Reno and Smiley

Reno and Smiley were a musical duo composed of Don Reno and Red Smiley. They were one of the most acclaimed duos in country (now bluegrass) music of the 1950s and early 1960s.

How they met

They met in 1950 while playing with Tommy Magness and the Tennessee Buddies. During this time period, they played frequently at different venues such as the El-Tenedore Skating Rink in southern Virginia. The first records that Don and Red made together were with Tommy Magness in 1951 for Federal Records, a subsidiary of King Records.

Their career together

Later in 1951, Don and Red left Magness to play with Toby Stroud in Wheeling, West Virginia on radio station WWVA (AM). Soon after this, Don and Red reformed a band that Don had started some years before: the Tennessee Cut-Ups.

In 1952, Reno and Smiley and the Tennessee Cut-Ups made their first recordings for King Records. Among this session was one of the band's most famous gospel songs, "I'm Using My Bible for a Roadmap" which was written by Don Reno in 1950. The sales of this record reportedly saved King Records from bankruptcy. Don Reno, Red Smiley and the Tennessee Cut-Ups continued recording for King Records but did no live performances until the mid-1950s which is now known to most Reno and Smiley fans as the beginning of their "glory years" which lasted until they disbanded in 1964.