11 Facts About Ernest Stoneman

Ernest Van "Pop" Stoneman was an American musician, ranked among the prominent recording artists of country music's first commercial decade.

Ernest Stoneman became a singer and songwriter, and proficient musician on the guitar, autoharp, harmonica, clawhammer banjo, and jaw harp.

Ernest Stoneman worked at a variety of jobs, in mines, mills, but mostly carpentry, and played music for his own enjoyment and that of his neighbors, but when he heard a Henry Whitter record in 1924, he determined to better it and changed his life.

Ernest Stoneman went to New York City in September 1924 and cut two songs for the Okeh Records label.

In July and August 1927, Ernest Stoneman helped Peer conduct the Bristol sessions that led to the discovery of the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers.

Ernest Stoneman continued to be active in recording through 1929.

Between 1925 and 1929 Ernest Stoneman recorded more than 200 songs.

In 1941, Ernest Stoneman bought a lot in Carmody Hills, Maryland, where he built a shack for the family, and eventually obtained a more or less regular job at the Naval Gun Factory.

In 1947, the Ernest Stoneman Family won a talent contest at Constitution Hall that gave them six months' exposure on local television.

Ernest Stoneman appeared at the 2nd Annual UCLA Folk Music Festival in 1964.

Ernest Stoneman is interred in the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville.