Whitey and Hogan (Roy "Whitey" Grant, April 7, 1916, in Shelby, North Carolina – September 17, 2010, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Arval Hogan born July 24, 1911, in Robbinsville, North Carolina - died September 12, 2003, in Charlotte) were an American country music duo active for sixty-six years.
Biography Whitey and Hogan grew up in Rutherfordton and in Andrews, North Carolina, respectively.Huber 2008, pp. 289. They met for the first time in 1935 when they were both employed at the Firestone Cotton Mill in Gastonia, North Carolina.Warlick, Warlick, Inman 2007, p. 55. They began performing together as a duo,Wolfe, Akenson 2005, p. 114. Whitey played the guitar and Hogan played the mandolin. Soon they were touring all over North and South Carolina and Georgia. Their debut on the radio took place at WSPA in Spartanburg, South Carolina. They called themselves the Spindle City Boys.Warlick, Warlick, Inman 2007, p. 56. Sponsored by the Efird's Department Store, Whitey and Hogan received a radio spot at WGNC radio in Gastonia in 1939.Warlick, Warlick, Inman 2007, p. 57. They also appeared on the Rustin Radio Show in Gastonia, the show was sponsored by Rustin Furniture.Warlick, Warlick, Inman 2007, p. 58. In 1939, they recorded sixteen sides at their first session for Decca Records,Huber 2008, p. 290. before moving to the Sonora and Deluxe labels.
They joined the WBT Briarhoppers in 1941 performing at radio station WBT in Charlotte.Warlick, Warlick, Inman 2007, p. 54. When Whitey and Hogan was asked to join the Grand Ole Opry they declined since the Opry required them to work on Saturdays and they didn't want to stay away from their families.Roscigno, Danaher 2004, p. 53. Whitey and Hogan existed as a duo between 1935 and 2001.Roscigno, Danaher 2004, p. 49. In 2003, Whitey and Hogan, along with Don White, as the only surviving former members of the Briarhoppers received the North Carolina Arts Council Folk Heritage Award.Jones 2008, p. 97.
Discography With The WBT Briarhoppers Early Radio - Old Homestead Records The Legendary WBT Briarhoppers
Footnotes
References Huber, Patrick (2008) Linthead Stomp: The Creation of Country Music In the Piedmont South, University of North Carolina Press Jones, Loyal (2008) Country Music Humorists and Comedians, University of Illinois Press Roscigno, Vincent J. - Danaher, William F. (2004) The Voice of Southern Labor: Radio, Music, and Textile Strikes, U of Minnesota Press Warlick, Tom - Warlick, Lucy - Inman, Robert (2007) The WBT Briarhoppers: Eight Decades of A Bluegrass Band Made For Radio, McFarland Wolfe, Charles K. (2005) James Edward Akenson, Country Music Goes To War, University Press of Kentucky