JimBob Tinsley

Jim Bob Tinsley (Aug. 12,1921), who, in his early years, was a working cowboy in Arizona and Florida, began performing Western music on radio station WWNC in Asheville, N.C. in 1935. In the 1940s he performed with a number of radio and movie stars, including Gene Autry. SONG OF THE WEST magazine (summer 1993) recounts the wonderful story of how he sang "You Are my Sunshine" in an impromptu duet with Sir Winston Churchill when he stopped to hear Jim Bob play, when Churchill was en route to the Casablanca Conference in 1943. In 1989, Jim Bob was a consultant for Michael Martin Murphey during the preparations for Murphey's landmark album COWBOY SONGS, and he also performed on the album.

Jim Bob's collection of Western artifacts is on display in his museum in the North Carolina mountains and two of his many scholarly books on cowboy and western music, HE WAS SINGIN' THIS SONG and FOR A COWBOY HAS TO SING, published by the University of Central Florida Press, are among the most important pieces of literature on the genre.

He has received the Western Heritage Wrangler Award (in 1982), the Pioneer Award from the National Radio Heritage Assn., Council Bluffs, Iowa (in 1984) and was the second inductee into the National Cowboy Song and Poetry Hall of Fame.

by O.J. Sikes

Jim Bob Tinsley, was born in Brevard, North Carolina on August 12, 1921, and was educated in Transylvania County Schools, The University of Florida, and Arizona State College at Flagstaff. He served four years as an aerial photographer with the U.S. Navy in North Africa, Sicily and Italy during World War II.

Jim Bob enjoyed a long career as an educator in public schools and researched and authored definitive books on the Florida Puma and Sailfish. However, he remained focused on two favorite subjects, Transylvania County waterfalls and cowboy-western music.

For all his adult life Jim Bob has photographed waterfalls of Transylvania County, researched their history and collected anecdotal materials. During the same time period he collected, performed and preserved western music and memorabilia. He received many awards and honors for his lifetime work.

Unfortunately, Jim Bob passed away on January 18, 2004. The Jim Bob Tinsley Museum provides free public access to the lifelong collections of Jim Bob and his wife Dottie, shown with him here.

Taken from the Jim Bob Tinsley Museum and Transylvania County Heritage Center's Site

Roy Rogers Jr. (better known as Dusty), is the eldest natural son of famed stars Roy Rogers and dale Evans.  Dusty grew up in the San Fernando Valley of California with his five sisters and one brother.  Dusty admits that he wanted to get into the show business since he was 16.

Dusty’s first professional taste was a small part in his father’s TV series, “The Roy Rogers Show on NBC,” while he was very small.  In those early years, he appeared in movies like “To Forgive a Thief” and “Arizona Bushwhackers” released by Paramount Pictures.  He even starred in his own television show entitled, what else than “The Roy Rogers Jr. Show.”

As Dusty’s career began to grow, other hidden talents began to develop.  Following the footsteps of his Dad and Mom, Dusty began his recording career which opened new opportunities to appear in many major rodeo’s, state fairs, conventions, concert halls and dinner houses throughout the United States and Canada.  His autobiography “Growing up with Roy and Dale” enlightens us to what it is like being the son of such famous parents.

Dusty also serves as the President and Executive Director of The Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum.  Since the passing of his Dad and Mom, Dusty acts as the main spokesperson for the entire Rogers family.

Whether appearing by himself or with his band “The High Riders,” you will experience a wide variety of emotion as you listen to Dusty sing, and appreciate his transparency as he shares some of his family moments.  Dusty continues the legacy of Roy and dale by providing quality entertainment for the entire family