About Will


		Will was born and raised in the hills of eastern Tennessee. One of 12 children (not counting 5 half-brothers and sisters), he grew up on a farm in the Blackley Creek community of Washington County. Will's brother, Jay, who played the guitar, strung an old banjo with wire from a screen door and gave it to Will to learn on.

Will turned 18 in 1941, just in time to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps and head off to the Pacific to fight in World War II. He was in some of the heaviest fighting in the war on the island of Okinawa, and was stationed in China and on Guadalcanal. After the war Will married the former Lola Hobbs in Clinton, North Carolina and moved back to the farm in East Tennessee. In 1950 they moved to the town of Gray, Tennessee where they still live in the same house. Will's prize possession - a two-story log house (circa mid-1800's) moved from a mountaintop in Virginia - stands on the hillside in front of his house.




		Will received the National Heritage Award in 1996. Click here to view two of his most-treasured letters of congratulations.

Check out the Recordings page at this site to see Will's recorded offerings. Or better yet, head to the Old Fiddlers' Convention in Galax, VA in early August and hear him in person. You can't miss the trademark derby hat, or the worn gold-plated Paramount 5-string. You may even see the old “Green & White Two-Finger Express”... Will’s 1959 Chevrolet bus camper, now in the possession of Will’s pickin buddy, Donnie “Dobro” Scott. When you get there, you'll find Will doing what he loves best -- jammin' with whomever stops to pick a while.


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