Though Jody Maphis calls Nashville, Tennessee, home, he has been a part of the Red River music scene since 1968. The son of country music stars Joe and Rose Lee Maphis, “Mr. and Mrs. Country Music,” Jody’s path has intertwined with the biggest names in the business.
As a boy living in Bakersfield, California, he got his first guitar at the age of five but didn’t get interested in the instrument until he was 11-12. In the summertime he would travel with his parents, performing on shows. He says his interest grew when he first got paid to play!
That first paying gig came at Cactus Pete’s in Jackpot, Nevada. ”When I got paid $100, I thought ‘This is for me. I can do this.’ I think I got it. I knew what I was gonna do and that was it!”
Moving with his family to Nashville in 1968 – “Basically Mom and Dad were booked out of Nashville by the Lucky Moeller Talent Agency” – Jody says that Music City’s central location was one of the reasons the music scene worked in the town.
“Back then it was package shows. You went on the road and then returned to Nashville. You could go 500 miles in any direction and there were people to entertain. It was more convenient than California.”
While attending high school in Madison he hooked up with Randy Scruggs. Jody admits to playing a really hot rhythm guitar to Foggy Mountain Breakdown. “Next thing I know I’m at Randy’s house playing with Earl (Scruggs), Randy’s dad! Then I’m in the Earl Scruggs Revue!”
Fast forward to 1977, the year Jody first came to Red River as a member of Michael Martin Murphey’s band which had been opening for Kenny Loggins. MMM’s band soon became the Great American Honky-Tonk Band with Mike Hearne, Rick Fowler on bass and fiddler David Coe. Jody was the drummer.
“We rehearsed a few days, then went on the road for three months. When Murphey came off the road, I’d go back home and the band would play at the Motherlode.
“At the end of one road trip, I stuck around while they looked for another drummer.
“Murphey came up from Taos to play one Saturday night and said ‘Hey, let’s go skiing tomorrow. I’ll pay for it.” That’s when I knew he wanted me to be full-time in the band.”
Jody has been coming since that day. Look for him playing at the Motherlode during special times like Memorial Day and Hot Chili Days/Cool Mountain Nights in August.