Musicians From Virginia and WV Quiz

Answer: Roy Clark

Born in Virginia, Roy Clark was later raised in Washington, DC, where his dad worked for the Navy. He started playing guitar and banjo as a young teen, and after brief attempts at pursuing a sports career, he decided to try making a career of music. By the time he was 17 he was performing at The Grand Ole Opry.

His talent came to the attention of many other musicians and he appeared on "The Jimmy Dean Show", "The Beverly Hillbillies" and hosted "The Johnny Carson Show" frequently, before co-hosting Hee-Haw with Buck Owens from 1969 through 1992.

In 1983 he opened his own theater in Branson, Missouri, and continued to perform regularly into his seventies. He settled in Tulsa and an elementary school there is named in his honor. Jimmy Dean is from Texas, Campbell is from Arkansas and Sheb Wooley is from Oklahoma.

Answer: Asleep at the Wheel

Asleep at the Wheel opened for Alice Cooper and Hot Tuna in Washington shortly after forming. They briefly migrated to California to work with Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, but before long they settled in Texas after being solicited by Willie Nelson.

Their second album "Asleep at the Wheel" produced their first charted hit, a country swing version of Louis Jordan's "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie". The band gained a reputation as a tight and dedicated ensemble and has worked with many country luminaries including EmmyLou Harris, former Texas Playboys fiddler Johnny Gimble and Bob Dylan. Since 1973 they have released over 25 albums and continue to perform regularly. Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen formed in 1967 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Bob Wills' band has been performing since the forties. Hot Tuna is an acoustic Country and Folk band formed in Washington, DC, by Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane.

Answer: Brad Paisley

Brad Douglas Paisley was born in Glen Dale, West Virginia. Among his accomplishments were earning a Grammy, membership in The Grand Ole Opry and several Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association awards. He has charted 21 singles and all of his albums have been certified Gold Records.

His grandmother instilled a love of music in him and gave him a guitar at a young age. By his early teens he was opening for such country legends as Ricky Skaggs, The Judds and George Jones in Wheeling, West Virginia.

The number one "He Didn't Have to Be" was released in 1999 and since then he has had 11 number one songs. In 2003 Paisley married actress Kimberly Williams and they reside in Franklin, Tennessee. Keith Lionel Urban was born in New Zealand. Ricky Skaggs is from Kentucky and Travis is from Marietta, Georgia.

Answer: Patsy Cline

Known as Patsy, Virginia married builder Gerald Cline in 1953. As a youth she was inflicted with a throat infection which she claimed gave her a powerful voice. She performed locally as a young girl and dropped out of school to take odd jobs to help support her family.

Her mom designed her signature fringed outfits and before long she was a regular on radio shows and in local clubs. Gifted with a unique voice, it was inevitable that she would be performing on a local television show with Jimmy Dean which led to performances at the Grand Ole Opry.

She got an invitation to perform on "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" and reluctantly sang "Walkin' After Midnight". She didn't believe that the song was a serious country song. After winning the talent show she decided to record the song as a single and then followed with other classics such as "Crazy", "I Fall to Pieces" and "Sweet Dreams". Wells and West are from Tennessee, and Jean Shepard is from Oklahoma.

Answer: Bruce Hornsby

Bruce Randall Hornsby was born in 1954 in Williamsburg, Virginia. He has taken home three of the dozen Grammy Awards he has been nominated for. The first one was in 1987 for Best New Artist with the Range. Their debut album was "The Way It Is". Since working with The Range, Hornsby has worked with several mainstream artists and continues to explore a variety of musical genres. Bruce began his music studies at the University of Richmond and went on to Berklee College of Music before getting his degree from the University of Miami. That education prepared him for a stint as a pianist and accordion player with The Grateful Dead in the early nineties. Phil Vassar is a Country Music singer and pianist from Lynchburg, Virginia. Richmond, Virginia, resident Johnny Hott was the drummer for the House of Freaks and bass player Michael David Watt is from Portsmouth, Virginia.

He has worked with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Iggy Pop.

Answer: Missy Elliott

Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott has collaborated or written material for artists including Aaliyah, Ciara, Destiny's Child, Mya, Whitney Houston, Trina, Nicole Wray, Fantasia, Monica and Christina Aguilera. She has sold over 7 million records and has had six albums certified Platinum and one Double Platinum.

Her career got its start when she was singing Jodeci material a capella backstage and was heard by their producer. She relocated to New York and became affiliated with the Swing Mob. Branching on their own after some time with the Mob, Elliott and Timothy Mosley formed a songwriting and production team and worked with New York artist Aaliyah, Total, Nicole Wray as well as on Destiny's Child's "Get on the Bus".

They produced Aaliyah's hit "I Care 4 U" before she passed away 2001. Missy has appeared in several films as herself and a movie about her life and career is in the production process as of 2008. Ciara is from Texas and Trina was born in Florida.

Answer: Guitar

Growing up in Virginia, Jakey Lou Williams was inspired to be a guitar player after listening to Hendrix. After honing his chops in various high school bands he departed for San Diego to check out the California music scene. He joined a newly formed band called Ratt and released "Dr. Rock"/"Drivin On E" and "Tell the World".

When Randy Rhodes was killed in a plane crash, Ozzy Osbourne decided to audition some California guitarists. Lee was recommended to Osbourne by Dana Strum. Lee ended up working with Ozzy in 1982 and 1983 on the "Diary of a Madman" and "Bark at the Moon" tours.

In 1984 Lee was temporarily out of work while Ozzy checked into Betty Ford. After Ozzy renewed his performing, Lee stayed with him until 1987, then he formed Badlands with future KISS drummer Eric Singer in 1988. Badlands released three albums and Jake E. Lee later released an instrumental album in 1996 titled "A Fine Pink Mist" to good reviews.

Answer: Frankie Yankovic

After relocating to Cleveland, Yankovic released over 200 albums. He was awarded the first Grammy in the Best Polka Recording category in 1986. He was awarded a Purple Heart for his service in the Battle of the Bulge and nearly lost his fingers to the extreme cold. Upon returning from Europe he released "Just Because" and "Blue Skirt Waltz" and beat Duke Ellington during a Battle of the Bands competition. Among his other accomplishments are performing with Chet Atkins, Don Everly, recording Drew Carey's version of "Too Fat Polka" and hosting local Polka TV shows.

He performed over 300 shows a year until his death at age 83. Although he's not related to "Weird Al", Al did play on his song, "Who Stole the Kishka?". Legg is a jazz pianist and bassist from West Virginia. Wheeling, West Virginia, native John Corbett released his eponymous Country album in 2006.

He is also known for his work as a disc jockey on "Northern Exposure".

Answer: Dave Matthews Band

The Dave Matthews Band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991 and has gone on to sell over 30 million records. Dave was born in South Africa and became a naturalized citizen. He was working as a bartender in Charlottesville when someone suggested he record demos of songs that he had written. Dave suffered from stage fright at the time, but agreed to do some demos.

They recruited various musicians to perform on the demos to give them a full sound. The nucleus of the band slowly formed through the studio affiliations.

In 1991 they performed at the "Earth Festival" in Charlottesville. They quickly got offers to play locally and in 1993 they released their first album, "Remember Two Things". The album contained live songs recorded at The Flood Zone in Richmond, Virginia and from gigs in Nantucket. Travis is from Scotland, K C and the Sunshine Band formed in Florida and Santana had its roots in the bay Area.

Answer: Drums

In addition to the stable of Motown artists he worked with, Londin played drums on sessions for Country, Rock and Pop acts including Jerry Lee Lewis, Dolly Parton, Charlie Pride, Randy Travis, B.B. King, Porter Wagoner, England Dan & John Ford Coley, Merle Haggard, Jerry Reed, Dan Fogelberg and Reba McEntire.

He was born Ralph Gallant in Norfolk, Virginia. His brother played bass and they worked together for local bands growing up. In the seventies he relocated to Nashville, rose to the ranks of one of the A-list session players and opened up a drum clinic.

His drumming can be heard on Journey's "Raised on Radio" album and Steve Perry's solo effort, "Street Talk". He was only 48 when he passed away due to a heart attack. The Larrie London Scholarship is awarded to aspiring drummers annually.