It was another year of sad losses to our music community, with the deaths of luminaries like Dickey Betts, Phil Lesh, Kris Kristofferson, Quincy Jones, and Western North Carolina’s own Malcolm Holcombe and Bobby Hicks, numerous less-known musicians as well, plus engineers, producers, managers, and radio programmers. Martin Anderson delivered a New Year's Day Show to remember those we lost and celebrate their contributions. If you missed it, you can listen to the session here.
Audie Blaylock: singer, guitarist, bandleader: Audie Blaylock & Redline, Sunny Mountain Boys, Lynn Morris Band, The Rage, Flamekeeper
Jo-El Sonnier: accordionist, singer
Paul Lacques: guitarist: I See Hawks in L.A., Old Californio, the Bonedaddys
Mary Weiss: singer: The Shangri-Las
Melanie: singer
Tony Cedras: accordionist: Paul Simon, Harry Belafonte, Miriam Makeba, Henry Threadgill, Cassandra Wilson, Tony Bird, Gigi.
Aston "Family Man" Barrett: bassist: Bob Marley & the Wailers, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Peter Tosh
Mojo Nixon: singer, songwriter, radio host
Randy Sparks: singer, guitarist: New Christy Minstrels
Dex Romweber: singer, songwriter, guitarist: Flat Duo Jets, other NC-based acts
Roni Stoneman: banjoist, singer, actor, "First Lady of the Banjo": The Stoneman Family, Hee-Haw
Eleanor Collins: singer, "Canada's First Lady of Jazz"
Malcolm Holcombe: singer, songwriter, guitarist. From Weaverville and Swannanoa, NC
Karl Wallinger: singer, multi-instrumentalist: World Party, The Waterboys (1983-85)
Ian Green: founder, manager: Greentrax Records
Chris Jones: percussionist, manager, producer, vocalist: 101 Runners, BlueBrass Project
Bruce Piephoff: singer, songwriter, guitarist
Albert "Tootie" Heath: drummer: numerous jazz legends
Clarence "Frogman" Henry: singer
Ben Eldridge: banjoist: The Seldom Scene
Dickey Betts: guitarist, singer, songwriter: Allman Brothers Band
Frank Wakefield: mandolinist: Red Allen, Jimmy Martin, David Grisman, Jerry Garcia, others
Nick Daniels III: bassist: Dumpstaphunk
Duane Eddy: guitarist
Richard Tandy: keyboardist, cofounder: ELO
Chris Stafford: multi-instrumentalist, cofounder: Feufollet
David Sanborn: saxophonist
Marsellus Fariss: audio engineer, guitarist. Formerly with the Grey Eagle in Asheville
Mary Sack: artist manager: David Olney, Scott Miller, Tommy Womack, Jason Ringenberg
Kinky Friedman: singer, songwriter, author, politician
Bernice Johnson Reagon: singer, civil rights activist, founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock
Happy Traum: singer, multi-instrumentalist: Greenwich Village '60s folk scene
Toumani Diabate: kora player from Mali
Abdul “Duke” Fakir: singer (tenor), founding member and last surviving member of The Four Tops
Martin Phillipps: singer, band leader: The Chills
Bobby Hicks: fiddler: Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder. Resident of Marshall, NC
Crys Armbrust: founder, philanthropist, preservationist: Nina Simone Project, Nina Simone Plaza, Eunice Waymon Childhood Home, of Tryon
Steve Metcalf: Executive Producer: Little King Records, of Spindale
Russell Malone: guitarist: Jimmy Smith, Diana Krall, Ray Brown, others
Tito Jackson: singer: The Jackson 5
David Davis: mandolinist, singer: David Davis & the Warrior River Boys
Billy Edd Wheeler: singer, songwriter, guitarist: wrote "Jackson", "Coal Tattoo", "High Flyin' Bird", others. Longtime resident of Swannanoa
JD Souther: singer, songwriter, guitarist: wrote hits for The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, others
Benny Golson: tenor saxophonist: solo and with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers
Kris Kristofferson: singer, songwriter, actor
Rob Daves: host, music director: WNCW and ARC Overnight
Phil Lesh: bassist, singer, co-founder of The Grateful Dead
Quincy Jones: producer, arranger, composer, musician
Lou Donaldson: alto saxophonist
Roy Haynes: drummer: Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane, Chick Corea
Shel Talmy: producer: The Kinks, The Who, others
Toni Price: singer
Zakir Hussain: percussionist: Shakti, Planet Drum, Fleck/Hussain/Meyer
David Mallett: singer, songwriter, guitarist
