Friend,

Watching the Indy 500 last weekend got our team thinking about one of our all-time favorite songs, Back Home Again in Indiana Again. It’s a Hoosier classic! 

That’s why we decided to make this week’s One Indiana all about some of the best musicians our state has produced. We had a team pull a list of some of our favorite Hoosier singers, songwriters, piano players, and more. 

Check it out below, and click on their name to see these Hoosiers perform.

• Joshua Bell - One of the most celebrated violinists of his generation, Bell is a native of Bloomington and one of the brightest music stars in Hoosier history!
• Hoagy Carmichael - Also from Bloomington, Carmichael is one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th Century. “Stardust” is perhaps his most famous composition and one of the most recorded songs of all time.
• The Gaithers - Two of the biggest names in gospel music, Bill and Gloria call Alexandria, Indiana home.
• Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds - This 11-time Grammy winner is from Indianapolis and even has a stretch of I-65 named after him!
• The Jackson Family - The Jacksons’ mark on pop music can’t be overstated.
• John Mellencamp - No one has done more for the soundtrack of Indiana over the last 40 years than this musician who was “born and raised in a small town.”
• Bill Monroe - Known as the Father of Bluegrass, his legacy continues in Brown County with the oldest continuously running bluegrass music festival.
• Wes Montgomery - One of the most influential jazz guitarists in history, he inspired many fellow legends including Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn.
• Cole Porter - The Peru, Indiana native was a prolific composer and songwriter who contributed many timeless classics to The Great American Songbook like I’ve Got You Under My Skin.
• Axl Rose - Was “Paradise City” inspired by this Guns N’ Roses front man’s hometown of Lafayette?
• David Lee Roth - Diamond Dave was a Hoosier long before he met the Van Halen brothers.
• Jim Nabors - Coming off race weekend, we’re thinking of the late, great Jim Nabors. He’s an honorary Hoosier. We included his Back Home Again in Indiana last week, but let’s take another listen!
• Florence Henderson - And while we’re talking about Indianapolis 500 traditions, who can forget Indiana’s own Florence Henderson singing God Bless America?

Did we miss your favorite Hoosier musician?  Let us know below!

Thank you for reading. We’ll talk again soon. 

Best,

-Your Holcomb Crew