BYRD, JERRY
(*1920)
BYRD, JERRY (b. J. Lester B., Lima, Ohio, March 9, 1920) Byrd was a pioneering Hawaiian-flavored steel guitarist who helped make the instrument a central part of country music in the 1950s. As a youngster Byrd took up the lap steel guitar, influenced greatly by the Hawaiian style of playing. Although he worked professionally as a painter before enlisting in the Army, he also found time to be a musician on the side, often with The Pleasant Valley Boys . After his discharge from the service at…