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Leroy Troy
Maybe you
saw Leroy Troy at a festival, on TV, or on Hee Haw.
Where ever you saw him I guarantee you enjoyed
him! And
that is why you are here. We are glad you found
us on the web!
It all started when Leroy Troy was only 2 years
old when he got
a toy fiddle for Christmas. Then at the age of 7
he discovered
his parents Flatt and
Scruggs record. He wore that Foggy
Mountain Breakdown record
out and that started his
fascination with the banjo.
When Leroy was 12 years old, he got his first
real instrument, a
Fiddle! His dad would take him to a little
grocery store in his
home town where people would gather to play
country music.
Celebrities such as Roy Acuff, Charlie Collins,
Bill Monroe, and
The McCormick Brothers would also gather there.
It was at
that little grocery store that Leroy Troy cut his
teeth on country
music! He even got a few pointers on fiddle from
Roy Acuff
himself!
When Leroy Troy was 13 he found his first banjo
on a junk
truck at a flea market. He paid $7.00 for it. The
frets where burnt
off so he removed the fret board and made a
fretless out of it.
His dad skinned a ground hog to use for a banjo
head. The
bullet hole did not even affect the tone at all!
He taught himself
how to play the banjo by watching people play at
jams and
then going home and practicing. At this time he
also started
learning how to playing the bass the same way.
His first paying job was at the early age of 14
playing bass with
a local band Lonnie Jones. Then when Leroy Troy
was 15 he
joined The Bailes Brothers playing bass, banjo
and fiddle. He
played with them for 2
years and even toured Europe!
By 1980 Leroy Troy had developed a reputation as
a good Old
Time Banjo Picker and Singer minus the banjo
tricks. Then
when he was 17 he met an old timer named Cordell
Kemp.
Leroy was amazed with Cordell's banjo playing.
Cordell had
learned first hand from"Uncle Dave Macon" star of
The Grand
Ole Opry. Cordell showed Leroy some banjo licks
and tricks!
Cordell Kemp influenced young Leroy so much he
wrote and
recorded "Ballad of Cordell Kemp." This
recording is available
on the tape Backroads.
Leroy practiced, refined and expanded those banjo
tricks and
it was not long before he dazzled a nationwide
audience on
the hit TV Show Hee Haw. It was on this show
Leroy Troy
honed his country humor with some help from the
Hee Haw
cast Grandpa Jones, Archie Campbell, Junior
Samples, and
Minnie Pearl. Leroy made regular appearances on
Hee Haw
the seasons of 1984 and 1985, playing his banjo
and he also
played the part of Billy Bob in the "Farmer's
Daughter" skit
along side of Linda Thompson and Kenny Price.
Leroy Troy has been entertaining audiences since
1979 and
continues to do so from New
York to California, Maine to
Florida and even Ireland
and England. Be sure to check out
his schedule and catch him
at a festival near you!
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