Biography
There exist performers whose stature rests upon the volume of their discography, allowing enthusiasts to debate endlessly which among many releases stands supreme. By contrast, the enigmatic Weems String Band issued just a single album for Columbia amid the company’s late-’20s program of hillbilly string-band sessions, yet devotees of the style frequently regard that lone effort as a pinnacle of the genre. What remains unexplained is how brothers Dick and Frank Weems acquired the uncommon skill of positioning their fiddles far up the neck, a practice rural old-time players seldom pursued; originating from the isolated reaches of Perry County, Tennessee—an area associated more with moonshine operations than with conductors such as Stokowski—the siblings nevertheless applied these refined methods to produce raw, traditional-sounding string-band music. Further distinguishing the group was the cello played by Jesse Weems, an instrument rarely heard in old-time string-band, bluegrass, or country contexts. Together the musicians forged a singular blend that set their work apart from other ensembles of the period, earning them an ardent following that admires in particular the group’s intricate and occasionally startling thematic variations, at times likened more to Indian classical traditions than to conventional string-band simplicity. The enterprise remained entirely familial: Alvin Condor, the banjoist, had wed one of the Weems sisters. When cartoonist Robert Crumb later depicted the Weems clan for a set of old-time string-band collector cards, two additional relatives appeared on guitar and banjo, although neither participated in the recordings. The band’s output later resurfaced on the County anthology Echoes of the Ozarks.