The Hill Billies

Band
Old-Time (Traditional)

Al Hopkins’s band the Hill Billies gave “hillbilly music” its name — when an OKeh executive asked what to call the group at their January 1925 session, Hopkins reportedly said “we’re nothing but a bunch of hillbillies,” and the label stuck to the whole genre.

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  • Drawing players from the North Carolina–Virginia line around Watauga County and Galax, they were among the first string bands with a national profile, playing for President Coolidge and in vaudeville.
  • The same band recorded for Brunswick and Vocalion as Al Hopkins and His Buckle Busters — first releases under that name link here.

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