Lonnie Robertson
Lonnie Robertson
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| Given name: | Lonnie |
| Middle name: | |
| Family name: | Robertson |
| Place of birth: | Longrun, southern Missouri |
| Place of death: | Springfield, Missouri |
| Year of birth: | 1908 |
| Year of death: | 1981 |
| Profile: | Composer, Musician |
| Source of information: | |
Biographical notes
LONNIE ROBERTSON (1908-1981) was born on January 8th 1908, and raised in Longrun, southern Missouri, about 10 miles from the Arkansas-Missouri line, in the Ozarks Mountains (it was his habit to play the fiddle tune "8th of January" on his birthday). His father Jarrett, was a fiddler, but died when Lonnie was 13. leaving Lonnie to learn and absorb repertoire from neighbors and friends. His first novice explorations on his inherited fiddle were in crosstuning, which made sense until he was surprised when he heard a stranger play in standard tuning at a local General Store. Particularly influential were Johnny Mashburn and Johnny Tabor, the former who played lead on his instrument, while Tabor seconded on the bass strings of his fiddle with rhythm and chords. In the 1930's Robertson teamed up with guitarist and singer Roy McGeorge and the two performed over KFEQ in St. Joseph, and later at stations in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska. They sang in the close harmony "brother" style popular at the time, playing mandolin and guitar and singing mostly western songs. Later the duo teamed up with banjo player Homer Davenport to become "The Boys from the Hills." In the early days of World War II he teamed up with his wife Thelma for a duet act, eventually calling their act "The Down Home Folks", including their little son, Jarrett in the act. In the 1960's Robertson, then living in Springfield, Mo., became interested in fiddling again, and began to play local square dances and write original tunes. Lonnie issued records on his own label, Caney Mountain Records, named for a glorified hill near his home town.