maphis was born in suffolk, virginia. joe's family moved to cumberland, maryland in 1926 when his father robert maphis landed a job with the b&o railroad. joe's first band was called the maryland rail splitters. he also played in the local (cumberland) foggy mountain boys as well as the sonnateers before maphis hit the road in 1939. he played across virginia until he became a regular featured performer on the "old dominion barn dance," broadcast live on radio wrva-am and aired in 38 states.