Wade Mainer

"Maple on the Hill", which according to the National Endowment for the Arts was their biggest hit, had originally been composed in the 1890s by Gussie L. Davis.

Mainer was in his Brother J.E.'s band for two years, until he left for more traditional work, which at the time was far more profitable than his musical career.

Making only five dollars a week under sponsorship, Mainer found that he could earn up to three times as much working at a yarn mill, which he described as being "gold" for the era.

Wade Eckhart Mainer (April 21, 1907 – September 12, 2011) was an American country singer and banjoist.

With his band, the Sons of the Mountaineers, he is credited with bridging the gap between old-time mountain music and Bluegrass and is sometimes called the "Grandfather of Bluegrass".

In addition, he innovated a two-finger banjo fingerpicking style, which was a precursor to modern three-finger bluegrass styles.

Originally from North Carolina, Mainer's main influences came from the mountain music of his family.

Mainer was born near Weaverville, North Carolina, on a mountain farm in Buncombe County on April 21, 1907.

His family was poor during his childhood and they lived in a log cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Mainer credited his father who was, in Mainer's words, "a good singer – real stout voice", as of one of his influences.

During his career as a musical artist, Mainer would perform many of the old songs that he had heard from his father.

Mainer grew up listening to traditional mountain music and was largely influenced by his brother-in-law Roscoe Banks.

He first learned to play the banjo at square dances, where he would pick up instruments left by performers and practice on them.

After moving to Concord, North Carolina and working in a series of jobs at cotton mills, he became a part of his Brother J.E.'s band, known as J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers.

In a career that began in 1934 and spanned almost six decades, Mainer transitioned from being a member of his brother's band into the founder of his own ensemble, the Sons of the Mountaineers, with whom he performed until 1953, when he became more deeply involved with his Christianity and left the music industry.

After working at a General Motors factory and attending gospel revivals, Mainer was convinced that he should restart his career as a Christian gospel musician and began to tour with his wife in this capacity.

His entry into the band in 1934 marked the beginning of a nearly six-decade career in music.

J.E. played the fiddle while Wade performed on the banjo for the string band, and they played at fiddlers' conventions and other gatherings.

Mainer's first recordings came in 1934 and are compiled on Ragged But Right: 30's Country Bands.

Mainer performed with The Mountaineers on tracks such as "Maple on the Hill", "Seven and a Half" and "Johnson's Old Grey Mule".

Also included on the compilation are Mainer's later collaboration "Short Life and It's Trouble" with Zeke Morris, his solo effort "Riding on That Train 45" and a sample song "Mitchell Blues" from his band the Sons of the Mountaineers.

Throughout his career, he was noted for his unique and innovative two-finger banjo fingerpicking style, which some view as a precursor to three finger bluegrass banjo styles.

Mainer took jobs at local radio stations to increase the visibility of his relative's ensemble, recording classics such as "Take Me in the Lifeboat".

During this time, he appeared on many regional stations including WBT in Charlotte, WPTF in Raleigh, WNOX in Knoxville and WPAQ in Mount Airy.

Mainer performed in a series of live radio shows with The Mountaineers, sponsored by Crazy Water Crystals laxatives.

In 1934, J.W. Fincher, the head of the company, observed their popularity at the first gig, the Crazy Water Crystal Barn Dance, a radio program out of Charlotte.

Under the name J. E. Mainer's Crazy Mountaineers, they toured the American South on live radio shows and recorded fourteen songs for Bluebird Records.

She had performed from 1935 until 1937 at WSJS Radio in Winston-Salem.

Brown is considered to be a pioneering female musical artist and later joined Mainer during his performances.

From 1935 through 1941, Mainer recorded over 165 songs for the record label RCA Victor in various lineups, ranking him among the most prolifically recorded country music artists of that period.

After leaving his brother's group in 1936, he began to perform duet work with Zeke Morris, who was a bandmate from The Mountaineers.

After a time working on this project, Mainer left to form the short-lived "Smilin' Rangers" which later became "Sons of the Pioneers".

Zeke Morris then got together with his brother Wiley to form The Morris Brothers.

Mainer named this new band Sons of the Mountaineers.

Its initial lineup included Jay Hugh Hall and Clyde Moody as guitarists with Steve Ledford as a fiddler.

Among the musicians who would join the group later were Jack and Curly Shelton, Tiny Dodson, Red Rector and Fred Smith.

Mainer married Julia Mae Brown at the end of 1937, shortly after forming his own band.

Brown was a singer and guitarist popularly known at the time as Hillbilly Lilly.

The band got its start performing on the radio and recording songs for Bluebird Records and their first hit, entitled "Sparkling Blue Eyes" was recorded in 1939.

He continued to release albums until 1993.