Luke and The Coon Range Drifters WHOP Hopkinsville, KY

About The Artist Luke and the Coonrange Drifters were heard in 1946 we learned over WHOP out of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, every Saturday afternoon from 3:00pm to 3:30pm. And they kept themselves busy doing personal appearances throughout Western Kentucky back then. In a 1946 letter to the editor, Kermit Binkley mentions the group made their first broadcast in January 1946, starting off with three members, then by the time he wrote, they were up to six members. Timeline and Trivia Notes Group Members included: Loyd Earl Bilyer (the Bilyer sisters brother - then an eleven year old fiddler for the group) James R. Williams (also known as Joe Nuton Numskull) Sue Bilyer Bell Bilyer (known as the Bilyer Sisters) Luke Ward, the Mandolin Master Kermit Binkley, manager and emcee Reed (Rabbit) Hale, who worked with the group during personal appearances only Credits & Sources The Mountain Broadcast and Prairie Recorder; June 1946; Mountain Broadcast Pub. Co.; New York, NY

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