing a "wet" city. There are three cities in the county, Pikeville, Elkhorn City, and Coal Run Village, where package alcohol sales are legal.
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.
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination of fiddle and plucked string instruments, most often the banjo, guitar, and mandolin. Together, they form an ensemble called the string band, which has historically been the most common configuration to play old-time music. The genre is considered a precursor to modern country music.
National Barn Dance, broadcast by WLS-AM in Chicago, Illinois starting in 1924, was one of the first American country music radio programs and a direct precursor of the Grand Ole Opry.
Clyde Julian "Red" Foley was an American musician who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II.
Bascom Lamar Lunsford was a folklorist, performer of traditional Appalachian music, and lawyer from western North Carolina. He was often known by the nickname "Minstrel of the Appalachians."
Appalachian music is the music of the region of Appalachia in the Eastern United States. Traditional Appalachian music is derived from various influences, including the ballads, hymns and fiddle music of the British Isles, and to a lesser extent the music of Continental Europe.
FloydFest is a Music and arts festival held annually near Floyd, Virginia, in the Blue Ridge Mountains
Wild horse is a species of the genus Equus that includes domesticated and undomesticated subspecies.
"Darlin' Cory" is a well-known American folk song about love, loss, and moonshine. It is similar in theme to "Little Maggie" and "The Gambling Man" but is not considered the same as those songs.
Renfro Valley is a neighborhood located just off Interstate 75 at the junction of U.S. Route 25 and Kentucky Route 2793 north of Mount Vernon, the county seat of Rockcastle County, Kentucky, United States. The community has its own United States Post Office, zip code 40473.
Renfro Valley Gatherin' is a United States radio program based in Renfro Valley, Kentucky. The Gatherin' is the third oldest continually broadcast radio program in America, and the second-longest continually-running such program featuring country music; only the Grand Ole Opry (1925) and Music & the Spoken Word (1929) have been continually broadcast longer. The Renfro Valley Gatherin' as of 2016 is now exclusively aired on RFDTV'S siriusxm radio channel 147 Rural Radio, Sunday nights at 9:30 pm eastern, and hosted by Scotty Bussell.
Wild Rose was an American country music band founded in 1988 by five women: Pamela Gadd, Kathy Mac, Pam Perry, Nancy Given, and Wanda Vick. Between 1988 and 1991, they recorded three studio albums, including two on Liberty Records. In that same time span, they charted three singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. Since their disbanding in 1991, Wanda Vick has worked as a session musician. Gadd has continued to write and perform in the music industry, and was featured as part of country music legend Porter Wagoner's band until his death in 2007. Gadd and Wagoner recorded an album of duets together.
WRVK (1460 kHz) is an AM radio station broadcasting a full service format centered on classic country. Licensed to Mount Vernon, Kentucky, United States, it serves the South Central Kentucky area.
Renfro Valley Barn Dance was an American country music stage and radio show originally carried by WLW-AM in Cincinnati, Ohio on Saturday nights. It debuted on October 9, 1937, from the Cincinnati Music Hall and moved to the Memorial Auditorium in Dayton, Ohio. It was hosted by John Lair, Red Foley, Cotton Foley, and Whitey Ford.
Benjamin Francis Ford, known professionally as The Duke of Paducah, was an American country comedian, radio host and banjo player popular from the 1940s to the 1960s.
The culture of Kentucky is firmly Southern, it is also influenced by Southern Appalachia, blending with the native upper Southern culture in certain areas of the state. The state is known for bourbon and whiskey distilling, tobacco, horse racing, college basketball, and quilts.
Lily May Ledford was an American clawhammer banjo and fiddle player. After gaining regional radio fame in the late 1930s as head of the Coon Creek Girls, one of the first all-female string bands to appear on radio, Ledford went on to gain national renown as a solo artist during the American folk music revival of the 1960s. In 1985, she was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship.
Dale Ann Bradley is an American bluegrass musician. She is a six-time Female Bluegrass Vocalist of the Year, a distinction given by the International Bluegrass Music Association. She has released music both as a solo artist and as part of the group New Coon Creek Girls.
Breaking New Ground is the debut studio album by American country music band Wild Rose. Originally issued in 1988 via Universal Records, it was rereleased on April 9, 1990 via Capitol Records. The album includes the singles "Breaking New Ground" and "Go Down Swingin'".
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