COMER "MOON" MULLINS
Master "Thumbpicker"

Comer "Moon" Mullins is a a singer and songwriter, but prefers to pick the guitar. He bought his first guitar by selling garden seeds at the age of eleven.

He has been a full-time professional and a regular performer at the Ozark Folk Center at Mountain View, Arkansas since 1985.

Although a member of two bands, Mullins does many solo performances. His style is called "thumbpicking" and is self-contained, sounding like more than one instrument. One or two fingers pick out the lead notes while the thumb carries the bass line - a popular style today. Thumbpicking originated at the turn of the 20th century and was made famous by fellow Kentuckian Merle Travis. Mullins' repertoire includes traditional ballads and folk music as well as popular songs from the 1860's to the 1960's, all done in the Merle Travis, Chet Atkins styles.

In May of 1985, Mullins won the National Merle Travis Tribute thumbpicking contest at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, Arkansas. In 1991, he won the International Thumbpicking contest at Central City, Kentucky. In 1996, in a special contest allowing only former international champions, Mullins won first place as the Champion of Champions. He has recently been nominated for the National Heritage Award.