DeWitt “Snuffy” Jenkins (1908 to 1990) played three-finger banjo on the radio in the Carolinas in the 1930s, years before bluegrass had a name. His picking reached Earl Scruggs and Don Reno when they were boys. He led the Hired Hands with fiddler Homer “Pappy” Sherrill from 1948 until his death, more than 40 years.
Why Jenkins matters
Jenkins is the bridge between old-time string band banjo and Scruggs style. He picked with three fingers when most players frailed, and he did it on the radio, where young players could hear him. Earl Scruggs named him as a major influence, and Don Reno learned from him directly. His style is older and plainer than theirs, which makes it a clear window into where the bluegrass roll came from.
Life and career
Jenkins was born on October 27, 1908, in Harris, North Carolina, the last of ten children. He first plucked a fiddle like a banjo, then played guitar, then a homemade banjo he built with his brother Verl. He bought his first real banjo in 1927. Two local three-finger players, Smith Hammett and Rex Brooks, shaped his style.
In 1934 his Jenkins String Band played the Crazy Water Barn Dance on WBT in Charlotte. In 1936 he joined J.E. Mainer’s Mountaineers on WSPA in Spartanburg. The next year the band moved to WIS in Columbia, South Carolina, where announcer Byron Parker took it over as Byron Parker’s Hillbillies. Fiddler Homer Sherrill joined in 1939. The group did comedy and medicine show routines, and Parker gave Jenkins his nickname during a skit.
Parker died in 1948. Jenkins and Sherrill renamed the band the Hired Hands in his memory. In 1956 folklorist Mike Seeger recorded Jenkins for a Folkways album of three-finger banjo styles. The Hired Hands made their first group record for Folk-Lyric in 1962 and played folk and bluegrass festivals through the 1960s. Jenkins sold cars in South Carolina while he cut back on music. In 1979 the band staged an old medicine show in Bailey, North Carolina, which became the PBS program Free Show Tonight. They took the show to the Smithsonian and, in 1983, to New York.
Playing style
Jenkins picked with the thumb, index, and middle fingers, like Scruggs, but his rolls are simpler and closer to string band banjo. He played the melody plainly and kept time like a dance musician. His set pieces, Spanish Fandango, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, and a Dixie medley, show the three-finger style in its early form. He was also an entertainer. On stage he played comedy in baggy pants as much as he picked.
Influences and legacy
Jenkins learned from Smith Hammett and Rex Brooks, two Carolina banjo players. He did not teach Earl Scruggs, and he told Tony Trischka so in a 1984 interview. But Scruggs named him as a major influence, and Don Reno learned from his picking. The Snuffy Jenkins Festival in Rutherford County, North Carolina, honors him along with Hammett, Brooks, and Scruggs. Butch Robins has shared many of his late performances online.
Signature tunes and songs
Spanish Fandango Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star Dixie and There’s No Place Like Home Cumberland Gap.
Essential recordings
Three-finger banjo sides for a Folkways sampler, recorded by Mike Seeger (Folkways, 1956) Pioneer of the Bluegrass Banjo (Arhoolie)
Watch and listen
Jenkins and Pappy Sherrill play Cumberland Gap live at the Tennessee Banjo Institute. Listen to how plain and steady the roll is.
Here Jenkins talks about his roots in a 1984 film.
What to learn from Jenkins
Learn Cumberland Gap with a simple forward roll and the melody on the thumb and index finger. Do not dress it up. The technique to steal is his steadiness. Jenkins played for dancers and radio audiences, and his roll never rushes. Play along with his recording and match his pulse before you add any Scruggs licks.
Sources
Snuffy Jenkins, Wikipedia Snuffy Jenkins, BluegrassBios.com
Related players
See the banjo players hub and the bluegrass banjo guide for more pickers. Jenkins shaped the early playing of Earl Scruggs and Don Reno. Butch Robins has shared his late performances online.