Thomas Avery Hays (August 12, 1929 – May 13, 2023) was an American guitarist, band leader and vocalist; and was one of the last living members of the great musicians who created The Bakersfield Sound. Hays started playing the guitar in church when he was 10 years old. He performed on the

Billy Mize William Robert Mize (April 29, 1929 – October 29, 2017) was an American steel guitarist, band leader, vocalist, songwriter, and TV show host. Biography Mize was born in Arkansas City, Kansas, United States, but raised in the San Joaquin Valley ...

TV Show, Cousin Herb Show, was a member of the house band for the Lucky Spot and the

Blackboard A blackboard (also known as a chalkboard) is a reusable writing surface on which text or drawings are made with sticks of calcium sulphate or calcium carbonate, known, when used for this purpose, as chalk. Blackboards were originally made of ...

and had his own radio show on KMPC. Tommy played on stage with many of the old timers who were part of creating the Bakersfield Sound. Tommy was in the band that gave Buck Owens his first gig, with

Dusty Rhodes Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who most notably worked for the National Wrestling Alliance, Jim Crocket ...

, at a bar called the

Roundup A roundup is a systematic gathering together of people or things. Roundup, Round Up or Round-up may also refer to: Agriculture * A muster (livestock) (AU/NZ) or a roundup (US/CA) is the process of gathering livestock. * Roundup (herbicide), a M ...

. Hays had been playing in the

honky-tonks A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is both a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons and the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano (tack piano) ...

in and around

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

for over fifty years. Recognized as one of the original “ Bakersfield Sound” pioneers, he helped forge this unique and definitive sound. Driven by the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

and Telecaster

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, the Bakersfield Sound was a reaction to the early ‘50s and ‘60s sweetening of

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

epitomized by the

Nashville Sound The Nashville Sound originated during the mid-1950s as a subgenre of American country music, replacing the chart dominance of the rough honky tonk music, which was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s, with "smooth strings and choruses", "sophist ...

. Along with the Western Swingsters which also included Big Bill Wilkerson, he released the CD ''60 Years of Western Swing'' in 2006. Hays was inducted into the Western Swing Society Hall of Fame in 2010. Hays lived in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and played locally until his death on May 13, 2023, at the age of 93.

Discography

*'' 60 Years of Western Swing'' (2006)

Discography

References

External links