Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 9.02 Music
Presentation #1 Title
A Mountain Man and his Music: How growing up in Appalachia shaped fiddler Jim Shumate
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Pioneering fiddler Jim Shumate grew up in Wilkes County, NC and performed with the top names in early bluegrass history. However, historical and cultural influences led him to choose a life in the furniture business over a music career on the road. Jim Shumate was a talented, self-taught musician from Wilkes County, NC who had the opportunity to tour with some of the top names in bluegrass during the 1940s such as Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, and the Stanley Brothers. He played a key role in bluegrass history by introducing 3-finger style banjo player Earl Scruggs to Bill Monroe, which synthesized the creation of a genre. Jim is also credited with inventing the fiddle kick-off to singing songs and is recognized for his quintessential solos on the first Flatt & Scruggs Mercury recordings. Jim’s life is significant both from a musical and cultural perspective, as it is a shared story of many young people of the 1920s and 1930s in Appalachia, who grew up on family farms and then migrated to urban areas to find employment. Jim was born in 1921 and raised on a subsistence farm in Wilkes County, North Carolina. Despite Jim’s important role as a bluegrass pioneer, in the long run he chose to settle in Hickory, NC, raise a family, and work in the furniture business. This paper will examine how his musical decisions were influenced by the economic, social and cultural context in Appalachia during the first half of the twentieth century.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Natalya Weinstein Miller is currently a graduate student at Appalachian State University in the Appalachian Studies program and her research focus is on the development of early bluegrass. She is a professional musician and fiddles and sings with her husband, John Cloyd Miller, in their traditional duet, Zoe & Cloyd, as well as in the acclaimed acoustic Americana trio, Red June.
A Mountain Man and his Music: How growing up in Appalachia shaped fiddler Jim Shumate
Pioneering fiddler Jim Shumate grew up in Wilkes County, NC and performed with the top names in early bluegrass history. However, historical and cultural influences led him to choose a life in the furniture business over a music career on the road. Jim Shumate was a talented, self-taught musician from Wilkes County, NC who had the opportunity to tour with some of the top names in bluegrass during the 1940s such as Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, and the Stanley Brothers. He played a key role in bluegrass history by introducing 3-finger style banjo player Earl Scruggs to Bill Monroe, which synthesized the creation of a genre. Jim is also credited with inventing the fiddle kick-off to singing songs and is recognized for his quintessential solos on the first Flatt & Scruggs Mercury recordings. Jim’s life is significant both from a musical and cultural perspective, as it is a shared story of many young people of the 1920s and 1930s in Appalachia, who grew up on family farms and then migrated to urban areas to find employment. Jim was born in 1921 and raised on a subsistence farm in Wilkes County, North Carolina. Despite Jim’s important role as a bluegrass pioneer, in the long run he chose to settle in Hickory, NC, raise a family, and work in the furniture business. This paper will examine how his musical decisions were influenced by the economic, social and cultural context in Appalachia during the first half of the twentieth century.
