Real name: William Esco Hankins

Effective period / Period of releases: 1947 - 1984

US Country singer and performer, 1924-1990. Described as Roy Acuff soundalike. Began his radio work in Knoxville via station WROL often under the sponsorship of legendary supermarket owner Cas Walker. Relocated to Lexington where he worked radio and recorded numbers for Mercury in 1951. Hankins recorded a sacred album for the small REM label in the early sixties. A little later, Hankins joined the WWVA Jamboree and signed with Columbia and recorded several singles most notable a trucker song "Johnny Overload."