Vince Gill in the Southern Quote
He was born in Oklahoma in 1957. From childhood he shared a love for music with his father, a banjo and guitar playing judge. By his teens he'd picked up both instruments and was playing in his first bluegrass band. Over the years he has added half a dozen more instruments to his resume. After high school he toured with a number of bands before moving
Paul Greenberg in the Southern Quote
Paul was born on Jan. 21st 1937 in Shreveport, Louisiana. His father Ben was a merchant, his mother Sarah a seamstress and housewife. Sarah had come to America from Poland as a nineteen year old following the First World War. She willed her undying gratitude and patriotism to her new country into everyone in her family. From a child Paul loved everything about words; even the
Oliver Hardy in the Southern Quote
This son of a Confederate war veteran was born January 18th, 1892 in Harlem, Georgia. Less than a year later, his father was dead and his mother was struggling to find work to support the family. They moved several times before settling in Milledgeville where she took a job managing the Baldwin Hotel. It was in the hotel lobby that young Norvell developed both a fascination
Wayne Newton in the Southern Quote
This half-Indian son of an auto mechanic was born April 3rd, 1942 in Roanoke, Virginia. He was four when his parents took him to see the Grand Old Opry. Enthralled by the likes of such country music greats as Hank Williams and Kitty Wells, the little boy announced to his mother that "this was what he wanted to do." "What?" she asked. Carson Wayne Newton
Jack Greene in the Southern Quote
He was born on January 7th, 1930 in Maryville, Tennessee, picked up the guitar at eight, and made his singing debut on the radio as a high school freshman. Soon he was performing regularly on the Tennessee Barn Dance on WNOX out of Knoxville, Tennessee. Jack’s next move took him to Atlanta, where he put together a band called the Peach Street Boys. Almost a
George Brett in the Southern Quote
He was born May 15th, 1953, in Glen Dale, the second youngest child in a sports loving family in Glen Dale, West Virginia. George grew up dreaming of becoming a major league baseball player like his older brother. He was eighteen years old when the Kansas City Royals gave him a shot, picking him in the second round of the 1971 draft. He was a sure-handed,
Elizabeth Liddy Dole in the Southern Quote
She was born in Salisbury, North Carolina, July 29th, 1934. Her father was a wholesale florist, her mother a stay at home mom. They determined to give little Elizabeth a traditional southern upbringing. She spent her childhood studying the piano and ballet and entering essay contests. Her parents' instilled in her a rock-solid work ethic based on the habit of appraising your success by evaluating
Ernest Tubb in the Southern Quote
He was born on a cotton farm in Crisp, Texas. It was February 9th, 1914. As a young boy, he lived around the state working long hours alongside his share- cropping father, attending school only when a job wasn’t available. He was fourteen when he heard a Jimmie Rodgers recording. Fascinated with the man and his music, he set his heart on becoming a singer
Shelby Foote in the Southern Quote
He was born during the Jazz age to an upper class southern family in Greenville, Mississippi. His father was a man of few early ambitions. It was only after he married and lost all his money that he was forced to work as a traveling salesman. He was surprisingly good at it, even earning a promotion, although he died of food poisoning before he could
Nipsey Russell in the Southern Quote
Julius was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1918. He was only three when he performed with a tap dance team called, "The Ragamuffins of Rhythm." He wasn't much older when he saw a fellow African-American named Jack Wiggins entertain a crowd by telling jokes in between his tap dance routines. The performer's clean routine and unaffected accent inspired Julius and gave structure to his dreams. Julius
