Biography
The lineage of this classic American old-time music ensemble reaches back to James Menge, who established himself in James City County, VA, during 1650. Within the following century the family had extended into North and South Carolina, where the surname was altered to Ming. A descendant named Charles Ming relocated to Mississippi in the 1840s; his son Clough later moved to Choctaw County and became the father of Hoyt Ming, born October 6, 1902.
More than half the household’s children took up instruments. At fifteen Hoyt Ming was drawn to the fiddle after his father hosted a string band at a house party; he mastered it by ear on pieces such as “Shortnin’ Bread.” The resulting Ming Family Band performed locally with its customary fiddle-guitar-mandolin configuration. Early in 1928 Victor talent scout Ralph Peer arrived in Tupelo to hold auditions, news that reached Hoyt while he examined Victrolas in a drugstore. Hoyt was then performing chiefly with his wife Rozelle and her sister; when the sister-in-law proved unavailable, brother Troy substituted on mandolin. Peer was sufficiently impressed to invite the trio to Memphis for a session that produced the enduring recording “Indian War Whoop.” Combined with the family name, the track fostered the notion that the musicians were Native American, thereby enlarging their mythic following. Old-time enthusiasts continue to cite the performance for its vigorous hollering and authentic fiddling, as Hoyt Ming punctuates phrase endings with shouts. Similar war-whoop insertions were once common among regional fiddlers, each player employing a personal variant.
Producer Peer was equally taken with Rozelle’s foot tapping and directed her to stomp as loudly as possible during takes, reversing the usual practice of dampening or removing footwear. Rozelle disliked the resulting sound, yet it supplied the group’s eventual name—the Pep Steppers—because the rhythm conveyed an energetic stepping quality. Peer also renamed several pieces and listed Hoyt as Floyd Ming on the label. One substitution proved consequential decades later: he retitled “Florida Blues” after his own city, yielding “Tupelo Blues.”
Work for the ensemble at the time consisted of fairs, picnics, fiddle contests, political rallies, and occasional dances. Domestic responsibilities curtailed professional travel, although the musicians stayed active in the regional scene through the 1930s. Hoyt Ming’s primary occupation was potato farming, at which he and Rozelle succeeded through diligence; they once counted and bundled 30,000 plants in a single day. Musical activity gradually diminished. By 1957 Hoyt’s fiddle had deteriorated and the couple regarded their performing days as over. For the next two decades the sole available Ming recording remained the reissued “Indian War Whoop” on a Folkways anthology, part of the scant documentation of Mississippi old-time music. In 1972 County Records producer David Freeman began tracing the family by following the title “Tupelo Blues,” an inquiry that led to their rediscovery; had Peer retained the original song title, Freeman would likely still have been searching for the Pep Steppers in Florida.
Around the same period Hoyt Ming uncovered an old photograph of the group. Days later a letter arrived from Freeman requesting information about the band’s early recordings, an event Hoyt viewed as significant because it occurred exactly fifteen years after his retirement from the fiddle and forty-five years after the Memphis session. That summer Freeman visited the Mings with musicologists Richard Nevins and Gus Meade. Finding the couple in good health, the visitors arranged an appearance at the 1973 National Folk Festival. A new album was recorded for Homestead with Hoyt Ming Jr. on guitar. In 1974 the Mings represented Mississippi at the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife and performed at the Mississippi Folk Voices concert in Jackson. Shortly afterward they appeared in the film Ode to Billie Joe.
The couple valued the opportunity for a late-life second career and maintained a band with the assistance of younger musicians. Eventually advancing age prompted Hoyt and Rozelle Ming to set aside their instruments for good.
More than half the household’s children took up instruments. At fifteen Hoyt Ming was drawn to the fiddle after his father hosted a string band at a house party; he mastered it by ear on pieces such as “Shortnin’ Bread.” The resulting Ming Family Band performed locally with its customary fiddle-guitar-mandolin configuration. Early in 1928 Victor talent scout Ralph Peer arrived in Tupelo to hold auditions, news that reached Hoyt while he examined Victrolas in a drugstore. Hoyt was then performing chiefly with his wife Rozelle and her sister; when the sister-in-law proved unavailable, brother Troy substituted on mandolin. Peer was sufficiently impressed to invite the trio to Memphis for a session that produced the enduring recording “Indian War Whoop.” Combined with the family name, the track fostered the notion that the musicians were Native American, thereby enlarging their mythic following. Old-time enthusiasts continue to cite the performance for its vigorous hollering and authentic fiddling, as Hoyt Ming punctuates phrase endings with shouts. Similar war-whoop insertions were once common among regional fiddlers, each player employing a personal variant.
Producer Peer was equally taken with Rozelle’s foot tapping and directed her to stomp as loudly as possible during takes, reversing the usual practice of dampening or removing footwear. Rozelle disliked the resulting sound, yet it supplied the group’s eventual name—the Pep Steppers—because the rhythm conveyed an energetic stepping quality. Peer also renamed several pieces and listed Hoyt as Floyd Ming on the label. One substitution proved consequential decades later: he retitled “Florida Blues” after his own city, yielding “Tupelo Blues.”
Work for the ensemble at the time consisted of fairs, picnics, fiddle contests, political rallies, and occasional dances. Domestic responsibilities curtailed professional travel, although the musicians stayed active in the regional scene through the 1930s. Hoyt Ming’s primary occupation was potato farming, at which he and Rozelle succeeded through diligence; they once counted and bundled 30,000 plants in a single day. Musical activity gradually diminished. By 1957 Hoyt’s fiddle had deteriorated and the couple regarded their performing days as over. For the next two decades the sole available Ming recording remained the reissued “Indian War Whoop” on a Folkways anthology, part of the scant documentation of Mississippi old-time music. In 1972 County Records producer David Freeman began tracing the family by following the title “Tupelo Blues,” an inquiry that led to their rediscovery; had Peer retained the original song title, Freeman would likely still have been searching for the Pep Steppers in Florida.
Around the same period Hoyt Ming uncovered an old photograph of the group. Days later a letter arrived from Freeman requesting information about the band’s early recordings, an event Hoyt viewed as significant because it occurred exactly fifteen years after his retirement from the fiddle and forty-five years after the Memphis session. That summer Freeman visited the Mings with musicologists Richard Nevins and Gus Meade. Finding the couple in good health, the visitors arranged an appearance at the 1973 National Folk Festival. A new album was recorded for Homestead with Hoyt Ming Jr. on guitar. In 1974 the Mings represented Mississippi at the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife and performed at the Mississippi Folk Voices concert in Jackson. Shortly afterward they appeared in the film Ode to Billie Joe.
The couple valued the opportunity for a late-life second career and maintained a band with the assistance of younger musicians. Eventually advancing age prompted Hoyt and Rozelle Ming to set aside their instruments for good.