Carroll County is home to a variety of music traditions. A slice of the area's rich history of country, gospel, and bluegrass music was documented on the compact disc "Everybody's Tuned to the Radio: Rural Music Traditions in West Georgia, 1947-1979," recently released by the Center for Public History at the State University of West Georgia. Although Uncle John Patterson, Rhoda Storey, Newt Holmes, and other musicians from the CD are no longer with us, a number of local artists showcased on the disc are still performing.
Inspired by the local community's enthusiastic response to the CD, the Center for Public History presented two concerts by six different groups of local musicians. Some of these artists will be familiar to those who have heard the CD. All of them share in common a direct link to the golden age of live radio programs on WLBB and other West Georgia stations.
On the evening of March 7th and the afternoon of March 9, the Carrollton Cultural Arts Center hosted this unique gathering of local "roots music" luminaries. The Blue Bonnet Boys, Charles Cole and his Southern Kinfolks, and Alton Stitcher represented local traditions of old-time country, or "hillbilly music." Performing their time-honored brand of bluegrass were the Bluegrass Five, featuring J.N. and Onie Baxter. The Willing Workers and the Sewell Quartet demonstrated styles of gospel music long popular in West Georgia. Each group performed for approximately fifteen minutes.
In keeping with the theme of live radio, three former WLBB announcers emceed the shows, featuring former country music disc jockey Bob Green, who moved to Carrollton in 1954 to pursue a career in broadcasting, and Miles Kramer Busby, former host of the "Community Voice" talk program on the new WLBB.
Blue Bonnet Boys kicked off the show. Formed in 1941 by a group of country music loving teenagers from Bowdon, the band performed all over West Georgia. They appeared at square dances, school auditoriums, movie theaters, and over the airwaves of Cedartown radio station WGAA. Although they disbanded in 1944, the original lineup of the Blue Bonnet Boys got back together for reunion shows in 1979 and 1993. For this occasion, founding members Al Ward (guitar and vocals), his sister Louise Prince (piano), and Maon Payne (mandolin) will be joined by a younger generation of Blue Bonnet Boys. Although bass player Bernard Payne passed away in 2000, his son Craig performed in his place. Filling in on fiddle for the late Fotch Snow was his nephew Barry. Barry is the son of another original Blue Bonnet Boy, retired Bowdon banker W.J. Snow.
During its early years, from 1947 to 1962, Carrollton's first radio station, WLBB, hosted numerous live music programs by local performers. During that era, one of the station's most popular entertainers was singer and guitarist Alton Stitcher. Drawing on his vast repertoire of sentimental ballads, folk songs, hymns, and popular country standards, Alton delighted listeners with his plaintive voice and laid-back delivery. Born and raised in Carroll County, Stitcher began performing on the radio in 1936, in Griffin, Georgia. "The Poet From The Mountain," as Alton was billed on an Alabama radio station during the 1950s, is currently recording a CD of his original compositions and a few old favorites. Accompanying Alton on mandolin, harmonica, and backing vocals was Russell McClanahan, from Rome, Georgia. An accomplished and versatile musician,McClanahan also performs with Rome's "Stranger" Malone, a musician who recorded and toured with such early country music legends from north Georgia as Riley Puckett, Clayton McMichen, and the Skillet Lickers.
One of the very first groups to perform at WLBB following its inaugural broadcast in January, 1947, was an outfit called Charles Cole and his Southern Kinfolks. Singer, guitarist, and master-of-ceremonies Charles Cole fronted a formidable array of Carrollton country music talent that included "champion girl fiddler" Rhoda Storey and her guitar-picking sister, Nellie. For the concerts, Cole assembled a new bunch of Southern Kinfolks to help showcase the style of country music he currently performs.
Among those tuning into WLBB during the late 1940s and early 50s to listen to programs by the Southern Kinfolks, Uncle John Patterson, and other local musicians were Iona "Onie" Newman and J.N. Baxter. Steeped in country music traditions, J.N. and Onie have been singing and playing music together since they married in 1954. They formed their first group, the Bluegrass Five, in 1963. Through performances at venues ranging from radio stations and church gatherings to the governor's mansion and numerous bluegrass festivals,the Baxters have built an enviable reputation as consummate entertainers and musical torchbearers. Their names have become synonymous with bluegrass music in west Georgia. In recognition of their talents and achievements, J.N. and Onie were inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Honor in 1998 and the Hall of Fame in 2001. The couple were the subject of a feature article in the November, 2002 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine Their daughter Jane Baxter joined J.N. and Onie on-stage playing stand-up bass along with Joe Will McGuire on five-string banjo. An original member of the Bluegrass Five, McGuire is widely credited as the first banjo player in Carroll County to use finger picks. He began playing and recording informally with the Baxters in the 1950s and has remained active in bluegrass ever since.
The popularity of country music in West Georgia in the decades following World War II was challenged by other styles of music with a strictly religious message. During that era, WLBB hosted weekly programs by a wide variety of gospel quartets, trios, and duets. Among the most enduring and popular of these local gospel groups were the Holmes Family, the Velvetones, and the longest performing gospel group in West Georgia, the Willing Workers. Beginning in the early 1960s and continuing well into the 1990s, the Willing Workers had their own Sunday morning program. They were among a number of African-American gospel groups, including the Harmonizing Seven, the Heavenly Gospels, and the Golden Bells who performed regularly on WLBB. Through their music, the Willing Workers helped bridge the barriers that often separated the local black and white communities.
Fronted by lead vocalist and founding member, Willie Kendrix, the Workers exemplify the strong ties of family and kinship that bind together many West Georgia groups. Joining Kendrix on stage were his son Stanley (bass guitar and vocals), his grandson Nicholas (P.A. technician and drummer) and his first cousin Clyde Thomas (sharing lead vocal duties). The group also features tenor singer Larry Ellis, baritone singer Claude McClendon, lead guitarist Bobby Harris, keyboard player Michael Ector, and drummer Joe Brown. As they have done for several decades, the Willing Workers continue to make personal appearances throughout the region. A nine-song cassette, entitled "He's Everything I Need", represents the group's recorded output.
The rich tradition of gospel quartet singing in West Georgia was represented by a group of former employees of Sewell Manufacturing in Bremen and Temple. The Sewell Quartet features vocalists Hugh McGraw, Onie Baxter, John Payton, and Harold Blackmon. Blackmon, a recently retired probate judge from Haralson County, and Payton both sang semi-professionally for a number of years in various gospel groups. Through his efforts on behalf of the Sacred Harp Publishing Company and as a shape-note singing teacher, McGraw has worked tirelessly since the 1950s to preserve and promote the spread of the Sacred Harp tradition throughout the United States. At one time, he performed over WLBB with a group of Sacred Harp singers whose program was immensely popular with the local audience. Although associated primarily with bluegrass, Onie Baxter also has deep roots in gospel music. She grew up singing shape-note hymns in church and at all-day singing conventions.
The concerts were sponsored in part by the Georgia Humanities Council and the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriation of the Georgia General Assembly. The Georgia Council for the Arts is a partner agency of the National Endowment of the Arts.