The Blue Ridge Quartet

The Blue Ridge Quartet (1946 – 1985) was organized by Frank Stamps's Stamps Quartet Music Company of Texas. They started in Raleigh, North Carolina, but ultimately settled in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

When they began in Raleigh at the beginning of 1946 they operated out of radio station WRAL. Among the original members of the group in 1946 were Leonard "Red" Mathis, tenor; James Smith, lead; Wayne Roseberry, baritone; Shaw Eiland, bass; and Mike Cunningham, pianist. Eiland and Roseberry were former members of the Stamps-Baxter Lone Star Quartet, also headquartered in Raleigh. After a short time Elmo Fagg and Jack Taylor, both from the Lone Star Quartet, joined them. It wasn't long before Wayne Roseberry left and Everett Payne became the baritone singer.