The Kentucky Colonels

Influential Bluegrass Band from the 1960s

American progressive bluegrass band that had a short but legendary career during the folk revival of the late '50s and early '60s. The band was formed in Los Angeles in the early '50s by brothers Roland White, Eric White, and Clarence White (2) and their sister Joann. When Joann dropped out, the three brothers began billing themselves as the Three Little Country Boys and appeared on local television after winning first prize in a talent contest. In 1958, Arkansas native Billy Ray Lathum became their banjo player and Dobro player Leroy Mack joined the band the next year. Bassist and banjoist Roger Bush joined the band in 1961 after Eric dropped out to marry. The group cut its first album on Briar Records, which changed the name of the group into The Kentucky Colonels. In 1963, fiddler Bobby Slone joined and they kept on playing and recording until 1965. They appeared in two episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" in 1961 - "Mayberry on Record" and "Quiet Sam".