The Blue Sky Boys

• Bill Bolick ( born October 28, 1917 † 13 March 2008)

The Blue Sky Boys, consisting of the brothers Earl and Bill Bolick, was an American Old-time, bluegrass and folk duo who could look back on a 40-year career. They were the most successful duo of the 1930s and achieved great ballads with their record sales.

Life

Childhood and youth

Born and raised in East Hickory, North Carolina, the brothers lived in poverty. They were the fourth and fifth child of strict religious parents who brought them into contact with music early on. Together they sang old ballads or songs from the hymnal. A neighbor brought Bill on the banjo and guitar playing. Earl learned mandolin, but shortly thereafter the two brothers exchanged the instruments. As a teenager she began to perform as a duo. Bill played simultaneously in yet another band, the Crazy Hickory Nuts.

Bill made ​​his first appearance with the Hickory Nuts in 1935 at a local radio station in Asheville. Shortly thereafter he founded with his brother and the Fiddler Homer Sherrill, also a former member of the Hickory Nuts, the JFG Coffee Boys. Also in this formation they had continued appearances at local radio. Then they moved to Atlanta, where she the Blue Ridge Hillbillies founded and parted from Homer Sherill. Now they only appeared as a duo and called themselves now The Blue Sky Boys.

Career

By chance, they got a recording contract with RCA. There she published her first records, which were great successes. Soon they overtook in popularity the Monroe Brothers, the Delmore Brothers, and the Carlisle Brothers, all of which had already recording contracts. In the following four years they recorded nearly 100 songs for RCA. 1941, when the United States entered World War II, the brothers were drafted into the army. On the career was not initially think.

After being discharged from the army, they began in early 1946 with recordings. Every now and then they played together with guest musicians such as Sam Parker, Joe Tyson, Leslie Keith and Richard Hicks. In the period 1946-1947 they were at the height of her career. Her biggest hit, Kentucky, also dates from this period. However, the Blue Sky Boys did not want to come to terms with the changes in the country music and have therefore been sidelined by their record company. In this time of honky tonk became more and more the upper hand. Stars such as Ernest Tubb and Hank Williams achieved great fame and electrical guitars found their way into the previously strictly conservative hillbilly scene. The offer to add an electric guitar and smooth the sound of their songs something they rejected also. So they took until 1949 to no longer drive. In 1950, she played one of their last session for RCA, 1951, she withdrew completely from the moment the music business.

Break and comeback

During the break, the Blue Sky Boys artistic went their separate ways; Bill worked at this time as a postal worker in North Carolina, Earl at the Lockheed aircraft factory.

In 1962, Starday Records, a best -of album, the Blue Sky Boys out. One year later, Bill persuaded his brother to re-enter the music scene. They took for Starday to the two albums Together Again and Precious Moments, which have now been made ​​accessible to a wider audience because of its smoother sound. They also played sporadically at folk and bluegrass festivals. In 1965 they released the live album Live At UCLA Folk Festival. It was their only live album and also her only at Capitol Records.

In 1975, she recorded a final album for Rounder, then the Blue Sky Boys finally put to rest. Bill sat down in her hometown East Hickory and died in 2008; Earl Tucker, Georgia, where he died in 1998.