Gordon Lowry
His Own Road

Last Saturday I drove through the hills of Brown County on Route 46 to see the show at the Country Time Jamboree, located a mile east of Nashville. I enjoyed summer's lush green scenery along the way.

The sky was just getting tinges of pink from that evening's sunset as I turned on Parkview Road and pulled into the parking lot of the barn. I was there to listen to the music of the Lloyd Wood Show, and to do a story on their fiddle player, Gordon Lowry.

I've had the pleasure of hearing his music in a variety of settings lately, and I'm glad to have had the chance to speak with him about his life, his music, and his friends.

Gordon was born in Columbus, Indiana, one of five children of police officer and musician Harold Lowry. Harold was well known for his musical talent with several instruments, and as a singer. With his voice and guitar he had become known as the `Singing Policeman' and had traveled many miles performing and made a hit with his recording of "Leatherneck".

Love of music runs deep in the Lowry family, and Harold named his son after fiddler Gordon Terry, who worked with Bobby Helms, Patsy Cline and Bill Monroe, among others.

Gordon started the fiddle at the age of 12, after signing up to learn the instrument in grade school music class. The class was being taught classical music, but perhaps the seeds for his own musical future had been planted by the music he heard around his home growing up. As he learned his way around on the instrument, it turned from a violin into a fiddle right in his hands and he began playing "Faded Love" in class, and teaching it to the other students around him. He had found his own road.

That road has taken him many places, given him many friends and some great stories.

He started playing with his father, performing on shaky knees with butterflies in his stomach. After gaining the confidence that comes with experience, he started playing wherever he could around town and nearby.

As with most young men at some point in their lives, Gordon felt the need to move farther out from home and make his own name, and he chose Columbus, Georgia as his first stop. A good fiddler can find work most anywhere, and he soon was busy playing wherever he could. He tells the story of a night in a bar where the band was behind a chicken wire fence and the crowd was throwing beer bottles toward the stage. Gordon realized the bottles were full and asked why they didn't drink the beer first and throw the empties instead. The answer came back that it was a compliment to the band to heave a full bottle!

The work and compliments kept coming.

After a couple of years Gordon went to Nashville, Tennessee, Music City USA, where he soon got a call from Ray Price. Within a few days Gordon was on the road as Price's fiddle player. He also found time to tape a segment of `New Country' with Bobby Helms, and work with Marty Robbins.

Gordon spent his time for the next several years living and working both in Nashville, Tennessee and closer to home.

He moved back here full time and played with the Lloyd Wood band at the Country Time Jamboree for twelve years. The band moved to Ski World for a time, and now is back at the Country Time Jamboree barn, where Gordon not only sings and plays fiddle and guitar with the band, but also runs the show. He'll sell you a ticket, show you to a seat, play music all night, work at the concession stand between sets, and sweep the floor after the show. He also has a whole lot of fun, right along with the crowd.

And there's a lot of fun to be had at the show. The Lloyd Wood band mixes a lot of humor among the songs, and they seem to have as good a time as the crowd. I sat right about in the middle of the full house and heard songs from George Jones, Roy Acuff, George Strait, Johnny Cash, Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline and Tammy Wynette. Western swing bluegrass and some mighty hot instrumentals were also in the mix. A few good impersonations and jokes rounded out the first set, and the second set was made up entirely of requests. It's a family show, with great music and good clean fun.

Gordon says the band has changed some over the years but the current lineup has been together for a long time. Many members play more than one instrument. Lloyd plays rhythm guitar and sings lead vocals, and his son Mark

plays drums. Libby Parrish is at the piano, Rick Ferguson plays bass, and Jimmy Misenheimer plays great steel guitar and adds a terrific comedy element to the evening. .All of them sing and add harmony vocals. Libby handles the female leads very well indeed. Absent on this night was Joe Jackson, who plays lead guitar and has won several finger style contests. Gordon fiddles, plays guitar and adds his smooth voice to the harmonies. He sings lead on several songs. His solos are a real treat to hear.

When you talk to Gordon, it becomes obvious that he deeply loves music and knows a lot about it. Also apparent is his open, friendly manner. Gordon is a humble man, generous with praise of his friends and fellow musicians, and genuinely grateful to be able to play music. He says he likes to make friends, and that is born out by the many friends he has, and by his musical presence in many places besides the Lloyd Wood show. He is a frequent guest with many musicians in the area, including the Liars Bench and My Brown County Home recordings, B-Town Sounds with Tim Grimm, and on his own recording, "One Step More".

Gordon says he has been lucky to be in the right place at the right time throughout his career—and there's truth to that, but it's also true that without talent even fate will pass you by. A lot of hard work, wonderful fiddling and a great attitude have worked to put him at that right place. The musical seeds Harold Lowry planted long ago have flourished and grown tall.

Gordon and the Lloyd Wood Band perform every Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 6 p.m. from April through mid-November. You can call 988-4519 for information and tickets.

Craig Kinney is the voice of community radio's Rural Routes heard every Saturday from Noon to 2 p.m. on WFHB 91.3 FM.