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| Carthy Sisco Lee Stripling Jim Ketterman Jim Evans Glenn Berry Harry Johnson Jeff Anderson Marilyn Scott Gil Kiesecker Floyd Engstrom Stuart Williams Vivian Williams Author: Brid NowlanPhotographer: Doug PlummerAbout the projectExhibit ScheduleWA State Old Time Fiddlers Association Home PageArchivesHome
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"Cotton was
king" around Maypearl, Texas, when Jim was born there in 1922. Jim’s father,
John, had been a good fiddler in his day, but left music behind when he married. When his
young son showed an interest in fiddling, John "Did everything to discourage it. He
said: ‘if you’re a good fiddler, good enough to play for the general public,
everybody’ll come up to you and they’ll want to give you a shot of whiskey or
they’ll want to fix you up with a date with a blonde or something.’ And he said,
‘neither one of them’s any good.’ He said, ‘I want you to be a good
farmer like me and an upright citizen.’" But Jim was determined and was given a fiddle by an older brother. On Sundays, he would walk fifteen miles to play with Howard Stookesberry, "an old Tennessee fiddler." Jim later formed a band that played for the high school dances and had a regular gig on the radio station in town. When he settled in Washington after the Second World War, Jim played on KVI radio, in Tacoma, and with local bands. He still plays with the exuberant, driving dance beat he learned as a child. For the past few years he has been teaching fiddle music to the band class at an Enumclaw elementary school.
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