Born in 1898 near Weaverville, North Carolina, J.E. Mainer gave up the banjo so his brother Wade could have it, took up the fiddle instead, and rode that compromise through textile mills in Knoxville and Concord, laxative-sponsored radio, the chaotic gig economy of the 1930s, and a late-life recording marathon. Between ages 69 and 72 he cut hundreds of tracks for Rural Rhythm Records, building an archive of pre-war mountain music while the Beatles and the Nashville sound dominated the culture.

This episode explains how mill towns acted as cultural funnels that created the first commercial market for string band music, how Crazy Water Crystals put J.E. Mainer and His Crazy Mountaineers on powerhouse station WBT in Charlotte, and how the 1935 Bluebird session in Atlanta produced Maple on the Hill and Ship Sailing Now. It also untangles the re ...