Posey Rorer

String band fiddler Posey Rorer entered the world on September 22, 1891, in Franklin County, Virginia. As brother-in-law to banjo player Charlie Poole, he remained central to the North Country Ramblers until 1928, at which point a dispute with Poole opened the fiddle chair for Lonnie William Austin. An in-demand session musician throughout Virginia, Rorer supported Kelly Harrell—whose ensemble bore the formal name Virginia String Band—and Walter "Kid" Smith across numerous 78s while also performing alongside Preston Young and Buster Carter in a group closely modeled on Poole’s own; the trio occasionally performed under the North Country Ramblers name, a source of irritation to Poole, whose increasingly unpredictable conduct rendered him a risky engagement. Posey Rorer died in March 1935.