1983-1984

The Free Country Band formed in Zanesville, Ohio in 1982. The original members were Chuck Elliott, Tim Fields, and Galen Leonard on drums. After being together only a few months, they got a chance to record a single (45RPM) record with Chuck Elliott’s “The one you love (is watching over you)” and Tim Fields’ “Ease your pain”. The record got a lot of local air play for a while.

The band then decided to hire Larry Bailey to play rhythm guitar and sing. (they had worked with Larry in a band earlier called “Sweetwater”). Not long after hiring Larry, Tim Fields left the band, which left them without a lead guitarist. So Larry now became their lead guitar player. They played as a three piece band for a few months, then Chuck heard his old friend Kenny Joseph was moving back to town from Texas, so they hired him as their steel guitar player. Then as luck would have it, Galen Leonard decided it was time for him to move on, and he quit the band. Knowing that Larry was also a drummer, they talked Tim Fields into re-joining the group, and Larry became the drummer of the band. This combination was phenomenal. They were all great players, and had excellent vocals and harmonies. They played a lot of clubs and private affairs around Parkersburg, West Veginia, and Marietta, Ohio. The Free Country Band was one of the hottest bands in that area for quite a while. They were often compared to the band “Alabama”. Unfortunately the band split up in 1984 when Tim Fields decided to quit the band again and go to work with his father. Kenny Joseph got married, and quit playing music for a while. Larry Bailey went on to play lead guitar with the “Smith Brothers Band”. and Chuck Elliott re-grouped with Tom Devol, and the Madinger brothers.