Paul “Moon” Mullins Sept. 24, 1936 - Aug. 3, 2008

Paul “Moon” Mullins, who blazed some trails in bluegrass and classic country music, died Sunday, Aug. 3, at a care facility in Springboro, Ohio.

He gained fame as a songwriter, performer and for many years as a broadcaster. A fiddle player, Mullins wrote the tune, “Katy Daley,” which has become a bluegrass standard. He gained broader fame in the bluegrass world when, in 1967 he began assisting the late Bill Monroe with emcee duties at Monroe’s annual bluegrass festivals in Bean Blossom, Ind. In addition, he helped establish and played fiddle with The Boys from Indiana in the 1970s, a group that became a premiere festival and recording act.

Born in Frenchburg, Ky., in 1936, Mullins was surrounded by the music of bluegrass pioneers such Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and The Stanley Brothers, at an early age. His life was shaped by the mountain people and experiences of rural life. During a tour in the Army from 1955 to 1958, Mullins learned to play fiddle.

After his discharge from the Army, Mullins landed his first professional job in the music business with The Stanley Brothers as the fiddle player with their band, The Clinch Mountain Boys. In 1960, he began his broadcasting career as a full-time on-air personality, working at stations in eastern Kentucky. He moved to Ohio in 1964 and joined the staff of WPFB in Middletown. The nickname “Moon” caught on quickly after a few months on the air in Ohio.

His radio career earned him the Broadcaster of the Year award in 2000 from the International Bluegrass Music Association. That same year, IBMA also bestowed its Distinguished Achievement Award on Mullins.

His only son, Joe Mullins, followed in his dad’s footsteps when he began a broadcasting and musical career in the early 1980s in Ohio. The father-son team also formed The Traditional Grass, a band formed in 1983 that worked extensively throughout the Ohio region, mainly due to the popularity of Moon and Joe’s radio programs. After they both resigned from the Middletown, Ohio, station in 1989, the band began performing, recording and touring full-time on a nationwide basis.

The Traditional Grass produced and recorded many independent recordings and eventually four CD projects for Rebel Records. Joe formed Town and Country Broadcasting in 1995 for the purpose of purchasing WBZI AM 1500 in Xenia, OH. With such a demanding business opportunity, The Traditional Grass disbanded, but “Moon” Mullins stepped back into the broadcasting booth.

Moon Mullins retired in March of 2005 and two years later was diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, a neurological disease often misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s Disease. He was cared for at his home in Franklin Township, Ohio, until six weeks ago when he was admitted to Hillspring Nursing facility in Springboro, Ohio where he died.

A native of Menifee County, Ky., Mullins would have been 72 in September. Last year, he was awarded an Ohio Heritage Fellowship from the Ohio Arts Council for his contributions to the bluegrass music industry and his 45 years of contributions to the Appalachian community.

Funeral and burial services will be held Thursday in Springboro. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to the Neuroscience Institute Department at the University of Cincinnati. To make a gift to the Gardner Family Center for Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders, people can visit www.Giveto.UC.edu.

Condolences to the family may be sent through www.anderson-fh.com.