Country and Folk Musician. Raised in a small home near the local railroad where he grew up playing guitar and fiddle, Lecil Martin joined the Air Force in 1949. After retiring from a twenty-seven year career where he served in the Korean War and logged over 10,000 flight hours, he continued the country music career he had begun in the service. Adopting the name Boxcar Willie after seeing a hobo in Lincoln, Nebraska (where he hosted both a television and a radio program), he centered his music and persona around the image of the railway hobo. He rose to national prominence in the 1970s with a series of television-marketed albums and was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1981, the sixtieth musician so honored. Earning a devoted following with his evocative tunes and folksy demeanor, he would eventually become one of the most popular performers in the country mecca of Branson, Missouri, establishishing his own Boxcar Willie Theater there in 1986 and playing as many as six shows weekly. Always community-minded, he served on the Taney County Child Welfare Board and held several successful fundraisers for needy children, veterans, and police programs to fight crime and drugs.
Country and Folk Musician. Raised in a small home near the local railroad where he grew up playing guitar and fiddle, Lecil Martin joined the Air Force in 1949. After retiring from a twenty-seven year career where he served in the Korean War and logged over 10,000 flight hours, he continued the country music career he had begun in the service. Adopting the name Boxcar Willie after seeing a hobo in Lincoln, Nebraska (where he hosted both a television and a radio program), he centered his music and persona around the image of the railway hobo. He rose to national prominence in the 1970s with a series of television-marketed albums and was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1981, the sixtieth musician so honored. Earning a devoted following with his evocative tunes and folksy demeanor, he would eventually become one of the most popular performers in the country mecca of Branson, Missouri, establishishing his own Boxcar Willie Theater there in 1986 and playing as many as six shows weekly. Always community-minded, he served on the Taney County Child Welfare Board and held several successful fundraisers for needy children, veterans, and police programs to fight crime and drugs.
Bio by: Stuthehistoryguy
Inscription
MSGT US AIR FORCE
KOREA VIETNAM
"BOXCAR WILLIE"
Family Members
Advertisement
