Biography
A state spanning the breadth of Tennessee naturally inspires wandering, which explains the existence of multiple groups named the Tennessee Ramblers within old-time country alone. This account focuses on the East Tennessee iteration, whose late-1920s recordings sparked decades of strong regional success and a group lifespan exceeding the typical span. Distinct from the Bluebird-recording Tennessee Ramblers, this ensemble came to be identified among old-time enthusiasts as the Sievers Ramblers once the surname Sievers surfaced on a weathered 78 as a composer credit, revealing that the family outfit remained active around Knoxville fifty years after its initial discs. Patriarch William Sievers, later known as Fiddlin' Bill Sievers and born in 1875 near Oak Ridge, began performing in the 1920s with son James and daughter Willie, augmenting the lineup with cousin Walter McKinney on lap and pedal steel. McKinney’s expertise in Hawaiian music proved advantageous; after the family head’s death in 1955 the aloha approach dominated, prompting the new moniker Mack’s Novelty Hawaiians to separate them from the other Tennessee Ramblers who retained their allegiance to moonshine territory rather than kona coffee and macadamia nuts. Mack served as James’s nickname. Settling near his birthplace, Fiddlin’ Bill worked days as a barber and absorbed much of his old-time repertoire from the Kinser Brothers, a blues-and-ragtime outfit that played near the livery stables, as well as from fiddler Old Bill Jones. These traditions passed to the children—James, or Mack, born in 1904 in Clinton, and Willie, born there five years later—who recalled music-making relatives from their earliest memories. Cousin Walter first engaged Mack musically in 1913 with the tune “Jesse James” on a gourd banjo; Mack later drew banjo technique from Steve Cole of North Anderson County and from Arthur Giles’s distinctive three-finger-and-thumb approach. Willie initially pursued piano and received one formal lesson before the instructor dismissed her as a “by the ear” player; she then mastered guitar independently, securing numerous picking contests. The siblings moved from school performances to semi-professional work under their father’s guidance, already negotiating the pull between Hawaiian and old-time styles, the senior favoring the latter while the island sound nevertheless left its mark on the older tradition. Through the early 1930s the group toured widely across the North and as far south as Florida, including a banquet for industrialist Harvey Firestone and an open-air concert in St. Petersburg that drew thousands; they also appeared regularly on radio outlets nationwide. Guest and short-term collaborators included Charlie Bowman, who eventually managed the act, Frank Wilson—billed as “the world’s greatest comical Hawaiian guitarist” and a Vitaphone artist—who used the Sievers family as backup, and Georgia fiddler Earl Johnson, who joined for gigs and contests. Their most celebrated guest was the youngster billed as Junior Haines, small enough to require a stool, who later achieved fame as half of the comedy duo Homer and Jethro. Willie countered any notions that a child performer could not be followed by juggling her guitar and playing it with her feet. Recording began in 1928 for Brunswick and continued in 1930 on Vocalion; the debut Brunswick coupling was “Arkansas Traveler” backed with “Cackling Pullet.” Numerous sides from these and subsequent sessions remained unissued until nearly fifty years later and were released without the performers’ knowledge or consent, some apparently captured as unnoticed studio warm-ups. McKinney departed in 1931, adopted the name Sagebrush McKinney on the West Coast, appeared in western films alongside Ken Maynard, and stayed active in cowboy music until his death in 1960. Fiddlin’ Bill’s passing in 1954 prompted the decisive stylistic shift and name change, prompting some listeners to claim the younger Sievers had “got above their raising,” though Mack attempted to sustain the family’s dynamic fiddling tradition. During the 1970s the ensemble performed regularly at East Tennessee country fairs and luaus; Willie incorporated mainstream jazz elements while the veterans briefly explored rock before retirement.