Hylo Brown born 20 April 1922

Hylo Brown (April 20, 1922 – January 17, 2003) was an American singer, guitarist and bass player who played a significant role in the development of bluegrass and country music and was one of the first artists to appeal to both sets of fans. 

Frank "Hylo" Brown Jr. was born in River, Johnson County, Kentucky, United States. Trying to make his way as a musician and avoid factory work, Frank signed on at WCMI in Ashland, Kentucky in 1939 and began his career as a performer. Soon, he moved to WLOG in Logan, West Virginia and their "Saturday Jamboree". During the war he moved to Springfield, Ohio and worked in a defense plant. 

After the war, Brown worked in a factory and began composing songs and performing on local radio stations in Ohio. During an appearance at WPFB in Middletown, Ohio he received his nickname "Hylo" because Smoky Ward, who was on the show, could not remember his name and started calling him "Hi-Lo". That nickname was a humorous indication of Brown's presumed vocal range. 

In 1950, he recorded with Bradley Kincaid at WWSO studio in Springfield. Four years later, Brown wrote a song, "Lost To A Stranger", that was sent to Ken Nelson, the A & R man of Capitol Records. The song was meant to be recorded by Kitty Wells but instead, Nelson offered Brown a recording contract if he recorded it himself. On November 7, 1954, he cut his first recordings for Capitol Records. "Lost To A Stranger" became his first hit. In early 1955, he formed the Buckskin Boys performing on the WWVA Jamboree in Wheeling, West Virginia. 

                                   

In 1957, Brown joined Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, becoming a featured vocalist with the duo's Foggy Mountain Boys. The group's increasing popularity prompted Flatt and Scruggs to form a second Foggy Mountain band, called the Timberliners, with Brown as the unit's frontman; the Timberliners were fleshed out by mandolin player Red Rector, fiddler Clarence "Tater" Tate, Jim Smoak on the banjo, and bassist Joe Phillips. 

At their inception, the Timberliners performed on a circuit of television stations in Tennessee and Mississippi, later swapping schedules with Flatt & Scruggs in order to appear on West Virginia airwaves as well. In 1958, the group released Hylo Brown and the Timberliners, an LP that remains a traditional bluegrass classic. However, the advent of syndication and videotape allowed the original Flatt & Scruggs band to appear on any number of TV stations, effectively ending the Timberliners' career soon after, although Brown soldiered on for a time with a group including Norman Blake on Dobro and Billy Edwards on banjo. After the Timberliners' demise, Brown rejoined Flatt & Scruggs as a featured singer. Brown was inducted into the Opry in 1959. 

After his Capitol contract had expired, Brown signed with Starday Records in 1961, and cut a handful of solo albums including Bluegrass Balladeer, 1962's Bluegrass Goes to College, and in 1963 Hylo Brown Meets the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers. Although Brown's stature was slowly diminishing, he continued recording extensively for the smaller bluegrass-oriented Rural Rhythm label, turning out six albums over the next five years of roughly twenty songs each, some of which were atypically short. He seldom carried a full band in that era, and used local bands for backup. Roy Ross and his Blue Ridge Mountain Boys from Pike County, Ohio was one of them. 

By the 1970s, Hylo usually worked primarily in clubs and played a few bluegrass festivals. He also experienced some voice problems, finding it more difficult to sing in natural highs although he could still do his trademark falsetto on "The Prisoner's Song." Singing in low keys became increasingly common and had lesser appeal for a bluegrass audience that was his natural fan base. He did some later recording for labels like Jessup and Attieram, but they failed to revive his career and suffering a stroke in 1990 sidelined him further, resulting in Brown's eventual retirement in 1991 when he moved to Mechanicsburg, Ohio. 

Few interviewers called, and those that did found an often disillusioned man who'd given his life to keeping bluegrass alive, only to see his contribution ignored. He died from cancer in Mercy Medical Center on January 17, 2003. He is interred in Rose Hill Burial Park, Springfield, Clark County, Ohio.  Hylo Brown has received several honors posthumously: In 2003, just weeks after his death, he was inducted into the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America's Preservation Hall of Greats. In 2009, he received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association. 

(Edited from Wikipedia, AllMusic, Hillbilly Music.com, Bear Family notes & Country Music Highway)