Comments on: Roby Huffman passes

By: Alex Albright

Alex Albright — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 15:57:12 +0000

thanks for adding Tim’s name to this list. Others that I omitted from original list include Dell Tims, Ken Knox & Ray Bridgers, who also played bass, and Jan Johansson on mando/fiddle

am not sure from your description who that fast banjo picker was but will ask around some of the old-timers. seems likely it’s jesse harmon?

alex/

By: Lynwood Lunsford

Lynwood Lunsford — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 23:21:01 +0000

I know that Tim Ashley of Roxboro, NC played bass in Roby’s band for awhile. I’m not sure how long.

Also in the mid to late ’70s, Roby had a banjo picker who was very good, but his right hand seemed as though it had been injured at some time. You may have already listed him, but the names don’t seem to ring a bell. Do you remember who he was?

By: Alex Albright

Alex Albright — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 01:02:07 +0000

Roby Huffman & the Bluegrass Cutups All-Time Band

banjo: G.G. Woodall; Marshall Strickland, who lived next door to Roby; Jesse Harmon, Edenton; Kenneth Peade, S. Boston, Va.; Hugh Moore, Raleigh; Al Batten, Selma; Daniel Casey, Goldsboro; David Earl Coley.

Dobro: John Whitley, Wendell (also played banjo)

fiddle: Bob Creech, Samantha Casey, Goldsboro

Mandolin: Pat Holland, Smithfield; Tommy Mendenhall, Greensboro; Mike Rose, Goldsboro; Norman Wright, South Boston.

Bass: Kenneth Glover, Smithfield; Elmer Jackson, Smithfield.

Guitar: Willie Lee, Smithfield; Travis Johnson, Four Oaks; Jeff Huffman, Smithfield.

Roby and Wade Hamilton reconstructed this list of players after one of Kenneth Glover’s last shows with the band. Roby noted that Willie Lee had gotten him playing to start with. He considered these to be the “main ones” in his band in the 1970s: Harmon on banjo, Creech on fiddle, Glover on bass, Lee on guitar, and Whitley on Dobro. I cannot vouch for all spelling or hometowns and am glad for corrections or additions to this list.

By: Lynwood Lunsford

Lynwood Lunsford — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 19:00:01 +0000

Roby Huffman was a mainstay of the Camp Springs, NC festivals, put on by Carlton Haney, during it’s heyday years. In the ’70s, there were few bands in NC better than Roby Huffman & the Bluegrass Cutups. Roby’s voice was as pure and clear as you’ve ever heard. Perhaps his only downfall was that he sounded too much like Bobby Osborne! He didn’t really try to……he just did. If you turned your back, you would be hard-pressed to tell them apart. I remember that Sonny Osborne refused to follow Roby’s band at Camp Springs! As Johnny Ridge said, Roby could have been a full-timer but chose to stay closer to home and family. For the folks of eastern NC, an icon has passed on. My condolensces to his friends and family. Heaven has another beautiful voice now!