The Seay Gulls
| Pictured Above: Russel, Uncle Burlie,(?) Lola and Willie |
| In later years the next two 'Seay Gals' , Anna Lou and Nancy joined the first two and they sang as a quartet in Lake City! Thus jokingly they called themselves, "The Seay Gulls!" |
Tilda
| Well after the "little 'uns" became "big 'uns", Willie and Thelma had two more "little 'uns"! As you can see(picture below) Betty holding the hymn book and Sheila standing behind at the right. |
Nancy
| Here are all the Seay Gals in 2004! (back row left to right) Nancy, Tilda, Anna Lou, Betty (front row left to right) Marge, Thelma(Grandmaw) and Sheila! |
| Click photo to go back |
| Is it the "Seay Gulls" or "Seay Gals"? Well , they called themselves the "Seay Gulls"! How did this come to pass? Well , before radio and television the only way to hear music was to sing it yourself at home and at church! During the 1930's and 1940's if you had a radio you could tune into WSM Radio station out of Nashville and listen to the Grand Ol' Opry and hear the same songs sung by folks like the Carter Family that was familar to what was heard in church and throughout the south. |
| All these "sangers" started "sangin'" in chuch. The roots of 'Country music' came from the country, a combination of local folk songs and church hymns! To make a long story shorter....as we know that Willie Seay was a "picker and a sanger" and during his Hobo days traveled around and sang the songs of Jimmie Rodgers and others. He was apart of a family quartet including his Uncle Burlie and cousins, Russel and Lola. They played local Barn Dances and Jamborees. |
| Pictured above: Fellers from WSM's Grand Ol' Opry |
| Now that I am making a long story longer... Uncle Burlie played the Banjo and Willie on the guitar of course. Willie's brother Homer played the fiddle and probably joined in the family sessions! Its time to skip ahead.... Willie and Thelma started to attend a local mission church in Lake City and his young daughters Marge, and Tilda started to sing duets from the hymn book! |
| Well....Willie was proud of his 'Gals' singin' and when he found out that other churches had "5th Sunday Hymn Sings" he would take Marge and Tilda to them and inform the Song Leader that, "my girls are gonna bring a special"! |
| Now, that being said, I cannot fail to mention that the rest of the family is not without musical talent. They all can sing and some followed in Willies footsteps and learned to pick the guitar, like Tilda and Odas! |
Marge
Anna Lou
