Wayne Lewis was born in Sandy Hook, Kentucky, but moved to New Boston (just outside Portsmouth) when he was five years old. Playing guitar and singing lead, he helped to form a band called the Kentuckians in the 1960s (not the same band as that headed by Red Allen and Frank Wakefield). They played a lot of the bars in Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus and recorded two singles for Jalyn Records in Dayton, as well as backing Paul Mullins on two albums. After that band broke up, Lewis played with Ralph Stanley and with Lillimae Whitaker before joining Bill Monroe as guitar player and lead singer in 1976, a job he retained for ten years. After leaving Monroe, he started his own booking agency and band and eventually recorded three LPs; two on Old Homestead (Bluegrass Traditions featured Kenny Baker playing fiddle and Bobby Osborne singing tenor) and one on Atteiram. He joined the Cumberland Highlanders and, in 2016, was still being seen on RFD-TV.
LEWIS, WAYNE (1943-)