Legendary bluegrass fiddler Jim Shumate has passed away at 91 years of age after battling kidney failure and Alzheimer’s disease. On October 8, 2013. Shumate was hospitalized after taking a serious fall, and was later transferred to Catawba Regional Hospice where he peacefully passed away around 1:00 a.m., near his home in Hickory, North Carolina.

Best known for his performances with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys from 1934-1945, Shumate proved to have a natural talent for fiddling that is still admired and studied by musicians today.

In 1995 Shumate was a recipient of a North Carolina Heritage award, which recognizes those artists who have mastered and embodied the North Carolina grassroots culture. The award is given to those who have learned from their family and friends and are now considered our living treasures.

Shumate was born on Chestnut Mountain in northern Wilkes County and was influenced by the sounds of his uncle playing the fiddle while he grew up. He was also inspired to learn bowing techniques by Arthur Smith, the Grand Ole Opry’s premier fiddler.

Bill Monroe heard Shumate playing on a local radio station called WHKY in Hickory when he was just a teenager. Monroe was in need of a fiddler at the time and thought Shumate would be the perfect guy for the job. Shumate performed with the Blue Grass Boys each Saturday night on the Grand Ole Opry and had a heavy impact on music groups across the country. Later on in 1948 Shumate played the fiddle on Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs’s first recording session for their own band called the Foggy Mountain Boys. That same year Shumate also won the National Fiddler’s Convention held in Richlands, VA.

Shumate proved to be a man of many talents. In his lifetime he also composed sacred songs, some of which are now sung regularly in churches in western North Carolina, and he worked in retail furniture sales after becoming tired of his life on the road.

Our Condolences to his family and friends.

— Christina Holden