Raymond Fairchild is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 banjo player from the Great Smoky Mountains

Great Smoky Mountains

The Great Smoky Mountains are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge Physiographic Province. The range is sometimes called the Smoky Mountains or the...

. He is known for his fast playing, his fancy and intricate picking and his ability of making the banjo mimic both animals and humans.

Biography

Fairchild was born in Cherokee

Cherokee, North Carolina

Cherokee is a town in Swain County, North Carolina, USA, within the Qualla Boundary land trust. It is located in the Oconaluftee River Valley, near the intersection of U.S. Route 19 and U.S...

, Swain County, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 and learned music, from an early age, from his mother's side of the family. His musical influences also included Earl Scruggs

Earl Scruggs

Earl Eugene Scruggs is an American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a 3-finger banjo-picking style that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music...

, and Don Reno

Don Reno

Don Wesley Reno was an American bluegrass and country musician best known as a banjo player in partnership with Red Smiley, and later with guitarist Bill Harrell.-Biography:...

. When he was young he played for tips at a tourist stop in Maggie Valley

Maggie Valley, North Carolina

Maggie Valley is a town in Haywood County, North Carolina, USA. The population was 607 at the 2000 census. It is home to the Ghost Town in the Sky amusement park.Maggie Valley is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area....

. The owner of the tourist stop, Ted Sutton, taught young Fairchild about show-business. When Fairchild wasn't performing he worked as a stonemason. In the mid 1960s, he formed the Frosty Mountain Boys but soon changed the name to the Maggie Valley Boys.

Fairchild was signed by Uncle Jim O'Neal to record for the Rural Rhythm label. In the early 1970s, He made a successful performance on the Grand Ole Opry

Grand Ole Opry

The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...

 at WSM

WSM (AM)

WSM is the callsign of a 50,000 watt AM radio station located in Nashville, Tennessee. Operating at 650 kHz, its clear channel signal can reach much of North America and various countries, especially late at night...

 in Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

. In 1975, he met the Crowe Brothers, (Wallace Crowe, and Wayne Crowe) and together they formed a trio. The bluegrass trio lasted until 1991 when Fairchild formed the New Maggie Valley Boys with his son Zane Fairchild.

Fairchild has won five awards as a champion banjo player and has scored two gold records. He has his own line of banjos, the Cox/Faichild banjo. Since he is reluctant to leave his home district he is mostly seen at the Maggie Valley Opry House.

LPs

• King of the Smokey Mountain 5-String Banjo Players, Rural Rhythm RR-146 (1963)
• Mama Likes Bluegrass Music, Rural Rhythm RRFM 159 (1967)
• Raymond Fairchild & the Maggie Valley Boys, Rural Rhythm RRMVB 170 (1967)
• Honky Tonkin' Country Blues, Rural Rhythm RRRF 245 (1971)
• King of the Smokey Mountain Banjo Players, Rural Rhythm RRRF 254 (1972)
• King of the Smokey Mountain 5-String Banjo Players, Rural Rhythm RRRF 256 (1972)
• King of the 5-String Banjo, Rural Rhythm RRRF 260 (1976)
• King of the 5-String Banjo, Rural Rhythm RRRF 261 (1976)
• King of the 5-String Banjo, Rural Rhythm RRRF 262 (1976)
• King of the 5-String Banjo, Rural Rhythm RRRF 263 (1976)
• Legendary Raymond Fairchild, Skyline SRO 003 (1981)
• Plays Requests, Skyline SRO 012 (1985)
• World Champion Banjo, Skyline SRO 016 (1987)

CDs

• Mama Likes Bluegrass Music, Rural Rhythm RHY 159
• 31 Banjo Favorites, Rural Rhythm RHY 254
• 16 All-Time Favorites, Rural Rhythm RHY 260
• 15 Gospel Favorites, Rural Rhythm RHY 263
• 31 Banjo Favorites Vol 2, Rural Rhythm RHY 270
• Smoky Mountain Christmas, Rural Rhythm RHY 290
• The Bluegrass Banjo Collection, Rural Rhythm RHY 294
• 31 Banjo Favorites (The New Collection), Rural Rhythm RHY 324