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William Smith Monroe was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the "Father of Bluegrass".
Gennett was an American record company and label in Richmond, Indiana, United States, which flourished in the 1920s. Gennett produced some of the earliest recordings by Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Bix Beiderbecke, and Hoagy Carmichael. Its roster also included Jelly Roll Morton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, and Gene Autry.
"Fiddlin'" John Carson was an American old-time fiddler and singer who recorded what is widely considered to be the first country music song featuring vocals and lyrics.
James Gideon "Gid" Tanner was an American old-time fiddler and one of the earliest stars of what would come to be known as country music. His band, the Skillet Lickers, was one of the most innovative and influential string bands of the 1920s and 1930s. Its most notable members were Clayton McMichen, Dan Hornsby (vocals), Riley Puckett and Robert Lee Sweat (guitar).
Posey Rorer was an American old-time fiddler who was best known for being a member of the American string band Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers.
John & Emery McClung were musicians who recorded old-time music during the 1920s. They also recorded as The West Virginia Snake Hunters and The McClung Brothers. John Edward McClung was born on August 1, 1906, in Mount Hope, West Virginia, and died on February 15, 1991. Emery Samuel McClung was born on January 3, 1910, in Beckley, West Virginia, and he died on March 9, 1970.
The Johnson City Sessions were a series of influential recording auditions conducted in Johnson City, Tennessee, in 1928 and 1929 by Frank Buckley Walker, head of the Columbia Records "hillbilly" recordings division. Certain releases from the Johnson City Sessions—especially Clarence Ashley's "The Coo-coo Bird" and The Bentley Boys' "Down On Penny's Farm"—are considered by music scholars as important recordings of early country music that influenced a whole generation of revivalist folk musicians of the 1950s and 1960s, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Doc Watson.
Richard Daniel Burnett was an American folk musician and songwriter from Kentucky.
The Skillet Lickers were an old-time band from Georgia, United States.
Jesse Donald "Uncle Jimmy" Thompson was an American old-time fiddle player and singer-songwriter. He is best remembered as the first performer to play on Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, appearing with founder and host George D. Hay on the evening of November 28, 1925. The positive response generated by Thompson's performance would be an important influence on the show's creative direction in its formative years. While Thompson made only a handful of recordings late in his life, his cantankerous and eccentric personality and his fiddle skills have made him one of the best-known icons of early country music.
Robert Earl Johnson was an old time fiddler who was influenced by the music of Gid Tanner and his Skillet Lickers.
Sidney Johnson "Fiddlin' Sid" Harkreader was an American Old-time fiddle player and string band leader. He was an early member of the Grand Ole Opry, at first accompanying banjoist Uncle Dave Macon and later performing on the program with his own band. In the 1940s, Harkreader formed and briefly toured with the Western band "The Round-Up Gang" before returning again to the Opry.
Charles Thomas Bowman was an American old-time fiddle player and string band leader. He was a major influence on the distinctive fiddle sound that helped shape and develop early Country music in the 1920s and 1930s. After delivering a series of performances that won him the first prize in dozens of fiddle contests across Southern Appalachia in the early 1920s, Bowman toured and recorded with several string bands and vaudeville acts before forming his own band, the Blue Ridge Music Makers, in 1935. In his career, he would be associated with country and bluegrass pioneers such as Uncle Dave Macon, Fiddlin' John Carson, Roy Acuff, Charlie Poole, and Bill Monroe.
The Tennessee Ramblers were an American old-time string band originally consisting of William "Fiddlin' Bill" Sievers (1875–1954) on fiddle, his son James "Mack" Sievers on banjo and vocals, daughter Willie Sievers (1909–1998) on guitar, and cousin Walter McKinney on steel guitar. The band was one of the most popular performing groups in East Tennessee during the 1920s through the 1940s, gaining initial fame as a backing band in fiddle contests held at Market Hall in Knoxville, Tennessee, and later performing at fairs and other gatherings around the eastern United States. They recorded several sides for Brunswick/Vocalion in 1928 and 1929, which were issued on the Vocalion label. After the death of William Sievers in 1954, siblings James and Willie formed a Hawaiian music group known as Mack's Novelty Hawaiians. Willie Sievers' guitar solos recorded with the band in 1928 and 1929 are among the first by a female lead guitarist in Country music.
Fiddlin' Arthur Smith was an American old time fiddler and a major influence on the old time and bluegrass music genres.
Asa F. Martin was an American old-time musician, singer, and guitarist, who made many recordings during the 1920s and 1930s and was closely associated with renowned fiddle player Doc Roberts, for whom he played rhythm guitar. In turn, Roberts frequently played mandolin on Martin's recordings; Roberts' son James also sang duets with Martin under the name Doc Roberts Trio.
Howdy Forrester, born Howard Wilson Forrester, was an American bluegrass fiddler and a popularizer and practiser of the "Texas" or "show fiddle" style. He was a long-time member of Roy Acuff's Smoky Mountain Boys.
Guthrie "Gus" Turner Meade Jr. was an American folklorist of early country music and Kentucky fiddle music.
Leonard Rutherford was an American old-time fiddle player from Kentucky, United States. He was a full-time live-entertainer and recording artist, but lacking any inclination for showmanship he performed in partnerships. For thirty-five years he toured with banjoist Dick Burnett, making a number of highly regarded recordings in 1926–1928. He formed a shorter recording partnership with guitarist and singer John D Foster but continued to play with Burnett. Rutherford was born in Somerset, Kentucky and lived most of his life in Monticello, Kentucky.
Jim Booker (1872–1940) was an African-American hoedown fiddler from Jessamine County, Kentucky. His 1927 recordings with Taylor's Kentucky Boys and The Booker Orchestra are thought to be the first racially integrated recording session in America.
References
- Carlin, Richard (2003) Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary, Taylor & Francis
- Kennedy, Rick (1994) Jerry Roll, Bix and Hoagy: Gennett Studios and the Birth of Recorded Jazz, Indiana University Press
- Kleber, John E. (1992) The Kentucky Encyclopedia, University Press of Kentucky
- Russell, Tony - Pinson, Bob (2004) Country Music Records: A Discography 1921–1942, Oxford University Press
- Wolfe, Charles K. (1996) Kentucky Country: Folk and Country Music of Kentucky, University Press of Kentucky
