Wayne County Music Walk of Fame Honors Local Artists

Wayne County has a long history of gifted and notable singers/songwriters, and the Wayne County Museum is now home to a vast array of memorabilia that honors many of those talented folks.

The Wayne County Museum on the Waynesboro square was first established with displays honoring Wayne County musicians. Many people may not realize just how many musicians from different musical genres got their start right here in Wayne County.

In addition to the museum, a group of citizens calling themselves “Friends of the Museum” made it their mission to establish a Walk of Fame honoring Wayne County musicians. Located on the west side of the Wayne County Administrative Building (the former courthouse) on the Waynesboro square, the Walk of Fame currently features seven music artists who got their start right here in Wayne County.

The museum’s focus on the musical talents of Wayne County is a direct result of a book written by Wayne County resident Anita Miller called “The Heritage Project: A Collection of Musical Talent in Wayne County, Tennessee.”

On July 3, 2020, the first three stars on the Walk of Fame were revealed: Earl “Peanutt” Montgomery, Ralph Davis, and Neal “Tywop” Jones. Five more stars have been added since then.

Earl “Peanutt” Montgomery is a prolific songwriter, singer, musician, and Baptist minister who was born on February 6, 1941, in Wayne County, Tennessee. He spent many years in the music industry as one of Nashville's top songwriters and session players.

Peanutt began his career as the lead guitarist at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and has played with such legendary artists as Bob Dylan, Etta James, and Patsy Cline. George Jones recorded 73 songs written by Montgomery, including many duets with Tammy Wynette. Other country artists such as Barbara Mandrell, Dolly Parton, Tanya Tucker, Hank Williams, Jr., and Merle Haggard have also recorded his songs. Montgomery was awarded the Arthur Alexander Songwriter’s Award by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1997, and is the owner of Sweetwater Music Studio, located in Sheffield, Alabama.

“Peanutt Montgomery is super talented, and the number of songs he has written is phenomenal, just mind- boggling,” said Lytle Smith, member of Friends of the Museum and Chairman of the Walk of Fame project. Smith also noted that Montgomery has been inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Neal “Tywop” Jones was born on March 22, 1922, near Scotts Hill, Tennessee. He learned guitar as a boy, and first worked at the radio station WTJS Jackson in 1940 with Eddy Arnold and the Johnson Brothers. He relocated to WREC Memphis and played lead guitar with Curly Fox and Texas Ruby, but later rejoined the Johnson Brothers at WKPT Kingsport. In May 1942, they moved to WDOD Chattanooga, where he also played fiddle. He was drafted in October 1942 and served as a radar operator during World War II. During those years, he played guitar with a service band. In March 1946, he returned to work with Arnold at WTJS, where he also incorporated comedy into his act. In the early 50s, he became a specialty act at WMPS Memphis and toured with several acts including the Louvin Brothers, the Blackwood Brothers, and Sonny James. In 1954, Tywop joined Columbia Records and recorded several sessions for the label. Between 1954 and 1958, he worked radio and television at WBAP Fort Worth, Texas, where he sometimes co-hosted Barn Dance with Pat Boone and his own daily show called The Jones Place, which at one time had Willie Nelson as a regular cast member. In the early 60s, he began to combine performing with work as a disc jockey and presented radio and television programs on several California and Texas stations. In 1971, he moved to Nashville, presenting syndicated shows including Inside Nashville.

People in Wayne County immediately came to know and love Tywop Jones when he “retired” to Wayne County in the 1970s and became the disc jockey at the radio station in Waynesboro. Many can still fondly remember Tywop sitting in front of the big window at the radio station on the square, calling out greetings to people across the airwaves that he saw driving or walking around the square. He continued to enjoy playing music and exchanging stories with his friends up until his death in 2005.

Ralph Davis and Glendon Davis are brothers honored with stars on the Walk of Fame. Ralph and Glendon, along with their brothers Guy and Kenneth, were the original members of the Davis Brothers Band. When the Davis Brothers first formed their band, they played on stages from Tennessee to Detroit, Michigan and to the Golden Nugget stage in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kenneth Davis said that his brother Ralph got him started playing music, and the greatest pleasure from his career in music was when the brothers were able to play music together, especially in and around Wayne County.

The Davis Brothers had great life experiences on the Grand Ole Opry, the world-famous home of country music. Many of their interactions with country music legends were at the original Opry location, the Ryman Auditorium. They played with music greats such as Grandpa Jones, Stonewall Jackson, Webb Pierce, Roy Drusky, John Anderson, Jean Shepard, Jeannie Seely, Waylon Jennings, Dionne Warwick, Porter Wagoner, Merle Haggard, Carrie Underwood, Willie Nelson, and hundreds of other country music stars. Not only did the Davis Brothers perform on the Grand Ole Opry, but they traveled with the stars of the Opry all over Canada, Europe, and from the east coast to the west coast of the United States.

1999 marked the end of an era at the Grand Ole Opry, when management asked most of the regular musicians to retire. After forty years, Davis left the stage of the Opry for the last time. “I got to work with some great people,” he said. “It was my desire, when I was young, growing up on the little farm over here. We had a battery-operated radio, and I’d listen to the Opry every Saturday night.” A decade after leaving the Opry, Ralph Davis passed away in Waynesboro on October 29, 2010.

Mark Collie was born January 18, 1956. He spent his younger years in Wayne County and Hardin County; many will remember his song “Hardin County Line” that gives a nod to Hardin County, Tennessee. Mark had a love for music from a very young age and began performing while still just a young teenager. From the beginnings of his performing and recording career, Mark’s singing and performing style drew comparisons to Bruce Springsteen and Johnny Cash as a result of his combination of rockabilly energy, intensity, and clever songwriting. Sixteen of his singles have charted on Hot Country Songs, including his top ten hits “Even the Man in the Moon is Crying” and “Born to Love You.”

Not only is Mark Collie a great performer, he is also a prolific songwriter. He has penned songs for himself as well as music greats including Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, Aaron Tippin, Alabama, and George Jones. He is also noted with writing songs for Hollywood movies such as The Punisher and Fire Down Below.

Mark has acted in television series and movies, independent features, and Hollywood feature films. Starting in 1994 and continuing to the present, he has played a variety of characters including Johnny Cash in the short film I Still Miss Someone, which he also co-wrote and co-produced with filmmaker John Lloyd Miller. Mark was a regular on the ABC series Nashville, portraying bar owner Frankie Gray. He had a small role as assassin Harry Heck, where he played a song called “In Time” in 2004's The Punisher. Most recently, Mark appeared in the Taylor Sheridan series Landman, where he played the sheriff.

Mark was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes as a teenager. In the early 1990s, after finding success as a country music singer, he began a series of celebrity/NASCAR events that included Legend Car races and concerts that have raised millions of dollars for research into a cure for Type 1 juvenile diabetes. Collie's efforts have resulted in a research Chair at Vanderbilt University, The Mark Collie Chair in Diabetes Research, and his Mark Collie Foundation continues to generate donations.

Lloyd Howell was born in Waynesboro to a family of no great musical ambition. Beginning at the age of eight with a Gene Autry cowboy guitar, Lloyd developed his music, first at the square dances in and around Waynesboro, then progressing to venues in Detroit, Michigan, where he later lived. He was said to play in the style of Maybelle Carter who “picked melody on the lower strings and strummed chords on the higher strings.” Lloyd’s biggest hit song was titled “Froggy,” a catchy folk tune.

Following his younger days with the Gene Autry guitar, Lloyd went on to become a great songwriter, singer, and musician. He was an example of that musician who gets “bitten” by the music bug while young, and continues the craft throughout life, even though his family wasn’t necessarily very musical. That changed when Lloyd had a family of his own. He and his wife Josephine were parents to Jeff, Vicky, and Pam, and all of Lloyd’s children inherited his love of music. They performed together for many years and quickly became “hometown famous.”

In addition to being a great musician, Lloyd was also a business owner and civic leader. He owned Family Music Center in Waynesboro, which is now owned and operated by his son, Jeff. Loyd was one of the founders of the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce, and at the time of his death in 2008, he was Mayor of Waynesboro.

Melba Montgomery is regarded as one of the greatest female stylists of country music’s “golden age.” She made her mark as a matchless vocalist as well as an enduring songwriting talent. As a singer, Montgomery immortalized country’s all-time motherhood classic “No Charge.” She also became the first hit duet partner of the legendary George Jones. Montgomery originated the delightful hillbilly romp “Something to Brag About” as a duet with Charlie Louvin. It was memorably revived by Willie Nelson and Mary Kay Place, among others.

As a songwriter, she has had more than 100 compositions recorded. More than 50 different artists have recorded Melba Montgomery songs.

If anyone was ever born to be a country artist, it was Melba, says her family. A native of Iron City, Tennessee, she was raised near Florence, Alabama, as the daughter of a farmer fiddler and guitarist who taught singing in the local Methodist Church. Her dad gave her a guitar when she was 10 years old. When they weren’t working in the fields, the seven children all grew up singing harmonies and playing banjo, fiddle or guitar. Like Melba, her brothers Carl and Earl “Peanut” Montgomery also became successful country songwriters.

When she was 19, she traveled to Nashville to be in a talent contest staged by WSM radio, the home of the Grand Ole Opry. Shewon the contest. The Opry’s Roy Acuff was so impressed with her talent that he invited her to become the “girl singer” in his touring troupe. She remained with the star’s show for the next four years.

In the years following, Bobby Bare, Hank Williams, Jr., Conway Twitty, Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge, Bill Anderson, Roy Drusky, and Del Reeves recorded her works, as did several others.

Montgomery published a cookbook in 1988 and issued additional solo albums in 1992, 1997, 2008 and 2010. She also appeared on Ralph Stanley’s award-winning, all-star 2001 CD Clinch Mountain Sweethearts. Following the death of her husband, guitarist/songwriter Jack Solomon, she retired in 2015. Melba Montgomery passed away on January 15, 2025.

The Wayne County Music Walk of Fame is a must-see, especially for locals who drive past it daily. After looking at the stars on the Walk of Fame, go on over to the Wayne County Museum. There you will find photos and memorabilia related to the Walk of Fame artists, along with many, many more.

The Friends of the Museum group is truly dedicated to the preservation of Wayne County’s rich heritage, including music, historical landmarks, military history, and more. Members of Friends of the Museum are Lytle and Mary Smith, Dean Stegall, Garry and Ava Barnett, Eddie Thompson, Eugene Graham, Jerry and Erma Duren, Nancy Shaw, Jeff and Bertha Gallaher, Brenda Miller, and Sandra Pitts. They invite everyone to stop by the museum, their hours are Monday through Friday, 10am until 3pm. Keep an eye out for a new star to be added to the Music Walk of Fame this year – who might it be? One thing is for sure, there is an abundance of musical talent to choose from.