Not So Little Anymore

Ronnie Reno

But he was Little Ronnie Reno when he played in the Don Reno Band a half-century ago. Don was his legendary banjo-playing father, who -- with Red Smiley -- blazed the bluegrass trail in the 1950s and early 1960s with songs such as "I'm Using My Bible for a Roadmap" and "I'm the Talk of the Town."

Don died in 1984. With his two brothers, Ronnie formed the Reno Brothers to carry on the tradition with recordings such as Drawing from the Well. I remember seeing the brothers perform at Rockome Gardens in the mid-1990s.

Currently, Ronnie Reno & the Reno Tradition carry the torch. Ronnie also hosts Reno's Old-Time Music Festival on the BlueHighways television network. He came to Nashville in the mid-1960s, "about 50 years of just having a good time ... making a good living -- a clean living I might add -- and playing our music," he says.