Carol Perkins: The Gift of Music

To our impatient readers threatening to cancel subscriptions if we didn't get Carol Sullivan online, on time, in the Sunday ColumbiaMagazine.com newspaper: Hold your horses. This is worth the wait. For Carol Perkins fans, for music fans, for history buffs: This piece, about Lonzo & Oscar and the incredible musical talents of Metcalfe's Sullivan and Acree families, is a story you won't put down till you're finished reading, and maybe re-reading. -EW

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To read her next previous story click on Don't Make Me Go

By Carol Perkins

"The Gift of Music"

Not to be bragging, but I come from a musically gifted family. The Sullivan boys were known in the Cedar Flat community, as well as throughout Metcalfe County, as guys who could play any instrument put before them. Carl, Walter, Johnny (Lonzo), Ernest and Phillip played mainly the guitar. Rollin (Oscar) is one of the most spectacular mandolin players in the world. The girls, Clarice (Baker) and Ruby (Martin), were pianists, and my dad Henry played just about anything that had strings or would blow. Even though some could read a little music, they all played by ear. That was a true gift.


When they were young and gathered in the front yard of their home in the afternoon, music flowed down the hillside into the valley.Neighbors brought their instruments and joined in. During this time, some people in the community held square dances in their homes or yards. The Sullivan boys and other neighbor boys were called upon to play for these dances.

Dad played with brothers (aka Lonzo and Oscar)

When my dad was in his early twenties, he and his brothers, Johnny and Rollin (aka Lonzo and Oscar), were playing on various local radio stations. If you saw "Coal Miner's Daughter" you remember how a musician drove up with his bass guitar on top of the car and went inside a station and played live on the air. That was truly how my dad and his brothers played their music.

Their big break happened when Cousin Wilbur and his band were the main attraction at the Taylor County Fair and heard the boys playing in a local talent show.

He offered them a job playing on a radio station in Jackson, Tennessee but it would mean they had to leave the next day. Off the three brothers went to Jackson, where they lived for two years and played on WTJS every morning. At night, they performed in honky-tonks and roadhouses.

Dad won Tri-State Fiddling Championship two years in row

For two years in a row, my dad won the Tri-State Fiddling Champion. His short career ended when he was drafted during WWII and spent five years in war zones. He never wanted to travel again.

He could have made a living with his fiddle, but he longed to be in Metcalfe County. However, Lonzo and Oscar went on to become Grand Ole Opry members for almost fifty years and that is a story in itself. Phillip, the youngest brother, was on his way to fame when he was killed in a car accident. He was in his early thirties.

All of my childhood, there was never a night that my dad didn't go into the bedroom and either take out his fiddle, his trumpet, or his sax and play for thirty minutes or longer. The sounds he made were as good as the world's best, at least to me. I've heard him open the door, stick his head out of the room and say to my mother, who was usually in the kitchen, "Have you heard enough?" She would sometimes say "Just about," but most of the time she told him to play as long as he wanted.

Most of my Sullivan cousins are gifted muscians

Most of my Sullivan cousins are gifted musicians as well. When we had our family reunion a few years ago, the instruments came out of the cars as fast as the food. For hours they played and sang at Singing Hills, owned at the time by Rollin (Oscar).

"On what side of the family did they get this talent?" I recently asked my mother. "On both, but mainly from the Acree side," she replied. (My Grandmother Sullivan was an Acree). Just about all of the Acrees can play. Jimmy Acree can make a keyboard/piano rock. Fanny Fields, known throughout the state for her gift, could have played with any big-time band.

Over my lifetime, many people have said, "I bet you have that Sullivan talent." I always shake my head no and say, "But I sure wish I did!" Sadly, I must confess that I did not receive this gift.

The Sullivan boys ( and girls) weren't the only musically gifted family in the community, but I'll have to say that they were probably the most well known.

Three of the nine Lonzo and Oscar generation of Sullivans still living

Of the nine children, three are still living. Oscar is involved in his music, even though it is now mostly for himself. If you were to visit him his mandolin would be nearby and he would be ready to sing "I'm My Own Grandpa" one more time or "There's A Hole In The Bottom Of The Sea."

As for my dad, he passed away thirty years ago. Sometimes when I hear those Foggy Mountain Breakdown songs, I can hear his fiddle in the far off distance. What I wouldn't give to listen to him play one more time!

We are all given a talent, but many of us don't use it. Some don't even recognize what their talents are. I wanted to pay tribute to a family to whom a gift was given and not squandered. Each one of them used their talent to their enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. Music was as much a part of their daily lives as eating, going to school, and working."The Gift" was well used in the Sullivan family.

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About the author: Carol (Sullivan) Perkins is a lifelong resident of Edmonton, KY, in Metcalfe County where she taught high school English at Metcalfe County High School until her recent retirement. She is a now a freelance writer. is married to Guy Perkins and they have two children: Carla Green (Mark) of Brentwood, TN and Jon Perkins (Beth) of Austin, TX and six grandchildren. Her latest book, Let's Talk About, is a collection of over 70 of her works, and she is presently working on the second book in this series. Carol's ties to Adair County go back to Breeding where her grandfather, Rufus Reece, and her grandmother Bettie Strange, began their married life and later moved to Metcalfe County. You may contact Carol at cperkins@scrtc.com or write at P.O. Box 134 Edmonton. If you would like a copy of her book, you can order through email. Watch for her next story next Sunday.

IF YOU'VE ENJOYED READING CAROL PERKINS' STORIES on ColumbiaMagazine.com, you'll love her book, "Let's Talk About It. . . ." The books are $15 plus $4 for shipping. Send check or cash or money order to Carol Perkins, P.O. Box 134, Edmonton, KY 42129 They can be bought at the Herald Office in Edmonton, KY, or Terri's Fine Jewelry in Glasgow, KY.

This story was posted on 2009-06-14 13:35:45

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