Charlie Bowman

Charlie Bowman
Bowman circa 1926[1]
Bowman circa 1926[1]
Background information
Birth nameCharles Thomas Bowman
Also known as"Fiddlin' Charlie Bowman", "Fox Hunt Charlie"
BornJuly 30, 1889
Gray Station, Tennessee, USA.
DiedMay 20, 1962
GenresOld-time music
InstrumentFiddle
Years activec. 1920–1957
LabelsVocalion, Brunswick, Columbia
Formerly ofCharlie Bowman and His Brothers, the Hill Billies, Blue Ridge Ramblers, Blue Ridge Music Makers

Charles Thomas Bowman (July 30, 1889 – May 20, 1962) 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.[2] 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.[3]

  1. ^ "'Hill Billies' Capture WRC", Radio Digest, March 6, 1926, page 5.
  2. ^ Fiddlin' Charlie Bowman - Review Archived October 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved: 11 December 2008.
  3. ^ Bob Cox and James Bowman, "Charlie Bowman: East Tennessee Old-time Fiddler — A Biographical Sketch Archived 2009-02-07 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved: 11 December 2008.