The Stonemans

An Appalachian Family and the Music That Shaped Their Lives
Author: Ivan M. Tribe
One man and one family's unflagging determination to succeed in music
Paper – $39
978-0-252-06308-4
Publication Date
Paperback: 01/01/1993
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About the Book

The Stonemans is an eye-opening slice of Americana---a trip through nearly twenty years of country music history following a single family from their native Blue Ridge Mountains to the slums of Washington, D.C., and the glitter of Nashville. As early as 1924 Ernest V. "Pop" Stoneman realized the potential of what is now known as country music, and he tried to carve a career from it. Successful as a recording artist from 1925 through 1929, Stoneman foundered during the Great Depression. He, his wife, and their nine children went to Washington in 1932, struggling through a decade of hardship and working to revive the musical career Pop still believed in. The Stoneman Family won the Country Music Association's Vocal Group of the Year Award in 1967. After Pop's death a year later, some of the children scattered to pursue their own careers.

Ivan Tribe relies on extensive interviews with the Stonemans and their friends in this chronicle of a family whose members have clung to their musical heritage through good times and bad.

About the Author

Ivan M. Tribe is an emeritus professor of history at the University of Rio Grande, Ohio. He is the author of Mountaineer Jamboree: Country Music in West Virginia.

Reviews

"This is no rags-to-riches story. . . . That the Stonemans allowed their history to be presented so candidly is a testament to their integrity and respect for historical truth."--Norm Cohen, editor of the abridged edition of Vance Randolph's Ozark Folksongs

Awards

Winner of the ARSC Award for Excellence in Recorded Country Music, 1994.