Don Reno distinguished himself from fellow players of his generation through unmatched command of the five-string banjo. Joining forces with Red Smiley, he delivered a string of exceptional bluegrass sessions in the years after World War II. Reno’s abilities as a first-rate tenor singer and composer also helped establish the guitar as a featured lead voice within the style, placing him among the music’s foundational figures alongside Bill Monroe. Born February 21, 1926, in Spartanburg, South Carolina, he spent most of his childhood in rural North Carolina, where he fashioned his first banjo at age five and later supplied accompaniment for the Morris Brothers and Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith. Reno additionally cut sides with Woody Guthrie and received an invitation to join Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys before entering military service between 1944 and 1946. Following his discharge he fronted a regional South Carolina group, then stepped into Earl Scruggs’ former role with the Blue Grass Boys, advancing the three-finger roll technique in the same manner as his predecessor.
Reno parted ways with Monroe in 1949 to work with Tommy Magness and His Tennessee Buddies; guitarist Smiley was among his colleagues. While the band recorded for King Records’ Federal imprint in 1951, owner Syd Nathan was struck by the musical chemistry between Reno and Smiley and promptly scheduled sessions under their own names. A prolific sixteen-song date the next January introduced them as featured artists, highlighted by Reno’s composition “I’m Using My Bible for a Road Map,” whose strong sales reportedly rescued King from financial collapse. Although the records sold well, the pair struggled to maintain their touring unit, the Tennessee Cut-Ups, and therefore pursued separate projects between King dates, enabling Reno to rejoin Smith for the landmark 1955 instrumental “Feuding Banjos.” The piece later appeared in the 1972 film Deliverance under the altered title “Dueling Banjos.”
In May 1955 Reno and Smiley assembled the definitive Tennessee Cut-Ups lineup featuring fiddler Mack Magaha and bassist John Palmer. A steady engagement at WRVA’s Old Dominion Barn Dance in Richmond, Virginia, finally permitted full-time touring, and over the ensuing nine years the group produced influential King sides such as “I Know You’re Married,” “Don’t Let Your Sweet Love Die,” and “Please Remember That I Love You.” At the height of their success the duo also hosted the popular daily television program Top of the Morning for roughly seven years. Diabetes compelled Smiley to withdraw from the road in 1964; by late 1966 Reno had formed a new alliance with singer and multi-instrumentalist Bill Harrell that lasted ten years and coincided with renewed public interest in bluegrass fueled by the expanding festival scene. A shorter collaboration with fiddler Benny Martin yielded the country-chart single “A Soldier’s Prayer in Vietnam.”
During the early 1970s Reno and Harrell issued albums on Monument, Dot, and CMH, occasionally welcoming Smiley back before his final appearance shortly prior to his death on January 2, 1972. After the Reno-Harrell partnership ended in autumn 1976, Reno settled in Lynchburg, Virginia, and began performing with sons Don, Wayne, Dale, and Ronnie. In 1979 he rejoined Smith for the album Arthur Smith and Don Reno Feudin’ Again. Reno died October 16, 1984; his sons later performed as the Reno Brothers.
