The Oasis Hillbilly Band

When Garland (Jute) Painter and E. C. (Slim) Burgess became Shriners at the 1977 Oasis Temple fall ceremony in Asheville, N.C., after being "Picking partners" for more than twenty years, the idea of using their musical talents to raise money for the Shriners' Hospital in Greenville, S.C. was born. They decided to form a band to play Bluegrass music. Jute played guitar and Slim played 5-string banjo. In their quest for other musicians, they soon discovered other Shriners who were also interested in forming a band; and, as result the Bluegrass Band became a Special Activity Unit of Oasis Temple and was the forerunner of the "Hillbilly" Band. Charter members of the Bluegrass Band besides Jute and Slim were Nobles Richard Long, mandolin player; Clyde Frodge, guitar and vocalist; and Jack Pennington, bass guitar and vocalist. During this period, the band discovered that they could play strictly Bluegrass music in parades, but for dances and other fund raising events they needed more variety. They decided to branch out and play some Country and Western and other styles of music. This wider range of music led to recruiting an old "picking partner" of Nobles Frodge and Pennington--Noble Dicky Dixon, who played keyboard and sang "Elvis music" and other rock and roll. Dicky became an added attraction for special occasions. Soon atter the band was formed, Noble Long suffered a stroke and was forced to retire. Noble Dick Forbis replaced him as mandolin player and vocalist. A few months later, Slim's son, R. C. (Rick) Burgess became a Shriner and joined the band as drummer. Other members of the Bluegrass Band at that time were Nobles Gary Freeman, driver for parades, and Charlie Hartis, relief driver and sound man. After playing as the Bluegrass Band for approximately four years, the musicians decided to disband and form a "Hillbilly" band for Clan 13 Hillbilly Unit of Oasis Temple. Because of poor health and other reasons, not all members made that transition. Some recruitment became necessary to fill the vacancies. An "Old Time" fiddler named Sam Poplin became a Shriner and joined the band. His addition gave the band the instrumentation to perform for any occasion. There was one thing missing, however, and that was someone to do the singing. That problem was soon solved when Parks Todd, a Methodist minister and Charlotte Realtor, agreed to donate his time and talents to the "Hillbilly" Band by appearing with them as a guest on fund raising activities. An important milestone for the band came when Parks received an invitation for the band to play for the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church at Lake Junaluska in June of 1982. As a result of that performance, many churches throughout the area invited the band to play at special events in return for donations to the hospital. Invitations have also come to play at schools, political rallies, town parades, company picnics, and other functions. The warm response at public appearances led to the idea of making an album and donating the proceeds to the hospital. With the support and assistance of Dwight Moody, owner of Lamon Studio in Charlotte, and his sons, Carlton and David, this album was begun in February, 1983.