Tennessee bass player Roy Beck, known to friends and family as Uncle Roy, died on December 31, 2024. He was 62 years of age.
Roy was born in Indiana, where his interest in bass playing was nurtured going to see music at the Bill Monroe Music Park in Bean Blossom. He actually began learning to play when Hank Williams’ former bass player, Jack Combast, noticed his interest in the instrument and let him play his bass. Later it was to become Roy’s most prized possession.
Growing up he played with his dad’s band, starting at age nine, doing so throughout the 1970s. As a kid he felt shunned from certain jams and vowed he would always be open to everyone who wanted to play. Uncle Roy welcomed a lot of kids into his camp at festivals, to give them the opportunity to jam and learn, many of whom have become professionals in the Industry.
Among those is his nephew, Tyler Griffith, currently playing bass with Seth Mulder & Midnight Run.
Known for his big personality as much as his music, Roy brought laughter everywhere he went. He had an uncanny knack for finding funny and unusual things to make people laugh. At most any festival in middle America, you’d find someone with a funny story about Uncle Roy to share.
Roy took great pleasure in hosting jams and feeding everyone who attended. All involved recall his outrageous chicken gadgets, and his classic line, “want a pickle?”
His body will be cremated, and all will be invited later this year to a big picking and cookout in his honor near where Roy had settled in Tennessee to be near his family.
R.I.P., Roy Beck.
