Rex Pruitt

Published 12:00 am Saturday, June 25, 2011

Jan. 24, 1952 – April 28, 2011

NATCHEZ — A memorial celebration for Rex N. Pruitt, who died April 28, 2011, at his home in Nocona, Texas, will be from 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday at Biscuits & Blues.

Rex was 59 years, three months and four days. His death came after a brief battle with cancer.

He was born Jan. 24, 1952, in Green County, Ky., the son of Linwood and Virena Tweedy Pruitt.

He grew up in the Exie Community of Green County with a group of close childhood friends. He loved to play music, fish, canoe, hunt Indian relics and follow his family’s genealogy. He began playing the harmonica and banjo at a very young age with the guidance of his grandmother, Lorena. Realizing his natural ability, his Aunt Helen assisted him in securing a rhythm guitar, given to him by brother Bobby Atwell. He later added the bass guitar to his accomplishments. Rex began to write songs in his early teens and to play with friends and neighbors, expanding his horizons to include local dances, festivals and other events. Song writing was also an innate talent and an outlet for his ability for storytelling. He had a great memory, a quick, sharp wit with a penchant for history which he also attributed to his grandmother. He spent a great deal of time with his relatives, friends and neighbors who had developed storytelling and musical skills as a way to preserve their family’s rich history and journeys through time and tradition. One of those special friends was Johnny Matney.

Rex graduated from Green County High School in the class of 1969. His visual impairment did not stop him from pursuing his dream of a career in music. He left after graduation, hitchhiking his way to Nashville. He toured south and west to California playing with a variety of individuals and bands in an array of musical genres and venues. He returned to Green County in 1980, working as a farmer, painter and at one point, he ran Granny’s Smokehouse in Greensburg. He played locally with several people including a couple of bands composed of friends and fellow musicians. The first band was formed in the mid 1980s and was called the Unknown Blue Band. This group consisted of Rex, Smokey Landis, Mike Mills, Richard Patterson and Jerry Upton. The second band, the Wood Brothers, was made up of Rex, Jeff Crews, Tim Curry, Mike Mills, Jack Thompson and later Ern Moyers and Ernie Houk joined the group. He followed a number of opportunities to enhance his musical experience and career. His self penned biography stated, “I continued to flirt with Nashville, which an unrequited love affair, to say the least.”

The last several years, before recently moving to Texas, he lived in Natchez and entertained two nights a week at Biscuits and Blues. He continued to do festivals with a group called Rex Pruitt and Friends. He played, wrote and recorded with a number of people over the years including Chris Mayfield. His last CD was completed in 2008, and is entitled Pretty Good Guitar. He composed some of the songs individually and co-wrote the rest with Kimball Marshall, of Natchez, and Judith A. Curry of Green County.

Rex was a member of Greasy Creek Baptist Church in Green County and a member of the Special Canoe Club. He requested that his body be cremated and that no public service be conducted. He asked that his ashes be brought back to Green County. His wishes for placement are that his ashes be scattered upon the burial site of his parents in the Greasy Creek Cemetery and in the waters of his beloved Greasy Creek where he spent a great number of happy days as a child.

Written expressions of sympathy are asked to be sent to Helen Pruitt Thompson at 461 Pruitt Road, Greensburg, Ky. 42743. Any others may be made to Greasy Creek Church Cemetery Fund.