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The Whites
Biography
One of the longer-lived family harmony groups in country music, the Whites started out as a bluegrass group, enjoyed a period as country hitmakers in the '80s, and later concentrated on gospel music. Buck White (vocals, piano, mandolin) and his daughters Sharon (vocals, guitar) and Cheryl (vocals, bass) officially comprised the group, but their roots dated back to Buck's first band in 1947. He went on to play bluegrass, honky tonk, and Western swing with a variety of bands in the '50s, most notably the Blue Sage Boys, and moved his family to Arkansas in 1961. Not long after, he and his wife Pat formed the Down Home Folks with another musical couple, Arnold and Peggy Johnston. Later on, Sharon and Cheryl started performing with the Johnstons' two sons as the Down Home Kids, and when the family moved to Nashville in 1971, they were integrated into the regular Down Home Folks lineup.

The Down Home Folks recorded five bluegrass albums during the '70s, with Pat retiring from the group in 1973. They caught a break when Emmylou Harris featured them on her 1979 album Blue Kentucky Girl and brought them out on tour with her as an opening act. Changing their name to the Whites to emphasize their family ties, Buck, Sharon, and Cheryl turned their attention to the country mainstream and had their first charting single in 1981 with a version of "Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On.
Selected Discography