Crooked Road CD Series [Back]

Mullins Family Anthology:
Let Your Light Shine Out

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Grandfather Hie married my grandmother, Frances Dutton Mullins, (who just happened to come from a singing family of her own) in the spring of 1935.  A short year later, their first son, my father, was born.  It wasn’t too long before he found a place in the family group as well. Dad recollected,

As far back as I remember, there was always some kind of music in the household.  We had a little group together, my Uncle Tony, Dad, and Mom.  Mom played autoharp.  Dad played guitar and I played mandolin.  Tony played guitar too.  We’d go on the weekends down in Kentucky and other places.  We played gospel and country music.

By the early 1940’s, the family could be found singing publicly at pie suppers, local theaters, and community gatherings around the region.  And, by 1946, the ‘Mullins Family Trio’ had established its own Sunday morning radio broadcast on WNVA radio in Norton, Virginia. My grandfather Hie once told me,

Our program caught a lot of attention,everybody that had a radio set was tuned in to that Norton station.  In one week’s time I remember we pulled eighty-nine cards and letters in the mail.

Those early radio broadcasts soon gave the family enough exposure to begin receiving several requests to sing in churches from all over Southwest Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and East Tennessee.  They also had the opportunity to sing with such musical legends as the Chestnut Grove Quartet, the Stanley Brothers, and even members of the original Carter Family, as well as many other locally-known singing groups of the day.

By 1949, the family had recorded its first and only 78 rpm record, “Cabin On the Hill,” and its B-side, “I Am Free,” at Bristol’s WOPI studios for the Rich-R-Tone label.  As the years passed, the family continued to grow, adding new members to the singing group.  The family went on to release several 45 rpm singles on various private, local labels.  Billy Gene married our dear mother, Myrtle Rose Mullins, on August 24, 1955.  With the addition of Mother, and my aunt Annabell Mullins Puckett, the “Mullins sound” was established for many years afterwards.

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