Brian Blaylock’s Hard Times is his first recorded album. This was released in 1987 alongside Daybreak In Dixie. This release was manufactured by Crystal Inc. and credits Blaylock Music as the label behind the release. This is the third of out five albums by Blaylock we are in the process of digitizing, the last two are from the 90’s and are also cassettes by Crystal Inc. Credits on the album go as follows: Brian on the banjo, his father Clyde on the rhythm guitar, Grant Blaylock on the lead guitar, and Thomas “Boxcar” Pinion on the bass.
Brian’s father Clyde is crediting saying Brian can “pick like a house fire” back when Brian was a mere 10 years old. That is approximately how old Brian was when these first 3 cassettes were recorded, he is pictured in the album’s coverart above. Clyde frequently hosted music jam sessions on the front porch of his store that would run from 7:30 on into midnight, and was credited as having one of the best stores for acoustic instruments in the eastern side of the United States.
Pictured above are Boxcar Pinon, who played bass on this album, and Clyde Blaylock playing along in a string band. Boxcar Pinion has a bluegrass festival in his honor each year. Listen to the album in our archive below, and listen to it on YouTube as well. These albums are being gifted to Brian Blaylock after digitization.