J. E. Mainer

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J. E. Mainer (July 20, 1898 – June 12, 1971) was an American old-time fiddler from Weaverville, North Carolina. He grew up on a mountain farm and learned fiddle and banjo, choosing to focus on the fiddle. He played at local barn dances and worked in textile mills in Knoxville, Tennessee, and later in Concord, North Carolina, where he moved in 1922. His music gained fans, and in 1933 Crazy Water Crystals sponsored his band, J. E. Mainer and his Crazy Mountaineers, with his brother Wade on banjo and Zeke Morris on guitar. They started a radio show in Charlotte and soon appeared on other stations. In 1935 they signed with Bluebird Records and recorded with Daddy John Love. The band went through several lineup changes in the following years. The Mountaineers broke up at the start of World War II, but Mainer continued recording in the late 1940s with his sons Glenn and Curly for King Records. Between 1967 and 1971, many post‑war recordings were released on Rural Rhythm Records. J. E. Mainer was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2012.