Velma Smith: Pioneering Country Guitarist Dead at 87

Recent Musicians Hall of Fame inductee Velma Smith passed away on July 31 at the age of 87.

Smith – one of country music's great guitarists – was inducted alongside Buddy Guy, Peter Frampton and several others in the January ceremony. According to MusicNewsNashville.com, Smith was a self-taught musician and the first female to perform solo on the NBC network portion of the Grand Ole Opry.

Perhaps most importantly, she was the first female to play rhythm guitar on Nashville recordings.

Per the site: "She got her first big break while playing with her sister opening a show for Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys. Bill set up an audition for the pair with The Grand Ole Opry and they were asked to appear on the show that very night. Chet Atkins saw her play on the Opry and asked her to play guitar on a Davis Sisters session. Some of the artists Smith recorded with during her musical career were Eddy Arnold, Hank Locklin, Jim Reeves, Skeeter Davis, Roy Orbison, Waylon Jennings, Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, Willie Nelson, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Charlie Rich and Don Gibson."

According to The Boot, a couple of Smith's most famous recordings include Locklin's "Please Help Me, I'm Falling" (1960) and Davis' "The End of the World" (1962).

Taste of Country notes that Smith was married to fiddler and producer Hal Smith for 60 years. Mr. Smith passed away in September 2008 at the age of 84.

Funeral services were to be held for Mrs. Smith at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in Goodlettsville, Tenn.

Curious about Velma Smith's work? YouTube user Suzi Payne put together a great playlist of Smith's best songs. You can listen to them here.