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Name: Little Roy Lewis
Group: They Lewis Family
Date: Monday June 18th, 2007
Time: 12:00pm EST
Website: www.thelewisfamilymusic.com
Description:
Little Roy Lewis is a part of the Lewis Family bluegrass-gospel band. He was born and raised in Lincolnton, Georgia. Little Roy Lewis began playing banjo when he was only six years old. Little Roy won his first talent contest at age eight. When he was nine, Little Roy joined the family band after an older brother entered the Army. In 1954, the Lewis clan began performing regularly on WJBF-TV in Augusta, Georgia. The show ran for 38 years, Little Roy has appeared on all of his family's albums, but he also cut a few banjo records of his own. In 1968, he recorded his first full-length album, Golden Gospel Banjo. Lewis was a popular member of his family band. Little Roy is known for offering lively chatter and comical sound effects during their shows.
By the end of the 20th century the Lewis Family played roughly 200 bluegrass shows a year, appearing at annual Southern gospel events such as the Albert E. Brumley Memorial Singing in Springdale, AR, as well as at bluegrass festivals far and wide. Their shows, marked by cornball humor along with a gospel message, offer a great bluegrass gospel show. Although the group operates in a sphere separate from the bluegrass mainstream, Little Roy Lewis is recognized as one of the top masters of the five-string banjo in bluegrass. Daughters Miggie, Polly, and Janis Lewis joined the group gradually in the 1960s and 1970s as several brothers dropped out to pursue business careers, and their harmony singing anchors many of the family's songs; a third generation of Lewis musicians has taken the stage increasingly often in recent years. Many of the Lewis Family members are talented multi-instrumentalists. Their repertoire, particularly heavy on the works of bluegrass songwriter Randall Hylton, also contains traditional pieces and unique songs from a network of local Georgia musicians. The Lewis Family hosts an annual bluegrass festival of its own, the Lewis Family Homecoming & Bluegrass Festival, in Lincolnton. They were inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1992. The Lewis Family was inducted into the IBMA Hall of Honor in Nashville on September 28th, 2006. The Lewis Family won awards for:
"My Cross" - Bluegrass Recorded Song of the Year
and "Flyin' High" - Bluegrass Album of the Year
in the 38th Annual GMA Dove Awards presented April 25, 2007. |
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