Everett Lilly (1924 to 2012) was a mandolin player and tenor singer from Clear Creek, West Virginia. With his older brother Bea on guitar, he formed the Lilly Brothers, who brought bluegrass to Boston in 1952 and played the city’s clubs for 18 years. In between, he played mandolin and sang tenor with Flatt and Scruggs. He performed for more than 70 years.
Why Lilly matters
The Lilly Brothers planted bluegrass in New England. Their nightly sets at Boston’s Hillbilly Ranch drew college students who had never heard the music live. Players like Peter Rowan, Bill Keith, and Joe Val learned from them, and those players carried bluegrass into the folk revival. Everett’s high tenor and his sweet, bright mandolin were at the center of that sound.
Life and career
Charles Everett Lilly was born on July 1, 1924, in Clear Creek, West Virginia. His father bought him a mandolin, and his brother Bea got a guitar. Everett taught himself to sing tenor so Bea could carry the lead. The brothers made their radio debut in 1938 on the Old Farm Hour at WCHS in Charleston, then worked stations across the South. In 1945 they appeared on Molly O’Day’s show at WNOX in Knoxville. In 1948 they joined the WWVA Jamboree in Wheeling as part of Red Belcher’s Kentucky Ridge Runners.
In the early 1950s Everett spent about two years with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, playing mandolin and singing tenor. In 1952 fiddler Tex Logan talked the brothers into reuniting in Boston. With Logan and banjo player Don Stover, a neighbor from Clear Creek, they formed the Confederate Mountaineers. They played WCOP’s Hayloft Jamboree and became the house band at clubs like the Plaza Bar and the Hillbilly Ranch. They recorded for Folkways, Prestige, and Event, and in the 1960s they played colleges and folk festivals.
The band kept the same lineup from 1952 to 1970, one of the most stable in bluegrass. That year Everett’s son Giles died in a car crash, and Everett went home to West Virginia. The brothers reunited for a tour of Japan in 1973. Later Everett played with his sons in Clear Creek Crossin’ and the Lilly Mountaineers. His 2008 album Everett Lilly and Everybody and Their Brother won IBMA Recorded Event of the Year. He died at home in Clear Creek on May 8, 2012, at 87.
Playing style
Lilly’s mandolin was sweet and up front. He played in the early bluegrass manner, close to the melody, with a bright tone. His playing grew out of the brother duets of the 1930s, and you can hear the Monroe Brothers and the Delmore Brothers in it.
The real signature is the duet. Bea sang lead and Everett sang a high, piercing tenor above him. The mandolin answered the voices between lines. That brother-duet blend is older than bluegrass itself.
Influences and legacy
Everett grew up on the Delmore Brothers, the Callahan Brothers, and the Monroes. He worked beside Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, and for 18 years beside Tex Logan and Don Stover.
The Lilly Brothers shaped the Boston players who came after them. Peter Rowan, Bill Keith, and Joe Val all heard them as young musicians. Joe Val said the band hit Boston “like a bombshell.”
Signature tunes and songs
Dig a Hole in the Meadow Sinner You Better Get Ready.
Essential recordings
Bluegrass at the Roots, 1961 (Smithsonian Folkways reissue) Everett Lilly and Everybody and Their Brother (Swift River, 2008)
Awards and honors
Massachusetts Country Music Hall of Fame, with the Lilly Brothers (1986) International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, with the Lilly Brothers and Don Stover (2002) IBMA Recorded Event of the Year, Everett Lilly and Everybody and Their Brother (2008) West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, with the Lilly Brothers and Don Stover (2008)
Watch and listen
The Lilly Brothers sing Dig a Hole in the Meadow. Listen for Everett’s tenor above Bea’s lead.
What to learn from Lilly
Find a singing partner and learn a brother duet, like Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms. Sing the tenor and play the mandolin fills between the vocal lines. Keep the fills short so they end before the next line starts. This is the oldest job the mandolin has in country music, and Lilly did it as well as anyone.
Sources
The Lilly Brothers, Wikipedia The Lilly Brothers and Don Stover, West Virginia Music Hall of Fame WVa bluegrass legend Everett Lilly dies, Associated Press via Washington Times The Lilly Brothers, Bluegrass Bios Ronnie McCoury, IBMA award recipients
Related players
See the mandolin players hub and the mandolin guide. Lilly took a turn in the same Flatt and Scruggs chair as Curly Seckler. Ira Louvin sang tenor and played mandolin in another great brother duet. Bill Monroe started in one too.