1978 The Briarhoppers Carolina Bluegrass Musicians Band - 8-Page Vintage Article

Description

1978 The Briarhoppers Carolina Bluegrass Musicians Band - 8-Page Vintage Article
Original, vintage magazine article
Page Size: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
For a period of more than 15 years, the
WBT Briarhoppers constituted one of
the most popular regional country music
groups in radio. Sponsored by Peruna,
this aggregation achieved such a following
in the Carolinas and adjacent states that it
sometimes became necessary for two
units to keep active on the road
simultaneously in order to satisfy the
demand for personal appearances. The
music and songs of the Briarhoppers
included elements of old-time string
music, harmony duets, and bluegrass as
well as mainstream country music of three
decades ago. Until recently, the Briarhop-
pers had been relatively inactive but as of
late their sound has again been heard at
bluegrass festivals in the Southeast.
Through a dozen of the Briarhoppers’
best years, the team of Whitey and Hogan
formed the nucleus of the group. Made up
of Roy Grant and Arvai Hogan in real life,
this mandolin-guitar duo sang in a style
that had wide appeal during the 1930’s and
1940’s. In addition to their radio and
personal appearances, Whitey and Hogan
cut records, having some 28 issued sides
to their credit. These range from old-time
duet arrangements to vintage bluegrass.
Arvai Hogan, the older and mandolin
playing half of the duet, was born in
Robbinsville, North Carolina on July 24,
1911. Four years later the Hogans moved
to the town of Andrews, North Carolina
where Arvai’s father directed the choir in
a local church and taught his three sons to
sing at an early age. During the late 20’s,
the Hogan Brothers,Clarence, Garland,
and Arvai, together with a neighbor on
fiddle started a local string band. Since all
the Hogans played guitar, it was
suggested that Arvai get a mandolin. At
the time, he did not even know what the
instrument was but ordered one from
Sears, Roebuck and Company. Subse-
quently he learned to play it by listening
to a record of “Chinese Breakdown” by the
Scottsdale String Band. Thereafter Arvai
played mandolin with the group at
“square dances, parties, churches, and
family gatherings for a long time.” In 1936
he left Andrews and came to Gastonia
where he met both his future wife,
Evelyn, and his “life-time music partner.”
The partner, Roy (Whitey) Grant was
born at Shelby, North Carolina on April 7,
1916. Whitey’s interest in music dates
from his earliest memories. He recalls
urging his parents to buy phonograph
records of Vernon Dalhart and other
old-time singers. At 15, Whitey bought a
guitar and had the man from whom he
purchased it draw him diagrams showing
finger positions for various chords.
Church parties and family gatherings
provided audiences for Whitey’s develop-
ing talents. In 1932 he met Pauline
Chapman and after they married in 1935,
went to Gastonia to work in a cotton mill.
Not long afterward he met Arvai Hogan
and they have been a musical duet “ever
since.”
The two soon began to play at local
entertainments and from there went on to
regular radio appearances. They first
broadcasted on a regular basis on WSPA
in Spartanburg, South Carolina as
featured performers on Scotty-the Drift-
er’s program. When radio station WGNC
was built in Gastonia, Whitey and Hogan
auditioned and subsequently got their
own daily quarter hour show at 12:45 each
afternoon. Sponsored by Efird’s Depart-
ment Store, they were called “The Efird
Boys.” Later Rustin’s Furniture Store
became their sponsor and they did their
show live from the department store’s
show window. Although they gained
considerable local popularity, the duo did
not feel secure enough in their careers as
entertainers to give up work at the textile
mill. Following the show they went to the
afternoon shift at the twisting department
at Firestone, making the fibers that went
into automobile tires. Whitey contends
the pair were late for the show only once
during the radio days at Gastonia and that
was because “Hogan was up at the dime
store watching a bunch of goldfish and we
forgot we were going to be on the
air.” “(I’m Riding On) My Savior’s Train”
served as their radio theme song and they
performed both secular and sacred
numbers.
During the stint at WGNC, Whitey and
Hogan made their first recordings. The
Decca distributor at Charlotte arranged
for them to go to New York in the fall of
1939 where they waxed 16 numbers on
November 8. The most memorable songs
included a cover of the Blue Sky Boys’
“Sunny Side of Life," one of the earliest
recordings of “Turn Your Radio On,”
(preceding the Bill and Earl Bolick version
by nearly a year), the sentimental “Old
Log Cabin For Sale,” the later bluegrass
standard “Gosh I Miss You All the Time,”
their own “Answer to Budded Roses," and
the beautiful but seldom heard “You’ll Be
My Closest Neighbor.” The trip to New
York encompassed some three or four
days and the boys recalled that they
“were treated like kings" and reimbursed
for all their expenses when they got back
from New York.
Whitey and Hogan remained at...
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