Eddie Adcock
Encyclopedia
Eddie Adcock was born in Scottsville, Virginia
, USA, on June 21, 1938. His professional musical career as a 5 string banjoist began in 1953 when he joined Smokey Graves & His Blue Star Boys, who had a regular show at a radio station in Crewe, VA. His exposure with Graves led to jobs with other musicians, including Mac Wiseman
, Bill Harrell, and Buzz Busby. Between 1953 and 1957, he floated between different bands. Bill Monroe
offered a job to Adcock in 1957, and he played with the Blue Grass Boys until Monroe had to let him go because the band simply wasn't earning enough money to employ him. Adcock returned to working day jobs, but that was short-lived. After he started working in a sheet metal factory, Jim Cox, John Duffey, and Charlie Waller asked him to join their new band, The Country Gentlemen
. He now performs almost exclusively with his wife Martha and calls Nashville
his home. Eddie belongs to a number of business organizations, including IBMA and the Folk Alliance. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Banjo Institute. He and Martha also created and ran (off and on) Adcock Audio, a large, state-of-the-art sound company until 2006.
. He left home when he was 14 years old and supported himself through semi-professional boxing
. For the next seven years, he boxed and played music at nights. A few years later, he began racing cars. As a racer, Adcock racked up 34 straight wins with his car, which he named Mr. Banjo; he also had set two track records at Manassas, Virginia
. Not only did he box and race, he also performed various blue-collar jobs to pay the rent. All the time, he played music at night.
. The band’s original members were Charlie Waller
on guitar
and lead vocals, John Duffey
on mandolin
and tenor
vocals, Bill Emerson on banjo
and baritone
vocals, and Larry Lahey on bass
. Soon after Adcock's arrival the band settled into a somewhat permanent lineup consisting of Waller, Duffey, Eddie Adcock on banjo, and Tom Gray
on bass.
, where he formed a country-rock band called The Clinton Special. While he performed with the group he used the pseudonym Clinton Codack. The band recorded only one single, "Just as You Are I Love You"/"Blackberry Fence," which was released on MGM Records
. In 1973 he met Martha Hearon whom he would marry three years later. They have remained partners in music and life for over three decades. The dynamic duo of Eddie and Martha Adcock has become known as “the biggest little band in Bluegrass”. Cashbox magazine and Billboard
magazine have both named them “one of the Bluegrass circuit's top acts”. Eddie and Martha now concentrate on performing as a duo, as well as doing some concerts with Tom Gray and a few shows with Adcock-Gaudreau-Waller & Gray: (The Country Gentlemen Reunion Band), and on producing themselves and others both outside and in-house at their own SunFall Studio. Eddie and Martha AKA The Adcocks have appeared on Austin City Limits
, Ernest Tubb's Midnite Jamboree, TNN's 'Nashville Now' and Wildhorse Saloon, Grassroots To Bluegrass, and a host of NPR
specials, as well as syndicated, Internet
, and local TV and radio shows worldwide. Their video Dog aired on TNN, CMT
, and CNN
. They have released a number of popular recordings, appearing on several bluegrass
, Americana, college, rock, and country charts, and have recorded with quite a few other artists as well. They currently record for the Pinecastle Records label.
"When I first noticed, his skills were not the same and we were trying to figure out what was going on," she said. "It was distressing because this has been his whole life."
Scottsville, Virginia
Scottsville is a town in Albemarle and Fluvanna counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 555 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Charlottesville Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, USA, on June 21, 1938. His professional musical career as a 5 string banjoist began in 1953 when he joined Smokey Graves & His Blue Star Boys, who had a regular show at a radio station in Crewe, VA. His exposure with Graves led to jobs with other musicians, including Mac Wiseman
Mac Wiseman
Malcolm B. Wiseman , better known as Mac Wiseman, is an American bluegrass singer, nicknamed The Voice with a Heart. The bearded singer is one of the cult figures of bluegrass....
, Bill Harrell, and Buzz Busby. Between 1953 and 1957, he floated between different bands. Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe
William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
offered a job to Adcock in 1957, and he played with the Blue Grass Boys until Monroe had to let him go because the band simply wasn't earning enough money to employ him. Adcock returned to working day jobs, but that was short-lived. After he started working in a sheet metal factory, Jim Cox, John Duffey, and Charlie Waller asked him to join their new band, The Country Gentlemen
The Country Gentlemen
The Country Gentlemen were a bluegrass band that originated during the 1950s in the area of Washington, DC, United States, and recorded and toured with various members until the death in 2004 of Charlie Waller, one of the group's founders who in its later years served as the group's "focal point...
. He now performs almost exclusively with his wife Martha and calls Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
his home. Eddie belongs to a number of business organizations, including IBMA and the Folk Alliance. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Banjo Institute. He and Martha also created and ran (off and on) Adcock Audio, a large, state-of-the-art sound company until 2006.
Early years
He bought his first banjo as a child and began performing with his brother Frank shortly afterward. The duo would sing in local churches and radio stations based in the nearby CharlottesvilleCharlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
. He left home when he was 14 years old and supported himself through semi-professional boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
. For the next seven years, he boxed and played music at nights. A few years later, he began racing cars. As a racer, Adcock racked up 34 straight wins with his car, which he named Mr. Banjo; he also had set two track records at Manassas, Virginia
Manassas, Virginia
The City of Manassas is an independent city surrounded by Prince William County and the independent city of Manassas Park in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Its population was 37,821 as of 2010. Manassas also surrounds the county seat for Prince William County but that county...
. Not only did he box and race, he also performed various blue-collar jobs to pay the rent. All the time, he played music at night.
With the Country Gentlemen
The Country Gentlemen originated in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. The band’s original members were Charlie Waller
Charlie Waller
Charlie Waller was the lead singer and guitarist for the legendary bluegrass band the Country Gentlemen. Waller was involved with the Country Gentlemen for 47 years...
on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and lead vocals, John Duffey
John Duffey
John H. Duffey was a Washington DC-based bluegrass music innovator and musician....
on mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
and tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
vocals, Bill Emerson on banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
and baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
vocals, and Larry Lahey on bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
. Soon after Adcock's arrival the band settled into a somewhat permanent lineup consisting of Waller, Duffey, Eddie Adcock on banjo, and Tom Gray
Tom Gray
Tom Gray is a bluegrass musician widely considered one of the best bass players in the genre. He is probably best known for his bass playing with The Country Gentlemen and The Seldom Scene. In 1996, as a member of The Country Gentlemen, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall...
on bass.
Then Eddie met Martha
In 1970 Eddie quit The Country Gentlemen and moved to CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where he formed a country-rock band called The Clinton Special. While he performed with the group he used the pseudonym Clinton Codack. The band recorded only one single, "Just as You Are I Love You"/"Blackberry Fence," which was released on MGM Records
MGM Records
MGM Records was a record label started by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946, for the purpose of releasing soundtrack albums of their musical films. Later it became a pop label, lasting into the 1970s...
. In 1973 he met Martha Hearon whom he would marry three years later. They have remained partners in music and life for over three decades. The dynamic duo of Eddie and Martha Adcock has become known as “the biggest little band in Bluegrass”. Cashbox magazine and Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine have both named them “one of the Bluegrass circuit's top acts”. Eddie and Martha now concentrate on performing as a duo, as well as doing some concerts with Tom Gray and a few shows with Adcock-Gaudreau-Waller & Gray: (The Country Gentlemen Reunion Band), and on producing themselves and others both outside and in-house at their own SunFall Studio. Eddie and Martha AKA The Adcocks have appeared on Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits is an American public television music program recorded live in Austin, Texas by Public Broadcasting Service Public television member station KLRU, and broadcast on many PBS stations around the United States...
, Ernest Tubb's Midnite Jamboree, TNN's 'Nashville Now' and Wildhorse Saloon, Grassroots To Bluegrass, and a host of NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
specials, as well as syndicated, Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, and local TV and radio shows worldwide. Their video Dog aired on TNN, CMT
CMT
- Medicine :* California mastitis test* Certified Massage Therapist* Cervical motion tenderness, a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease* Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease* Chemically modified tetracyclines* Circus Movement Tachycardia...
, and CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
. They have released a number of popular recordings, appearing on several bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
, Americana, college, rock, and country charts, and have recorded with quite a few other artists as well. They currently record for the Pinecastle Records label.
Surgery
In October 2008, concerns about hand-tremors, which could have compromised his performing career, led to Eddie having deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. A local anaesthetic was used during the surgery, and he was encouraged to play banjo during the procedure in order to check the effectiveness of the treatment. During the brain implantation surgery, the patient is kept conscious so they may assist the doctors in properly placing the leads. They do this by experiencing its immediate effects on their fine motor skills. In Eddie’s case, this would be his right hand picking the banjo. Eddie has related that this was not an easy process to experience.- I came up in music the hard way and learned to be a trouper fast. Some of those early days were pretty rough, and I’ve been stomped, cut and kicked; but I never went through hell like this — it was the most painful thing I’ve ever endured. And it was risky. But I did it for a reason: I’m looking forward to being able to play music the way I did years ago prior to getting this tremor. It means that much to me. I’m far from being done!"
- Martha, was the first to notice the tremor.
"When I first noticed, his skills were not the same and we were trying to figure out what was going on," she said. "It was distressing because this has been his whole life."