Guitarist, singer, actor Nokie Edwards, The Ventures, 82.
Following is an edited Wiki Bio…

Nole Floyd "Nokie" Edwards was an American musician and member of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is primarily a guitarist, best known for his work with The Ventures. Edwards is also an actor, who appeared briefly on Deadwood, an American Western
drama television series.

Edwards was born in Lahoma, Oklahoma, the son of Elbert and Nannie, a Native American Cherokee.] Edwards came from a family of accomplished musicians, so that by age five he began playing a variety of string instruments including the steel guitar, banjo,
mandolin, violin, and bass. His family relocated from Oklahoma to Puyallup, Washington.

During Edwards' late teen years he joined the Army Reserves. After traveling to Texas and California for training, he returned home and began playing regularly for pay in numerous country bands in the area.

In January 1958, country songwriter and guitarist Buck Owens relocated from California to Tacoma, Washington, as owner of radio station KAYE. Prior to the formation of The Buckaroos with Don Rich, Edwards played guitar with Owens in the new band he
formed in the area, and also played in the house band of television station KTNT, located in the same building as KAYE. In 1960 Edwards recorded a single, "Night Run" b/w "Scratch", on Blue Horizon Records with a band called The Marksmen.

The Ventures are an instrumental musical quartet founded in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958. Original members included Don Wilson on rhythm guitar, Bob Bogle on lead guitar who later became the bass player, and drummer George Babbitt who is also a 4 star
general in the Air Force, when he left drummer Howie Johnson took his place, later replaced by Mel Taylor. Edwards met Wilson and Bob Bogle when they performed on KTNT. Edwards originally played bass for The Ventures, but he took over the lead guitar
position from Bogle. The Ventures released a series of best-selling albums through 1968, at which time Edwards left the band.
In 1969 Edwards began a solo career and released several albums through 1972. His solo attempt was unsuccessful in America, and he returned to the Ventures as lead guitarist in 1973. Edwards performed with the band until 1984, when he left again to
pursue a music career in Nashville, Tennessee. He played lead guitar for Lefty Frizzell, on what would become Frizzell's final recording sessions. In the late 1980s Edwards re-joined The Ventures once more for another short stint of recording and touring
before returning to Nashville. Throughout the 1990s he was involved with numerous country-influenced recording projects.

Edwards performs occasionally in the United States as both a soloist and member of various bands, including AdVenture, Art Greenhaw, and Texas Western swing outfit The Light Crust Doughboys. The fruitful and critically acclaimed collaboration of Edwards
and artist-producer Greenhaw has resulted in a number of albums in several music genres including Edwards' two nominations for "Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album of the Year", album titles 20th Century Gospel (2005) and
Southern Meets Soul (2006) .
In July 2010, Deke Dickerson announced on his Facebook page that he was currently working on a new studio album with Nokie Edwards. Dickerson and his band have backed Edwards for several shows, including Deke's yearly Guitar Geek Festival held in Anaheim,
California.

In 2008, Edwards was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with The Ventures. The award was presented by John Fogerty. The band performed their biggest hits, "Walk Don't Run" and "Hawaii Five-0", augmented on the latter by Rock and Roll Hall
Of Fame musical director Paul Shaffer and his band.
After accepting an offer to pursue an acting career, Edwards landed a role on Deadwood, an American Western drama television series. Edwards played the mysterious friend of Wild Bill Hickok and a local citizen, who serves as a bridge between the villains
and heroes of the show. During production, Edwards temporarily relocated to Santa Clarita, California and lived on the set's location with his wife Judy.


Ray Arthur

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