Border Bash: This Mountain / Bryan Elijah Smith & The Wild Hearts

Paul Sutphin

March 06, 2012

 Paul Sutphin(Vocals, Guitar)Date of Birth: October 1, 1918 Place of Birth: Round Peak (Surry County), North Carolina Date of Death: August 26, 2004Place of Death: Round Peak (Surry County), North CarolinaPaul Sutphin grew up in a family of eight sisters and three brothers. His neighbors included famed Round Peak musicians Charlie and John Lowe (his uncles); Oscar, Ben, Tommy, and Charlie Jarrell; Fred Cockerham; Kyle Creed; and others. When he was thirteen years old, he cleared a creek bank for three weeks for a neighbor, and spent four of the five dollars he earned to purchase his first guitar.Paul developed a unique driving two-finger guitar style that characterized the sound of the Camp Creek Boys (Paul with Fred Cockerham/Ernest East/Benton Flippen/Kyle Creed on fiddle; and Fred or Kyle on "Round Peak-style" clawhammer banjo; and Verlen Clifton on mandolin).The Camp Creek Boys broke up in 1970, and Paul soon formed a new group, the Smokey Valley Boys with Benton Flippen on fiddle. The Smokey Valley Boys played at numerous prestigious music events including the 1982 Knoxville World's Fair, the National Folk Festival, and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. They also played regularly on the WPAQ ( Mt. Airy, North Carolina) "Merry-Go-Round". Paul appeared at the Swannanoa Gathering, Ashokan, Augusta, the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, and Pinewoods music festivals.