Joe Maphis, born Otis W. Maphis, was an American country music guitarist. He married singer Rose Lee Maphis in 1953. One of the flashiest country guitarists of the 1950s and 1960s, Joe Maphis was known as The King of the Strings. He was able to play many stringed instruments with great facility. However, he specialized in dazzling guitar virtuosity. Maphis was born in Suffolk, Virginia. Joe's family moved to Cumberland, Maryland in 1925 when his father Bob Maphis got a job with the B&O Railroad. Joe's first band was called the Maryland Rail Splitters. He also played in the local Foggy Mountain Boys as well as The Sonnateers before Maphis hit the road in 1939. He played across Virginia until he landed a regular gig on the Old Dominion Barn Dance broadcast live on radio WRVA-AM and aired in 38 states. In 1944, Joe went into the U.S. Army. His musical skills landed him a gig entertaining the troops around the world. Maphis was discharged from the Army in 1946. On his return to the states, he began playing on WLS radio in Chicago. In the late 1940s he returned to Richmond, Va. and the Old Dominion Barn Dance until the early 1950s. 

May 12th, 1921 in Suffolk  /  Died:   Jun 27th, 1986