(435) ME AND COUNTRY MUSIC : MY ROOTS IN CHEROKEE COUNTY

I grew up in rural Cherokee County North Carolina - The Smokey Mountains - where I ran with a kid gang, and as a teen followed my father's work to Oregon and then around the country to Akron, Ohio, where I got my big break.  From there I would move to New York City as my base but tour throughout the South.

I grew up hearing Country Music and I've always loved it. Rockabilly, as you probably know, has strong roots in Country.  Many of my peers in the business in the late 1950's and early 1960's also had country roots, people like Buddy Knox, Jimmy Bowen and Buddy Holly, who were from West Texas, and Glen Campbell, who was from the "Deep South".

As a song writer, I was just as interested in writing for Country music artists as ever and I was able to place some of the songs I wrote or cowrote with Country artists.