Member Profile

Wayne Moss was born in South Charleston, West Virginia. When he was 8 years old, Wayne began playing guitar on one borrowed from a family friend. About a year later, he bought his first guitar for $6.00, at a pawn shop. Wayne’s first job was given to him by local radio and TV personality, Sleepy Jeffers, in Charleston. (Pioneer Pals) He played with The Versitones, which was a rock and roll band that toured in West Virginia, playing high schools and other venues. During that time, Wayne was interviewed by Hugh McPherson, at WCHS radio and was encouraged by Hugh to write songs in addition to playing guitar. Wayne’s first song Starry Eyes was recorded by The Hilltoppers, on Dot Records. This was good advice, as songs that Wayne later wrote have been recorded by such artists as The Oak Ridge Boys, Jerry Reed, Mack Davis, Chet Atkins, Charlie McCoy, Tuck and Patti, Roy Clark, and George Benson. Wayne’s last job in West Virginia, before moving to Nashville, was with the WWVA Wheeling Jamboree, as part of Bill Browning and the Echo Valley Boys. This also featured Lazy Jim Day, who had formally worked with Hank Williams, Sr. In 1959, Wayne made the move to Nashville, to pursue his musical career. His first job was playing guitar in Brenda Lee’s backup band, The Casuals, where he remained for just under three years. During that time, he toured across the United States and Canada, appearing on the Dick Clark show, American Bandstand, as well as many other venues. He also wrote the B side to Brenda Lee’s million seller, Coming On Strong, called You Keep Coming Back to Me. During those days on the road, The Casuals shared the bill with such notables as Bill Haley and the Comets, Fabian, Freddie Cannon, Bobby Vinton, Webb Pierce, George Jones, Little Jimmy Dickens and many others. Following his departure from The Casuals, Wayne and legendary drummer, Kenneth Buttrey formed the band The Escorts, a very high profile Nashville band in the early sixties, soon thereafter hiring Charlie McCoy. The band would later be known as Charlie McCoy and the Escorts. This core group of musicians stuck together through the years of sessions with Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, Peter, Paul and Mary and many others. An article in the “Nashville Scene” newspaper, (written by Jonathan Marx, November 30, 1995, “Rock in a Hard Place”), credits the Casuals as being Nashville’s first rock ‘n’ roll band. It also credits The Escorts as being the best rock ‘n’ roll band during that time in Nashville. In 1960, Wayne opened Cinderella Sound Recording Studio, which is the oldest continually operating studio in Nashville. Word of mouth has kept the studio alive. (It has never been listed in the phone book.) Over the years, many people have recorded at Cinderella and many legendary songs had their beginnings there. The first recording of Burning Love was cut at Cinderella, as were Delta Dawn and American Trilogy, by their writers, Dennis Linde, Alex Harvey and Mickey Newbury, respectively. Linda Ronstadt recorded an album there, as well as Charlie Daniels, The Steve Miller Band, Ricky Skaggs, Grand Funk, KISS, The Whites, Mel McDaniel, Little Jimmy Dickens and many others. In the early 60’s, Faron Young hosted a syndicated radio show from Cinderella, where guests such as Charlie Louvin, Merle Kilgore, Roger Miller and many Grand Ole Opry performers, would stop by and sing their latest hits. Over the years, Wayne worked countless sessions playing a variety of music. His musical background and experience enabled him to develop a style that provided a new and different approach to making music. Wayne’s traditional country roots, blended with his exposure to rock and roll, allowed him to blend the two into something that was a forerunner to music that followed afterwards and was a welcomed addition to the versatility and expansion of the Nashville sound. He played on Dolly Parton’s first session as well as Patsy Cline’s last session. Wayne has worked with artists such as Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Waylon Jennings, Tammy Wynette, Nancy Sinatra, Charlie Daniels, Joan Baez, Michael Nesmith, of the Monkees and Leo Kottke, many of whom recorded at Cinderella. Some of his most memorable sessions include the signature guitar lick at the beginning of Roy Orbison’s O Pretty Woman which helped establish the song as one of the most recognizable songs of that era. The solo from the song Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line, by Waylon Jennings, brought notoriety and accolades from Chet Atkins, the producer, and Jerry Reed, who also played on the session. The first number one million seller Wayne played on was Tommy Roe’s Sheila. For that reason, his oldest daughter was named Sheila. In May, 1967, the song She Shot a Hole in my Soul, recorded by Clifford Curry at Cinderella, made the Cashbox top 100 pop chart. In 1969, Joe Simon recorded an album, with Wayne playing bass. The singles The Choking Kind and Yours Love were significant because they both were number one R&B hits that were cut from the same session. This was also the first time that Wayne had played bass. While primarily a guitar player, Wayne plays a variety of musical instruments, such as bass, banjo, drums and piano. This diversity has provided him the opportunity to expand his horizons as a sideman from everyone from George Beverly Shea to Burl Ives, to Fats Domino, to Al Hirt to Trini Lopez to Connie Francis to the Everly Brothers, where he played guitar and percussion. In the early sixties, a unique system was developed to map out a song on paper for musicians. The concept involved substituting numbers in place of chord letters in order to chart out a song regardless in which key it was played. By using this method, musicians were able to cut more songs in less time. The Nashville Number System was developed. Wayne aided in the development of this approach, along with two other musicians, Charlie McCoy and David Briggs. This has become a standard method of music notation throughout the music industry worldwide. In the late sixties Wayne and McCoy formed the band Area Code 615. This was primarily an instrumental band that consisted of studio musicians who had worked together over the years. They wanted to make music in a different style and with a variety of instruments in an unconventional manner by playing pop tunes on country instruments. The band recorded two albums. One of which, was nominated for a Grammy in 1970, for Best Instrumental Group of the Year. They made the top five finalists, losing to Blood Sweat and Tears. Area Code 615 evolved into Barefoot Jerry whose original members included Charlie McCoy, Mac Gayden, Kenneth Buttrey and John Harris. Barefoot Jerry recorded six albums for major labels, including Capital, Warner Bros. and Monument, plus another half dozen records for Pumpkin Record Productions. During their time together, they toured the southeast. As a result of their popularity in the region, Charlie Daniel’s song The South’s Gonna Do it Again included the line “And all the good people down in Tennessee, are diggin’ Barefoot Jerry and the CDB”. The band also toured in Asia and Europe. Wayne has been and continues to be involved in many charitable projects. He has been active in Praise and Worship at his church, for more than 25 years, where he plays guitar and bass. On occasion, he visits nursing homes and retirement homes and performs for the residents. From time to time, he has also played benefits and fundraisers for Parkinson’s disease and Special Olympics. Wayne was very involved with the final musical projects Jerry Reed pursued, and donated his royalties from those projects to the veterans. In 2009, Wayne was honored to have been included in a small group of musicians, as being a “Nashville Cat”, by the Country Music Hall of Fame. During his interview, which was videotaped by GAC, and held in front of a live audience, including his peers, Wayne spoke of his career in music over the past 60 plus years. He discussed many of his accomplishments and played some of his original songs as well as some of his notable guitar riffs. Wayne recently received his 50 year pin by the Nashville Association of Musicians, Local 257, for his achieving a milestone within the Local and with the American Federation of Musicians. Prior to his arriving in Nashville, Wayne was also a member of the Charleston, WV AFofM for six years. Wayne hosts a weekly show called Pickin’ @ the Dilly, in Madison, TN, where various artists perform with him each week. Some of the artists appearing have been: Charlie McCoy, Dallas Frazier, Buzz Cason, Bobby Darin’s former conductor, Bill Aikins and Elvis’ former drummer, and current member of The Blacwood Brothers, Billy Blackwood. Wayne and his wife, Connie, live in Madison, Tennessee.