THE UNDISPUTED QUEEN OF PRINTER'S ALLEY
From 1974 to 1989, Trilly was at the Captain's Table in Nashville's prestigious
Printer's Alley. Trilly still to this day holds the record for the longest running nightclub act in
Nashville at 15 years....also 10 years in Las Vegas with the Mickey Finn Show. And, she's still going strong.
3 of the 4 photos were taken at Washington, IA except for
lower left, that was at the Opryland Hotel, Nashville 1980
Upper Right on HEE HAW TV show in the 80's.
As of the past few years, Trilly has been entertaining in nursing homes around the area where she lives, in Kouts, IN.
Here's Trilly's history, if it can be told in a couple of paragraphs........
And as a lot of performers do, Trilly wanted to get out of the business and return to a less hectic life, so she moved back to her home state of Indiana. There she worked at a Walmart and continued to play banjo in nursing homes....until one of her musicians (me, Steve) called her just to say hello. Those conversations grew into convincing Trilly to maybe begin doing some shows again. Trilly was called (from information on this website) to play a show in Washington, IA, a place she had built her fan base that would follow her to this day. Trilly and Steve Nelson put the act back together, with some new twists.....just the two of them onstage, Steve would play guitar, guitar synthesizer for fiddle sax and piano parts, and program bass and drums. And Trilly would play almost the same show she was known for again, with all her instruments, and her best known songs. This lasted about 2 years, doing quite a few shows in Iowa.
As a result of some of the phone calls, Trilly and Steve wanted to seek out the people that backed her up over the years and say thank you to them, just as Steve had done. This led to a reunion in Nashville in 2007. The story is below by the photo. And the story continues when......
One of the fellows who was in her band in 1977 for a short time was Dave Cavanaugh (violin) who made an impression on Trilly, and they worked together helping Trilly's fiddle playing. And even though nothing flourished of a personal nature, because Trilly's manager/husband was very protective of her, in fact he told Dave to leave the band even though nothing happened "like that", he had to leave. After this reunion (this is the past couple of years), Trilly and Dave began keeping in touch, and it grew to where after several phone calls, the two would meet, and Dave and Trilly said "let's stay together". Well, there's a love story for you, and happy ending....Trilly and Dave are together now in Indiana and playing these nursing homes in NW Indiana and Dave playing with the house band at DC's Country Junction in Lowell, Indiana on Saturdays. More on that at the bottom of this page.
She did shows in the Cabaret Room opposite Frank Sinatra, Jr., Kenny Rogers,
The Mob, The Kenny Davis Road Show and B.B. King during her stay there
Kenny Davis was kind enough to send the one photo on the right below.....look at the headliner!!!!
A COUPLE OF TRILLY'S ALBUMS FROM THE 70'S, STILL AVAILABLE ON EBAY
HOWEVER, NOT THRU Trilly herself. There are CDs available that have been remastered from her early albums
The photo above was taken a couple of years ago when several of Trilly's "babies" as she calls them, got together for a reunion. You may recognize some of the people in this photo. On the left is Kent Goodson (George Jones' keyboard player), second is Steve Hill,
By the way....the fellow to the right of
Trilly is Dave Cavanaugh, if you go on Facebook, you'll see that Dave
and Trilly have a relationship.....that kind of began back in 1977, but
didn't come to fruition until now...over 35 years!
Also in this photo, third from left is
Steve Nelson (that's me, I started this website), Ray Von Rotz (he
played drums for Boots Randolph), and behind Trilly just to the right
is Joe Wright who was with Charley Pride for about 10 years, second to
right is Andy Reiss (Time Jumpers) and on the right end is Michael
Z. There are quite a few more musicians who, after this reunion
party, called or emailed or showed up to say hello. Needless to
say, Trilly had in her band a lot of talented people who went on to do
some great things....even though she won't admit it, Trilly had a great
impact on a lot of musicians over the past 35 years.
Here's the newspaper article done about Trilly in 2010!
Lifelong musician has tales to tell
"Corn won't grow at all on rocky top,
Dirt's too rocky by far.
That's why all the folks on rocky top,
Get their corn from a jar."
-- Boudleaux and Felice Bryant
The first time I met Trilly Cole, she was strumming her banjo and singing to the crowd at the Aukiki River Festival in Kouts.
Cole, 59, has been entertaining audiences with her music since she was 6. She was born and raised in Hammond, but now lives in Kouts with a delightful mongrel she named Founder because she found her.
. .
High school?
"Hammond Tech," she said. "I didn't want to go to college; I just wanted to finish my schooling and go on the road. And that's what I did. I never looked back."
Were either of your parents musicians or singers?
"No, but they wanted all three of us kids to take lessons at Judy's Music Studio on State Line Avenue which, back then, was really big. Are you familiar with Uncle Len?"
When I interviewed Indiana 105 DJ Mac MacLeod for this column, Mac told me Len Ellis is a member of the Country Music DJ Hall of Fame.
"When Uncle Len was at (Hammond radio station) WJOB, I first appeared on his show at age 6. I sang 'Sugartime.' Uncle Len probably wouldn't remember me, but I'd love to meet with him."
Have you ever been married?
"Yes, my legal name is Walsh. I've always used my maiden name, Trilly Cole, for my stage name. My husband is deceased, but he was my manager since I was a little girl. He was 25 years older than me.
"By the time I was 8, I was working Calumet City, Ill., because you could go into the bars of Cal City as a kid, as long as you had a sponsor or a parent."
Did you ever perform at the Hammond Civic Center?
"Oh, yeah; I sang with Red Foley at the Civic Center. I've done everything I wanted to do in life, except perform in front of a president of the United States."
Tell me about your career once you graduated from high school.
"My first real job on the road was in 1970 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. After four years on the road, I went to Nashville and worked at the Captain's Table in Printers Alley. I did three shows a night, six nights a week for 15 years. I have the record for the longest-running nightclub act in Nashville. It only seated 85 people; we turned it."
Turned it?
"The first show started at 7 p.m., the next show at 8:30 and the last one at 10. We moved them in and herded them out like cattle."
Grand Ole Opry?
"I was never asked to perform; that's invitation only. Of course, when you're a Yankee ... ."
Did you perform with or open for any stars other than Red Foley?
"I fronted for Tammy Wynette, Waylon Jennings, Bobby Bare, Mickey Gilley, Kenny Rogers, Boots Randolph, Kitty Wells, Burl Ives ... . Phil Harris was a good friend of mine; he also was from Indiana."
One of your most requested covers?
" 'Rocky Top.' I did that song three shows a night at the Captain's Table. People would come into Nashville by the busloads to hear 'Rocky Top.' It's like when you go to Philadelphia; what are you going to order?"
A Philly cheesesteak sandwich.
"You got it."
Name a few of your more prestigious appearances.
"Well, I'm showing my age, but I was on 'Ted Mack & The Original Amateur Hour.' I also was on 'Hee Haw.' "
Trilly, as a teenager, I'd watch "Hee Haw" because of the bevy of scantily dressed country girls who were featured. My dad was a big fan, too.
"I was invited to go on 'Hee Haw' because of that reason, but I wouldn't put on what the other women were wearing. I didn't want to exploit myself that way."
You're absolutely right; ahem, that part of the show was shamelessly sexist. What I really enjoyed was "Hee Haw's" down-home humor -- pure comedic genius. What instruments do you play?
"Banjo, guitar, harmonica, piano, mandolin, dulcimer and fiddle. I'm self-taught on all them. I've never read music. I basically got nurtured at Judy's Music Studio. He taught me by ear because he couldn't read music, either."
He?
"Harold Judy; he hand-made this double-neck guitar back in the 1950s. When I was on the road, I was endorsed by Gibson Guitar Co.; I want to show you something. Do you know what that is?"
An electric guitar.
"Take a closer look."
Oh, my gosh; the shell of it is made from a bedpan!
"Gibson gave me that. They once said, 'Trilly, if we'd put strings on a bedpan, you could play it.' It's porcelain; they had to use a diamond drill bit to get everything in there so it wouldn't shatter. You've heard of Willie Nelson's 'On the Road Again.' "
Sure.
"I wrote 'On the Commode Again.' "
One of your toughest gigs.
"Bud & Swede's in Watseka, Ill.; I was about 12. I'll never forget going on stage that evening."
Why's that?
"President (John F.) Kennedy was assassinated earlier that day."
Odd gigs?
"Twice, I've played 'Here Comes the Bride' on the harmonica at outdoor weddings."
Favorite instrument?
"Banjo; it's happy."
Life after Nashville?
"I was in (Las) Vegas for 10 years. When my husband passed away, it was kind of like, 'I'm done.' He'd been with me since I was like 10. I came back home to Indiana in 2000."
How did you find Kouts?
"My mother's side of the family was from Kouts. We spent all the holidays here."
You've come out of retirement.
"That's right, and I'm picking up more nursing homes and festivals all the time."
. .
Trilly still has a ton of pizzazz. She's a professional entertainer and a crowd pleaser whose only regret is that she never performed for a president of the United States. But maybe she has and doesn't realize it.
Envision little Trilly Cole of Hammond belting out "I'll Fly Away" at Bud & Swede's on the evening of Nov. 22, 1963.
AT A GLANCE
Anyone interested in booking Trilly Cole should call 766-3161. For more information, visit her website at www.trillycole.com .
For all information and bookings
Trilly and Dave Cavanaugh have this going on:
C & C Entertainment
PO Bx. 129
Kouts, IN 46347
(219) 766-3161
Cell Phone (219) 242-2475
Trilly's email address is trillycole@hotmail.com
but you're better off calling.....she doesn't do the Internet that much! Don't be surprised if there's no answer, just leave a message. Just because she's busy doesn't mean she doesn't call back.
Dave has his Facebook account and you can see him (and Trilly, too) at DC's Country Junction in Lowell, IN on Saturday nights
Latest changes on this page on July 12, 2011