Pioneer Artist

Born near Weaverville, North Carolina in 1898, Joseph Emmett Mainer learned to play the banjo when he was about nine years old. In 1923 J. E.’s brother Wade joined him in Concord and the two of them began playing around for dances and shows. They went to work for the Crazy Water Crystal Company broadcasting over WBT in Charlotte as J. E. Mainer's Crazy Mountaineers. The group soon played at many other radio stations. RCA Victor decided to record the group in 1935 for their Bluebird label. J. E. got Snuffy Jenkins in 1937 to play banjo for him. Some of the Mainer recordings with Snuffy Jenkins' three-finger picking sound tantalizingly close to what would later be called bluegrass. His recordings in 1946 resulted in several singles and two albums. An enduring original from these sessions was "Run Mountain”. In 1962, Chris Strachwitz of the Arhoolie label visited J. E. in Concord and subsequently cut a new album, “The Legendary Family from the Blue Ridge Mountains”. Beginning in 1967, J. E. cut a series of 20 albums for Uncle Jim O’Neal’s Rural Rhythm label, guested on the WWVA Jamboree and played numerous festivals. Two re-issues on Strachwitz’s Old Timey label of early material, along with J. E.’s album from 1946 and a pair of albums that J. E. put out helped keep his earlier material in print. J. E. Mainer stayed active in music until his death in 1971.

Published in 2018

J. E. Mainer

In 1926, talent scout Frank Walker recorded a group of musicians from the Atlanta area that have since been declared “Country Music’s First Supergroup”. Walker took the ever popular Gid Tanner from Dacula, Riley Puckett from Alpharetta, Clayton McMichen from Altoona and Fate Norris from the Dalton area, and dubbed them “The Skillet Lickers”. Each member filled a very important role in the group. Gid Tanner was the “cut up” or the entertainer of the group. McMichen was the polished musician while Puckett was considered a singer’s singer. Norris kept the rhythm steady. Other musicians such as Lowe Stokes, Bert Layne, Ted Hawkins and Gordon Tanner contributed to their early success, as well. The Skillet Lickers seemed to have struck a nerve with rural Americans. They recorded songs that were already known, many of which were already in public domain. The Skillet Lickers performed and recorded those old songs with an all-new energy that no one, even to this day, could match. For five years, the Skillet Lickers proved to be one of Frank Walker and Columbia Records’ biggest success stories for their “rural” or “hillbilly” classification of music. Their success also had an influence on other legendary musicians like Jimmie Rodgers, Roy Acuff, Bob Wills, Merle Travis, Hank Williams and many others.

Published in 2017

The Skillet Lickers

Bascom Lamar Lunsford was born in Madison County, North Carolina in 1882. He grew up in a community that was rich in folk music and culture and in a family that shared in this appreciation. Known as “The Minstrel of the Appalachians”, Lunsford enjoyed performing and was quite accomplished. His true calling and lifelong mission, however, was to preserve and promote mountain music, dance, and culture. He championed mountain culture to the outside world, shining a light on its true worth and was a pioneer in providing a platform for it to be enjoyed by a wider audience. He gave Pete Seeger his first banjo lesson, he performed before 10,000 at Madison Square Garden, he wrote the standard “Good Old Mountain Dew”, his music influenced Bob Dylan and Robert Plant but it was his mountain culture that he chose to treasure most. While there were many highlights in Bascom’s musical career, there is one in particular he treasured most. In 1939, he performed at the White House for President Franklin and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and the King and Queen of England.

Published in 2016

Bascom Lamar Lunsford

Scott Greene Wiseman was born November 8th, 1909 on a farm in the mountains of Western North Carolina. His interest in music went as far back as his mother teaching him to sing when he was just able to walk. In 1927, Scotty graduated from Crossnore as class president. Scotty went on to Duke University. Unfortunately, financial hardships caused Scotty to only complete one year at Duke University. A short time after this, Scotty was introduced to radio. The year was 1929 and radio was still in its infancy. It was at this time that Scotty coined his radio name as “Skyland Scotty” and the name immediately took to his listeners. From WMMN, Scotty went on to station WLS-AM in Chicago, Illinois. WLS-AM’s National Barn Dance was a rival to WSM-AM’s Grand Ole Opry. Here, Scotty met his love, Myrtle Eleanor Cooper. They married on December 13th, 1934 and had regular appearances on National Barn Dance on WLS-AM Chicago. They performed under the stage name “Lulu Belle and Scotty”, “Sweethearts of Country Music”. Lulu Belle and Scotty were best known for their classic song “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?”. This became one of the first country songs to attract major attention in pop circles and was recorded by artists in both genres. Lulu Belle and Scotty also ventured into featured motion pictures. The couple retired in 1958 Scotty Wiseman was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971. Scotty Wiseman passed away in 1981 and Lulu Belle in 1999.

Published in 2015

Lulu Belle and Scotty Wiseman

Uncle Dave Macon was the first superstar of the Grand Ole Opry and an immortal in the annals of old time and country music. In a continuously active entertainment career which spanned more than thirty years, “The Dixie Dewdrop” recorded nearly two hundred records and appeared at venues nationwide. In his time, Uncle Dave was the most popular country music star of the day. Uncle Dave’s most significant and enduring legacy is the preservation of a huge collection of traditional and old time music from a bygone era, ever preserved in his many recordings. He was also vital to the development and maturation of the Grand Ole Opry and the country music industry. In 1966 he was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame. The Uncle Dave Macon Days music festival, held in Murfreesboro, Tennessee each July, still honors his memory. Even today, his recordings garner respectable sales, testimony to the fact that no one aided the transformation of the folk music of the nineteenth century into modern country music more than Uncle Dave Macon.

Published in 2014

Uncle Dave Macon

The Stoneman Family originated with Ernest V. “Pop” Stoneman who learned to play guitar, autoharp, banjo and harmonica. His fiddle-playing wife Hattie began performing with “Pop” in the 1920s. “Pop” and Hattie’s children grew up learning how to play various instruments and after World War II the Stoneman Family began entertaining together. They became a popular touring act and appeared on various network television shows in the early 1960s. From 1966 through 1968, the Stonemans hosted their own television series. In 1967, the Country Music Association voted the Stoneman Family the Vocal Group of the Year. All of the Stoneman children were excellent musicians and won awards and accolades throughout their lives.

Published in 2013

The Stoneman Family

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