Ernest V. Stoneman

Ernest V. Stoneman was a pioneering figure in early country music and a key contributor to the genre's development in the 1920s. Born in 1893 in the Appalachian region of Virginia, Stoneman was a self-taught musician who played guitar, harmonica, and autoharp. His early recordings, like “The Sinking of the Titanic,” captured the raw spirit and storytelling tradition of rural America. Stoneman was one of the first artists to bring mountain music into the recording studio, and his prolific output helped lay the groundwork for the emergence of country music as a popular genre.

In 1927, Stoneman played a critical behind-the-scenes role in organizing the Bristol Sessions—often called the “Big Bang of Country Music”—where acts like the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers were first recorded. Though his own career saw ups and downs during the Great Depression, Stoneman later returned to the spotlight in the 1950s and ’60s when he reassembled his musical family as The Stoneman Family band. His legacy lives on as one of the genre’s foundational artists.

Genres