the Cherokee Cowboys. I joined Ray and his band in
1954. I was one pf the first members of the Cherokee
Cowboys. Ray was my hero. I have a copy of the last
album he recorded before he died.”
Price worked on his latest album, Last of the Breed, with
fellow country music singers Willie Nelson and Merle
Haggard. This album was released on Mar. 20, 2007 by
the company Lost Highway Records. The two-disc set
features 20 country classics , as well as a pair of new
Cowboys. Among its members during the late 1950s
and early 1960s were: Roger Miller, Willie Nelson,
Darrell McCall, Van Howard, Johnny Paycheck ,Johnny
Bush, Buddy Emmons, Pete Wade, Jan Kurtis, Shorty
Lavender, Buddy Spicher and Lil’ Red Hayes playing
the violin. Miller wrote one of Price’s classics in 1958,
“Invitation to the Blues”, and sang harmony on the
recording. Additionally, Nelson composed the Price
song “Night Life”.
“I will always cherish my years with Ray and the
Cherokee Cowboys,” says Hayes.
At 79, Hayes hasn’t let two heart attacks hamper
his fiddling.
“I was in the hospital with my latest heart attack and I
told the nurse I had to get out of there because I had
to get to Athens for the Old Time Fiddlers Contest and
Reunion,” Hayes points out. Hayes has been the head
judge for the contest for the past several years and the
event holds special memories for the aging fiddler.
“When I was 13, me and my brother Joe went to the
fiddling contest in Athens,” he explains. “There
was a little long-haired girl, she was 12 at the time,
competing in the contest. I told my brother I was
going to marry that little girl when I get older.” True to
his word, Hayes married Nina in 1955.
Above: 011 Grand Champion fiddler, Wes Westmoreland,
with Little Red Hayes at the Athens Fiddlers Reunion.
Right: Little Red Hayes performs with Clayton Hart
at the 2011 Jasper Lions Rodeo.
compositions. The trio toured the U.S. from March 9
until March 25, starting in Arizona and finishing in
Illinois. This was Price’s third album with Nelson and
first album with Haggard.
In 1953, Price formed his band, the Cherokee
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East Texas Quarterly Magazine
Hayes, who said for decades he didn’t like playing in his hometown, made his first appearance in
Jasper in 2012 at the Jasper Lions Club Rodeo when
he teamed with a group of local musicians to play with
16-year-old Clayton Hart who was the opening act at
the rodeo.