Ronnie was born in Asheville, NC and grew up in Enka, a small community just west of Asheville, He became interested in music at an early age and especially enjoyed songs by artists with dominant guitars, such as Duane Eddy, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry and Chet Atkins. So, in the eighth grade he saved up as much money as he could by working at a nursery in the afternoons after school and ordered, with financial help from his parents, a Kay Guitar from Sears and Roebuck. This is the guitar on which he learned to play chords from a chord book. In high school he and a fellow guitar playing friend. Jerry Sutton, formed a small band with some other musicians and played at various school functions. No one had the courage to try to sing so they played only instrumentals, especially tunes by Duane Eddy and The Ventures. After high school Ronnie joined the Air Force and formed small bands at the different bases where he was stationed.

In 1969, Ronnie received orders to Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon where he was stationed for a year. In December, 1969, Ronnie was approached by a Lt. Colonel and a SMSGT who had a band that played at the VIP hotels in Saigon. Their lead guitar player had gone back to the states on a 30 day emergency leave and they needed a guitar player for the month. So, Ronnie played with this band at these hotels and other functions in Saigon during December 1969 when there was a lull in the war. The Lt. Colonel was the Security Police Commander at the base so they were able to stay out past curfew and drive back, in the Colonel’s jeep, through the eerie, quiet deserted streets of Saigon at 11:00 and 12:00 at night,weapons ready! After the Air Force, Ronnie went back to school on the GI Bill and then obtained a job with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in Winston-Salem, N.C. from which he retired after nearly 30 years. Ronnie did not play out in public for many years but spent time writing songs.

In the early 1990’s he spent a week at a song writing camp called “Song Chase” at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC. The originator of “Song Chase” was the songwriter’s songwriter, Billy Edd Wheeler. Ronnie got to spend a week with Billy Edd Wheeler, Muriel Anderson and Debbie Hupp, who was his homeroom teacher, and other notable Nashville people, including the legendary guitar player, Chet Atkins! This was a remarkable week for Ronnie to be able to sit and talk with Chet Atkins, one on one, who was one of his major inspirations to take up playing the guitar! The inspiration and enlightenment Ronnie received from these wonderful artists encouraged Ronnie to continue songwriting and to go back and rewrite some songs using what he had learned from “Song Chase.”

One of the personal favorites of Ronnie is his “Freedom Bird!” The Freedom Bird was the big plane that would take the solders home from Vietnam when their tour of duty ended. The song “Freedom Bird” is a mystical tribute to the 58,281 Vietnam soldiers who did not go home on the big 707 but went to another home in a different way! Another favorite of Ronnie’s is “Another Soldier’s Gone” which took him 20 years to write. A difficult song to write and a difficult song to sing! Tommy in this song is a composite of Ronnie’s personal feelings and feelings resulting from the plight of many other Vietnam soldiers he has known and been involved with over the years. This song is about Vietnam soldiers but also holds true for those soldiers who fought in previous wars as well such as Korea and WW2. The good news is that the years after the Persian Gulf Wars have seen major improvements in the treatment and care of America’s veterans and we never want to go back to Tommy’s time!

Finally, Ronnie and his beautiful wife Pat have two grown sons and a grown daughter, all of whom Ronnie is very proud! Ronnie feels very blessed to have such a wonderful family!!! Also, special thanks to Bruce Lang and David Wright for their great musical talents and invaluable contributions to these songs!