Lester McCumbers (August 15, 1921 – January 26, 2015) was an American old-time fiddler from Nicut, West Virginia. His students included Erynn Marshall and

Jake Krack Jake Krack (born 1984) son of Reed and Dara Krack, is a prominent young old-time fiddler and fiddle teacher from Nicut in the U.S. state of West Virginia. He began fiddling at age six

. He also made fiddles, sometimes using local woods. He utilized the "pancake grip" when holding his fiddle; that is, he rested the fiddle against his chest rather than under his chin, with the palm of his hand flat against the bottom of the fiddle's neck. In December 1937, at the age of 16, McCumbers married the singer Malinda (known as Linda) McCumbers, with whom he performed for many decades. They had nine children together, some of whom are also musicians. Their son Roger, who played banjo, died in 1998 at age 43. McCumbers often performed with his wife and children, as well as the banjo player Kim Johnson, who lived near him. He was a frequent visitor to the

Appalachian String Band Music Festival The Appalachian String Band Music Festival (often referred to simply as "Clifftop") is a weeklong gathering of thousands of string band musicians and their friends from across the country and around the world, who each year since 1990 have assembl ...

Clifftop, Fayette County, West Virginia Clifftop is an unincorporated community in Fayette County, West Virginia, United States. Attractions It is the home of historic Camp Washington-Carver Complex, which hosts the Appalachian String Band Music Festival the first weekend in August. ...

, where he won first prize in the fiddle competition for his age group. McCumbers was featured in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' in 1999.

Films

*''That Old-Time Sound: Old-Time Music and Old-Time Ways of Central West Virginia''

References

External links

* featuring Lester McCumbers
Lester McCumbers page
1921 births Appalachian old-time fiddlers People from Calhoun County, West Virginia 2015 deaths Musicians from West Virginia 20th-century American violinists {{US-violinist-stub