Jim Shumate: Bluegrass Fiddler Supreme

They called him "Handsome'' Jim Shumate.  Writer Thomas Goldsmith called him the "Bluegrass Fiddler Supreme."  He's probably in his early 20s above.  The 1980 LP I have is actually titled, "Bluegrass Fiddler Supreme" and he's probably pushing 70.  Shumate is one of those names that keeps coming up in country music history. His story overlaps with Flatt and Scruggs and Bill Monroe and many others. So it's worth noting I have covered part of this story once before focusing on Flat and Scruggs. More here.

Shumates big break happened completely by chance. Bill Monroe heard him on the radio and later invited him to join his Blue Grass Boys to replace Howdy Forrester who had left the band to join the navy.  Shumate held that chair from 1943 through 1945. He returned to North Caolina and making furniture but also moonlighted with Dwight Barker and the Melody Boys on WSJS-TV. He also DJ'd a bit on WHKY.

In 1947 Flatt and Scruggs founded the Foggy Mountain boys and recruited Shumate to play with them. They started out on WDVA in Danville, VA.  They left for WHKY-AM that spring.  Later they added Mac Wiseman to the troupe and moved to WCYB-AM in Bristol, VA. Mac did double duty playing in the band and booking them gigs. There they were reputed to have sold 10,000 song books through the mail. They recorded a number of sides but disbanded not long afterward and Jim returned to selling furniture.

Shumate became musically active again in the 1980s recording with the with the Blue River Boys and in the 90s doing a Bill Monroe tribute album. In his life Shumate was honored with several awards:  the North Carolina Folk Heritage Award in 1995, his  induction into the in the Bluegrass Hall of Fame, and induction into the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame in 2011. He died in 2013 at the age of 91.

Flatt and Scruggs and Radio

Flatt and Scruggs were born Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. Those aren't stage names. They met as members of Bill Monroe's band, the Blue Grass Boys, in 1946. They stayed with Bill for two years before striking it out on their own as the Foggy Mountain Boys. The group was named for the Carter family tune "Foggy Mountain Top."
Their first home was on WDVA-AM in Danville, VA in 1948. They stayed less than three months and moved on to Earl's home state at WHKY-AM, in Hickory, North Carolina. They picked up Jim Shumate on fiddle and Mac Wiseman to sing. Wiseman was actually a DJ from WSVA-AM. As a 4-piece they joined the "Farm and Funtime" Program on WYCB-AM in Bristol, Tennessee. In four weeks they sold 10,000 song books through the mail. That scored them their first record deal. They stayed with Mercury Records and WYCB-AM for another 3 years.

The next stop was The Old Dominion Barn Dance on WRVA-AM in Richmond. the program was syndicated on CBS. It was after this in 1955 that The Grand Ol' Opry caved in and they were at last invited to appear. Bill Monroe didn't want them on, but the public pressure, and more specifically the pressure from sponsor Martha White Flour sealed the deal.

Scruggs has the longer radio resume of the two. Lester made his radio debut on WDBJ-AM in Roanoke, VA in 1939, and played with the Allied Kentuckians on WNOX-AM in Knoxville. And yes.. he even played on WSM-AM.. just not the Oprey.