Charlie Bowman - Early Life

Early Life

Bowman was born July 30, 1889, in Gray Station, Tennessee, a small community approximately 10 miles (16 km) west of Johnson City. He first learned to play banjo at the age of 12, and purchased his first fiddle for $4.50 shortly thereafter. According to family tradition, Bowman actually made his first recording on a neighbor's Edison cylinder phonograph in 1908. In his teen years, he and his brothers (who had each learned a different instrument) collected pocket change by playing at square dances and other local events around Washington County. Congressman B. Carroll Reece was one of several politicians to hire the Bowmans to play at political rallies in the early 1920s, and Reece remained a lifelong friend of the Bowman family.

In the early 1920s, a local businessman sponsored Bowman in the United Commercial Travelers' fiddle contest in nearby Johnson City. After placing second and collecting a $25 prize, Bowman, realizing he could make money by playing in fiddle contests, spent several months traveling back and forth to contests around the region. He captured first prize in an astonishing 28 out of the 32 contests he entered. At one point, when several people had become skeptical of Bowman's success, the judges were placed so they couldn't see who was playing, yet Bowman still placed first.