Las Vegas Age

TEXAN PINCH-HITS FOR RUDY:
NOW BALLEW IS FAMOUS TOO

NEW YORK, March 30. (P)

Smith Ballew came from Texas to seek the fame of Broadway.

Broadway greeted him as it has many another youngster in the hinterland, with the kind of snub, rebuff that brings out the best in anyone.

It was up to him to make good as an orchestra leader, and he did, with the help of radio.

So well has he succeeded that his organization was selected to take the place of Rudy Vallee's Connecticut Yankees while they were on a tour of the country.

Ballew's orchestra played at the Vallee night club, and for Rudy's weekly Saturday night hour on the WEAF-NBC chain.

Besides filling Vallee's shoes, Ballew has built up a following thru his own broadcasts on the NBC chains.

Ballew's tenor sounds something like Vallee's on the radio, but his voice carries the unmistakable touch of the Texas drawl. In the crooner's stand, Ballew, 6 feet 5 inches tall, calls to mind the stalwart cowboy of his Texas plains.

Dallas is Ballew's home town. He attended the University of Texas, where he played the banjo in a student orchestra. In 1924, the year he was married, he went to Chicago, and for a time sang with Ted Fiorito's orchestra.

Later he came to New York, and about two years ago gathered together a group of musicians, including three boys from Texas. Then success began casting glances his way.

Smith learned to play the banjo from an old negro named Nat, who performed with an East Texas "jug" band. That was practically the only instruction he ever received in music.