Gary, who was born in Walnut Cove, North Carolina, attributes his choice of music as a career to his parents’ love of music, particularly bluegrass. 

He began traveling at age fifteen with the band Boot Hill from Winston-Salem. After high school Gary moved to Knoxville, where he attended the University of Tennessee and met his wife Martha. They married in 1980 and worked in bands together, traveling throughout the next decade.

In 1989 Gary and Martha became original members of Calvin Gilmore’s Dixie Jubilee in North Myrtle Beach. In his spare time Gary is an avid tennis player.