When it comes to music, Cleveland County is synonymous with Earl Scruggs and Don Gibson.
Born in the Flint Hill community, Earl Scruggs became a banjo legend for popularizing a three-finger banjo picking style. It is now called “Scruggs style,” and regarded as a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. Over the years, Earl Scruggs collaborated with a wide range of musicians, including Lester Flatt in Flatt & Scruggs, Bill Monroe in Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, and later with his sons in the Earl Scruggs Revue, as well as artists like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, and others. Steve Martin played second banjo in a 2001 performance with Scruggs that won a Grammy.
Other musicians who played with Scruggs include Albert Lee, Vince Gill, Randy Scruggs, Marty Stuart, Jerry Douglas, Leon Russell, Gary Scruggs, and Paul Shaffer.
Earl Scruggs left such a powerful impact on the music world that Cleveland County leaders decided to repurpose the old Cleveland County court house to honor Earl’s legacy. Read more. . .
Interview with Earl Scruggs and Andy Griffith, by Holly Dunn.
Interview with Earl Scruggs, by Terry Gross.
Donald Eugene Gibson was a songwriter, country musician, and Country Music Hall of Fame inductee. Born in Shelby, NC in 1928, Don went on to write country standards such as “Sweet Dreams,” “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” and “Oh Lonesome Me” from 1957 into the mid-1970s. He earned the nickname “The Sad Poet” because he frequently wrote songs that told of loneliness and lost love.
In 2009, the old State Theater in Shelby, NC was renovated to make way for The Don Gibson Theater to honor the country music legend and native son. Read more. . .
William Ray Ledford was owner of Ray Ledford Music Studio and a member of the Ray Ledford and Company Band. He also played with other musicians in Cleveland County and surrounding areas. Ray was a craftsman of guitars having made over 250 of them. Read more from Ray’s obituary here.
J. Max and Teena McKee have both have been inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame, among several other awards over the years. Max is best known as the “King of the hard-driving banjo.”
Johnny Best was born in Shelby in 1913. His trumpet solos punctuated some of the most familiar tunes of the big-band era, helping to define and shape the sounds of such legends as Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw.
Donald Gerald Waldrop was born in Shelby and went on to enjoy a prolific career playing trombone in numerous high profile orchestras. Read more.
Richard “Petie” Waldrop, brother to Don, played bass guitar, banjo and other instruments. His first band was Willie TKE and Smile. He toured with The Plum Hollow band in the late 70s. Later, in Wilmington he formed the band High Cotton. Waldrop also worked in the film industry.
Jessie Smith “Smitty” Irvin was born in Shelby in 1930. He became a very talented banjo player, playing with Buck Ryan and Bill Harrell and the Virginians. Irvin died in 2003. Take a listen. . .
Patty Loveless lived in Kings Mountain briefly after her marriage to Terry Lovelace. Born Patricia Lee Ramey in Kentucky in 1957, she rose in country music fame and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2023. Read more. . .
Alicia Bridges was born in Charlotte in 1953, but grew up in Lawndale, NC. She became internationally known for her hit song “I Love the Nightlife (Disco ‘Round)” in 1978.
Rick Bowles is a Shelby native who has had a successful career in songwriting. His songs have been performed by country music artists such as Marty Stuart, Reba McEntire, and Alison Krauss. He has cowritten songs with numerous songwriters, one of whom was another Shelby native, Richard Putnam.
Josh McSwain graduated from Shelby High School in 1993. As a guitarist, pianist and singer, he performs with the country group Parmalee.
Rhett Walker, a native of Shelby, leads the Rhett Walker Band which was nominated for a Grammy for the debut single “When Mercy Found Me.” The band has received three Gospel Music Association Dove Award nominations.
George Milford Hatcher attended Shelby High School in the mid-1960s. He went on the form the George Hatcher Band after moving to England in the summer of 1975. Read more. . .
Acoustic Syndicate is a very successful roots rock band whose members originate from upper Cleveland County. The band is made up of brothers Bryon and Fitzhugh McMurry, cousin Steve McMurry, and Jay Sanders. Take a listen. . . “Rainbow Roller Coaster.”
Born in Kings Mountain, Jimmy Wayne, has had a successful music career as a country music singer and songwriter.
Trey Hill was born in Cleveland County and graduated from Crest High School. Trey went on to become a popular guitarist and singer and songwriter.
Dale Brittain is a singer/songwriter acoustic guitarist from Fallston. He remains a favorite at Dragonfly Wine Market and many other local establishments in Cleveland and Gaston Counties.
Local Musicians from the Past
Cleveland County is fortunate to have had numerous local bands. These were friends and relatives who had regular jobs and never went national, but nevertheless gave their communities countless hours of musical enjoyment. We salute them!
Haggard Dolly was a local band active from 2015 until the death of their songwriter, Gene Cox in 2022. Gene not only wrote songs, he also sang, played banjo, guitar, and mandolin.
The rest of the band was made up of his two daughters, Erin Farrington and Jennifer Owens, and Tom Forney. Erin recounted the history of her dad’s legacy in an interview for this article:
“Circa 1983, the spirit of “Haggard Dolly” started out simply as “Gene Cox and his three daughters.” Back then, Gene brought the girls along with him to play music and entertain at local nursing homes; and of course, the church. He’d often haul a piece of ply-board from one of his construction sites, and this became their stage. (The clogs on that ply-board echoed for years…or, at least we’d like to think!) For over four decades, this family has performed alongside multiple bluegrass and gospel enthusiasts.
In about 2002, the family decided to give themselves a name…’Muddy Fork Orchestra.’ The band gigged around under that name for a while. They eventually became a little smaller in membership, brought fiddler Tom Forney on board, and made the decision to play under the name of ‘Haggard Dolly.’ This would be the band that Gene jammed with ‘til the day he met Jesus.
The family all sang at his bedside “Will There Be Any Stars in My Crown?” Even Gene, who had been unresponsive for over a week, mouthed the words to this song as he crossed over Jordan. It was divine.
There truly is not enough space here to give Gene props for all the poems, short stories, melodies, and lyrics he wrote in his lifetime. Like the youngin’s say now-a-days…if ya know, ya know.
Thank you, Daddy, for being the best human in all the land since the beginning of time. Play on.
“It’s a Beautiful Life,” (Gene Cox) and we shall meet again on “Heaven’s Bright Shore.” (Allison Krauss)
Your girls—Amy, Jennifer, and Erin”
- Jennifer Owens—guitar, electric and doghouse bass, lead and back-up vocals.
- Tom Forney—fiddle, mandolin, back-up vocals.
- Erin Farrington—lead and back-up vocals, percussion (bongos, sticks, washboard, tambourine, egg shaker, and spoons
Dr. Bobby Jones was a well known mandolin player in Cleveland County, playing with such bluegrass bands as Sawbone’s Grass, RiverBend Bluegrass Band, New River and Flint Hill Band.
Read more from his obituary.
Cleveland County Music Hall of Fame Inductees
Long before the concept of genetics was recognized, we have intuitively known that traits–even gifts of artistic talents–seemed to run in families.
The gift of being musically talented is truly special, offering a unique avenue for expression, connection, and profound joy. Whether a person is born with a natural aptitude or develops their skills through dedication and practice, the ability to create or perform music can significantly enrich their life and the lives of those around them. This gift allows individuals to tap into a universal language that transcends cultural boundaries, fostering empathy, stimulating creativity, and even enhancing cognitive abilities like memory and problem-solving.
On a personal note, I want to dedicate this section of Cleveland County History to the memory of my father’s first cousin, Johnson Gaither Beam, Jr.–a violin prodigy whose life ended much too soon.
~ Paula Hord Dedmon
Johnson G. Beam, Jr. learned to play the violin at an early age. News and reviews of his recitals and performances were in the news on a regular basis. At Lincoln High School (NE), he rose to concertmaster.
In 1942, Johnson was accepted into the School of Fine Arts at the University of Nebraska. He rose to concert master in the University Orchestra and was a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a fraternity for men with a special interest in music. He also played in the first violin section of the Lincoln Symphony. At the end of his sophomore year he was accepted into graduate school at Juilliard. He studied violin at Juilliard under the great Hans Letz.
He was residing at the International House on Riverside Drive in Manhattan at the time of his death. His death certificate states he had been in the hospital for two months prior to his death. His medical report, released in 2020, revealed that he had a history of gastro-intestinal bleeding since the age of three. He underwent esophagogastrostomy surgery on June 20; he died three days later of post-operative hyperpyrexia. He was just 22.
Cleveland County History 