Died On This Date (April 22, 2008) Bob Childers / Americana Singer-Songwriter
Bob Childers
November 20, 1946 – April 22, 2008
Oklahoma singer-songwriter Bob Childers passed away on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 of emphysema and related lung disease. Childers was a the so-called godfather or Red Dirt Music, a hard to define sub-genre of country/Americana that includes elements of country, rock and folk. After touring much of the country’s dive bars and honky tonks through the ’70s, Childers released his debut album at the dawn of the ’80s. Over his career, he wrote over 1500 songs and earned accolades from no less than fellow Oklahoman, Garth Brooks who wrote a song with him. He was even invited to perform at the White House in 1982. 2004 saw the release of Restless Wind – A Tribute To The Songs of Bob Childers, a 3-CD set that included Jimmy Lafave, Cross Canadian Ragweed and The Red Dirt Rangers.

Rose Maddox was a country singer, musician and songwriter who performed with her siblings as Maddox Brothers and Rose during the late ’30s and early ’40s. When her brothers went off to serve their country in WWII, Rose continued as a solo act and later rejoined the boys upon their return. And even though they were considered a “hillbilly” band, they were most popular in California, likely due to its growing population of Southern immigrants. They have been called the “greatest hillbilly band of all time,” while Rose has been referred to as the “grandmother of rockabilly.” After the group disbanded in the late ’50s, Rose signed to Capitol Records as a solo act. She scored several Top 20 hits including a #4 hit duet with 

Perhaps best known as the narrator and voice of the snowman in the Holiday classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Burl Ives was also an accomplished folks singer whose catalog includes many American standards. He was also an author and Academy Award-winning actor for his supporting role in Our Man In Havana. When Ives was in his second year of college, he had an epiphany while sitting in his English glass. School was a waste of his time, he thought, so out the door he went, never to look back. Except perhaps, when that same school named a building after him some six decades later. Ives spent most of the ’30s traveling around the U.S. performing for change whenever he needed funds to move on. In the ’40s he went to work for CBS Radio who gave him his own program where he performed traditional folk songs for his loyal fans. From there he moved on to acting, winning roles in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, East of Eden and of course, Our Man in Havana. In the ’50s he got blacklisted for alleged Communist ties, so he falsely ratted out 



Red Sovine was an American country singer who was best known for his trucker songs of the ’60s. Thanks to their strong narratives, these tunes resonated not only with truck drivers of the day, but with rockabilly bands and fans, both then and now. Born in Charleston, WV, Sovine eventually settled in Shreveport, LA where he began to get noticed thanks to his appearances on KWKH’s “Louisana Hayride” program. His “Hayride” co-star, 