W.S. ‘Fluke’ Holland and Band set to play Selmer Festival

Posted: Monday, June 8, 2009 8:01 pm

The W.S. Holland Band will headline the Rockabilly Highway Revival Festival in Selmer Saturday.
Holland, who started his career with Carl Perkins and the Perkins Brothers Band at Sun Records in Memphis in 1954, toured with the Johnny Cash Show for 37 years. The only drummer Cash ever had, Holland’s unique style of “train like” rhythms and driving beats helped forge the “boom chicka boom” signature of Cash’s famed Tennessee 3.
Selmer will host the upcoming Rockabilly Highway Revival Festival in conjunction with the recent naming of a 55-mile stretch of U.S. Hwy. 45 the Rockabilly Highway.
An outdoor mural depicting, and paying honor to, rockabilly artists that played shows up and down the highway during the 1950s and ’60s is being created on a downtown Selmer building by Nashville artist and McNairy County native Brian Tull.
A special appearance during the W.S. Holland Band’s set Saturday will be original Sun Records artist Carl Mann. Mann had a number of major releases and hits during the Sun Records days including the popular “Mona Lisa.”
W.S. Holland took Mann to meet Sun Records owner Sam Phillips in 1959 and even played on the famous recording.
For additional information on the Rockabilly Highway Revival Festival, contact the McNairy County Chamber of Commerce at (731) 645-7476.
For additional information on the W.S. Holland Band, contact Ron Haney at (731) 225-3193 or e-mail ron@wsflukeholland.com.
Published in The Messenger 6.8.09