The Wildwood Valley Boys trace their origins to the bluegrass heritage of the Boys From Indiana, a Midwestern ensemble launched in the early 1970s. Both stylistically and through family ties, the group that coalesced in the late 1990s drew extensively from that earlier outfit. Their Rebel debut, the twelve-track When I Get Back to Georgia, openly honors this lineage by dedicating the project to the Boys From Indiana, several of whose participants were relatives or former colleagues of the younger musicians.
The lineup features lead vocalist and guitarist Tony Holt, tenor singer and mandolinist Jamie Johnson, banjoist Wes Vanderpool, fiddler Justin Clark, and bassist Jon Weisberger. Indiana native and founding member Holt is the son of Aubrey Holt, the songwriter who served as a central figure in the Boys From Indiana; his uncles Tom Holt and Jerry Holt likewise belonged to the older band, as did great-uncle Harley Gabbard. Before forming his own group, the younger Holt spent several years performing with his father’s and uncles’ ensemble.
The album itself demonstrates the Wildwood Valley Boys’ regard for their predecessors’ style and ability, incorporating three numbers previously recorded by the Boys From Indiana—“Rambler’s Call,” “Carolina Jane,” and “Atlanta Is Burning.” Aubrey Holt supplied fresh material in the form of “White Spanish Moss,” “It’s Just the Rain,” and the title song, while Tony Holt wrote the ballad “Still Missing You.” The band’s follow-up, the jubilant bluegrass-gospel collection I’m a Believer, appeared in 2000.
Johnson, a Milan, Indiana native who also served in the Boys From Indiana and earlier in Union Springs, first took up the mandolin during his teenage years as a devoted bluegrass listener. Vanderpool likewise began playing banjo as a teenager and went on to work with Melvin Goins and the Bluegrass Thoroughbreds. Oklahoma-born fiddler Clark moved to Tennessee in his late teens; prior affiliations include the Bluegrass Woodcutters, the Sand Mountain Boys, the Posse, and Dallas Smith.
