Artists

Buddy was born In Defuniak Springs, Florida on June 16th, 1946. This lifelong resident of Walton County graduated High School in 1964, took a job with the Florida Forestry Service and married Carrie Redmon that same year.

Buddy has been involved with music since the sixth grade when he was a member of the Walton High School Marching Band. He played the clarinet all through high school. While is high school he became interested in the guitar. A member of the Argyle Baptist Church since 1962, Buddy became inspired to play the guitar by his minister who played.

Around 1980 Buddy met Gordon Porter and soon afterwards began playing regularly with the Panhandle Opry.

Buddy retired from the Forestry Service in October of 2001 and now runs a small sawmill business. He also does some construction, and backhoe work.

Buddy's hobbies include playing the guitar and singing with the Opry, as well as riding his motorcycle. He's been riding since he was 14 and is the proud owner of a new Goldwing. Both Buddy and Carrie enjoy riding.

Gordon was born on September 23rd, 1941 in Crestview, Florida. He grew up in and around Niceville, Florida. If you have heard him sing his song "Boggy Bayou", you know what it was like for him growing up in the Florida panhandle.

He graduated from Choctawhatchee High School in 1959. He went on to attend Holmes Junior College in Goodman, Mississippi in 1959 and 1960. He lived in Jupiter, Florida from 1962 to 1974. Gordon and Corinne (Murphy) were married on May 14th, 1966. They have three children, Trisha, Michael, and Elizabeth. They have 5 grandchildren: Will, Gordon Michael, Eli, Connor, Ian and Lauren.

Gordon's occupations have included: Stucco contractor, Real Estate Broker, Auctioneer, and a General Contractor.

Gordon has always enjoyed singing, He began with some of the present group in 1975. To get the full story of how Gordon got the Opry started, click on the "History" button on the left.

Ron was born on April 3, 1953, and grew up at Balsam, North Carolina. He received his first guitar at age 11, and played with two gospel groups throughout high school. He graduated from Sylva-Webster High School in 1971, and then spent a few years in law enforcement. Ron then was employed by a Consulting Engineering firm, performing bridge inspections and transportation construction engineering from 1979 to the present. He attended Kentucky State University, and the University of South Florida.
His wife Lynita is from Palmetto, Georgia. They have four children, and four grandchildren.
Ron is an avid railroad historian, proudly serving as the Chairman of the West Florida Railroad Museum at Milton, Florida since 1997.
Ron plays pedal steel at the Panhandle Opry, an instrument that has displaced most of his hobbies. He was first inspired by watching the steel player for Bill Phillips, a country music performer from Canton, North Carolina.

Artie Rodriguez began his musical career back in 1990 when he joined the country music group from Opp, Alabama called “Young Country”. Artie was the lead vocalist, songwriter and rhythm guitarist for the band till 1995. While with the group Young Country, Artie was able to perform with several country entertainers and open concerts for artists such as Sammy Kershaw, Little Texas, John Anderson, McBride and the Ride and Neal McCoy. Between 1995 and 1999, after leaving Young Country, Artie continued songwriting and had one of his songs titled “Layin’ Out” published with Porter Wagoner. In March of 2000, while traveling back and forth from Crestview, FL to Nashville, TN, Artie got another musical break. He wrote a song titled “ Forget His Memories” in honor of his father Arthur Rodriguez who was a former POW from the Korean War. President Clinton’s support staff heard the song and chose Artie out of 1800 people to perform at the 50th Anniversary Korean War Commemorative Ceremony held in Washington DC on June 2000 in front of 10,000 people. After performing in Washington Artie was then asked to perform in Branson, MO at the Dutton Theater for a Veteran’s Day concert. In April 2001, Artie got to go on tour with country artist Ty Herndon and was asked by his road manager to be the opening performer for Ty. After six months with Ty, Artie then left and followed the road manager to tour with Clay Walker for the next few months to close out his tour. In 2003 Artie was the Northwest Florida regional winner of the Colgate Country Showdown and traveled to the Mississippi State Finals. Artie is a member of the Nashville Songwriter’s Association and now calls the Panhandle Opry his home where he plays rhythm guitar, fiddle and vocals.

Larry was born on July 2, 1965 in Oxnard California and grew up in various places, such as Colorado, Hawaii, Okinawa, and Kentucky before finally settling in Florida. He graduated from Niceville High School in 1983 and attended Okaloosa Walton Community College. In 1988 he married his wife Melissa, a Defuniak Springs native. They have one daughter, Candace.
Larry decided that he wanted to play the drums when his sixth grade math teacher, Mr Jim Castleman, brought his drums to class. Instead of a regular job in high school, Larry played in bands for money. Since that time, he has the opportunity to play with many artists, including Jeff Cook from the group Alabama, Michael Twitty, Daron Norwood, and original Drifting Cowboys band member Braxton Schuffert. He has also opened concerts for various Nashville artists.
Larrys hobbies include traveling, fishing and the stock trading. The Panhandle Opry is the only place where larry can be found playing drums these days.