Veteran bluegrass performer Bob Paisley died November 29 at his home in
Landenberg, Pennsylvania. He was 73.Veteran bluegrass performer Bob Paisley died November 29 at his home in
Landenberg, Pennsylvania. He was 73.
Paisley’s family was originally from Ashe County, NC. His mother played guitar in the thumb-picking style, his father played clawhammer banjo; his uncle Wiley Paisley and a cousin were members of the North Carolina Ridge Runners. Paisley grew up hearing many of the greats of Appalachian music. Alex Campbell, Ola Belle Reed, and the New River Ranch Boys and Girls were family friends of his grandfather and often rehearsed at his home. At summer concerts Paisley heard Roy Acuff and Bill Monroe.
In the late 1960s, he and banjo player Ted Lundy formed the bluegrass band Southern Mountain Boys. After Lundy's death in 1980, he renamed the band Bob Paisley and the Southern Grass. For over 25 years the band maintained their distinctive brand of hard-driving bluegrass music combining soulful and powerful harmony singing with exciting instrumental work. The band performed at countless music festivals, colleges, clubs, and special events, including President Carter's Inauguration, and regularly toured in Europe, Japan, and Canada.
[Obituary courtesy of the Folk Alliance].
World Music Central
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