The Blue Sky Boys

Bill (l) & Earl Bolick -- "The Blue Sky Boys"
The Blue Sky Boys

Earl Bolick

• Born: November 16, 1919

Bill Bolick

• Born: October 28, 1917
• Died: March 13, 2008

The Blue Sky Boys (Hickory, N.C.) became popular during the era of mandolin/guitar brother duets in the 1930s and 40s. Earl (b. November 16, 1919) and Bill Bolick (b. October 28, 1917) were just sixteen and eighteen respectively when they first recorded for RCA Victor in 1936. The two quiet, dignified young men had begun their career only a year earlier, playing with fiddler Homer Sherill as first the Good Coffee Boys, and later as the Crazy Hickory Nuts. When the Bolick Brothers ventured out on their own, RCA Victor Producer Eli Oberstein suggested that the two take on a more distinctive name to distinguish them from the many brother groups of the time. The Blue Sky Boys became instant favorites with listeners, including those of the "Farm and Fun Time" show on WCYB radio in Bristol, Virginia, in 1949. Their influential hits include such songs as "Kentucky" and "Midnight on the Stormy Sea."