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MURFREESBORO, TN — The directors of the 34th annual Uncle Dave Macon Days Old-Time Music and Dance Festival, presented by Beaman Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram of Murfreesboro, will honor the memory of Country Music Hall of Fame members The Delmore Brothers (Rabon and Alton Delmore) with the 2011 Trailblazer Award. The event takes place July 8-10.
This recognition is presented to those individuals who have blazed a path in traditional music or dance whose work led the way for others to follow. They were known for their intricate harmonies, prolific songwriting skills and stellar guitar licks. Their music influenced the Everly Brothers, and Bob Dylan said in a 1985 Chicago Tribune interview that “. . . I think they’ve influenced every harmony I’ve ever tried to sing.”
The Delmore family will accept the honor on stage, the evening of Friday, July 8, at Cannonsburgh Village, site of the three-day festival. A musical tribute to the Delmore Brothers will follow.
“I’m deeply pleased to accept this award on behalf of The Delmore Brothers,” she said. “My uncle and father singing their song “Brown’s Ferry Blues,” at a fiddlers’ contest in Athens, Alabama, helped launch their career and later they performed with Uncle Dave Macon in the 1930s. I know they would be thrilled to be receiving this honor.”
Long considered one of country music’s first male duets, their close, tightly-blended trademark sound was influenced by gospel shape-note singing skills they learned from their mother, Mary Delmore, and “Uncle Will” Williams, a songwriter and music school teacher.
Born in Elkmont, Ala., they joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1931 and penned such country standards such as “Midnight Special,” “Mountain Dew,” “Blues Stay Away From Me,” and their theme song, “Alabama Lullaby.” It was during this time period that they recorded more than 80 songs for Victor Records’ Bluebird label. In January 1935, during a recording session for this label in New Orleans, The Delmore Brothers sang harmony with Uncle Dave on the tunes, “Over The Mountain” and “Just One Way To The Pearly Gates.”
While in Cincinnati, Ohio, on radio station WLW, they formed the famous Brown’s Ferry Four gospel quartet, whose original members, in addition to the Delmore Brothers, included Grandpa Jones and Merle Travis.
Their dynamic rhythms and bluesy structures in tunes like “Freight Train Boogie,” and “Hillbilly Boogie,” which included the harmonica work of Wayne Raney, are credited with being a major genesis in the development of Rockabilly and early rock ’n roll music. Cut in 1949 on King Records, the Delmore’s song, “Blues Stay Away From Me,” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007.
The talented brothers’ careers ended when Rabon died of cancer in 1952. Alton relocated to Huntsville, Ala., wrote his autobiography, “Truth Is Stranger Than Publicity” and taught music lessons until his death in 1964.
In addition to their 2001 induction into the Country Music Association Hall of Fame, the Delmore Brothers also are members of the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame (1971 inductees); the Alabama Country Music Hall of Fame (1989 inductees) and the Independent Country Music Association-Germany Hall of Fame (2000 inductees).
Cannonsburgh Village, 312 S. Front Street, is located just off of northwest Broad Street. Opening ceremonies start at 4 p.m. July 8. Gates will open at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, July 9. The Sunday, July 10, Community Service Fair will be held from noon to 5 p.m. Cannonsburgh is a restored southern village and one of the few projects constructed as a United States 1976 Bicentennial project still in use.
The weekend event offers an arts and crafts show, food, children’s activities, shade-tree jamming, living history demonstrations, shape-note singing and the ‘motorless parade’ on Saturday at 10 a.m. on historic East Main Street near the courthouse. A community service fair and gospel music take place on Sunday.
Adult admission will be charged both Friday and Saturday. Admission is $5 individually for both days or $8 for a two-day ticket. Children 12 and under will be admitted free.
For more information visit www.uncledavemacondays.com.
