Tony Farr writes book about his years in music
Having played all over the U.S., including McMinnville, during his 50-year music career, Tony Farr has written a book about his experiences entitled “My Life as a Country Musician: Fifty Years of Clubs and Bar-Rooms.”
A New Orleans native, Farr has never been far from music in general, and country music in particular. At age 8 he began listening to the Grand Old Opry on Saturday nights. It didn’t take long for him to come to love the sweet sounds of the steel guitar. Determined to learn the instrument himself, he picked up a primitive steel guitar at age 13. Two years later he was playing professionally, working in the clubs around New Orleans two to three nights a week.
In the late ’50s he moved to Texas, playing most of the clubs in the Galveston/Houston area. Around this time he joined Uncle Carl’s band and appeared on the “Uncle Carl” TV show. After moving to Dallas in the early ’60s, he became an original Jones Boy, one of the first steel guitar players for George Jones.
By the mid to late ’60s, Farr had moved to Minneapolis, Minn., where he played at the Flame Cafe as a staff musician for several years.
In 1970, he made the move to Nashville, where he has lived since and played for the likes of Jean Shepard, Tommy Overstreet, Claude Gray and Billie Jo Spears.
Over the years, he has accumulated a mass of unique stories and memories of country music and his life on the road, many of which are included in his book. His life as a musician taught him many things, which are also mentioned.
Today, his band, Tony Farr and the Farr-Outs, still plays across the state and country at a variety of engagements.
In recent years they have played several shows at the local Moose Lodge, though there haven’t been as many performances at local clubs as in years past.
“My Life as a Country Musician: Fifty Years of Clubs and Bar-Rooms” is published by 1st Books Library and can be purchased from that company for $14.50 at www.1stbooks.com.