Mount Airy in Surry County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Tommy Jarrell
Photographed by Sandra Hughes Tidwell, October 23, 2021
1. Tommy Jarrell Marker
Tommy Jarrell was a legendary old-time fiddler, banjo player, and singer from the Round Peak Region of Surry County, He began playing music at the age of seven. Jarrell became known as "The Master of round Peak Music" for his old fiddle style on the fiddle and his clawhammer-picking style on the banjo. In 1982 he was selected as one of fifteen master folk artists for the first national Heritage Fellowships of the National Endowment for the arts. His fiddle is now part of the Smithsonian Institution's Collections in Washington, D.C.
Erected 2018.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Entertainment.
Location. 36° 30.091′ N, 80° 36.521′ W. Marker is in Mount Airy, North Carolina, in Surry County. It is on West Oak Street west of North Main Street, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Mount Airy NC 27030, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in North Carolina’s Piedmont. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, in Appalachia, and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Fred Cockerham (here, next to this marker); The Whittling Wall (here, next to this marker); Ralph Epperson (here, next to this marker); Donna Fargo (here, next to this marker);
this page online
Also see . . . Tommy Jarrell. On the southern slope of Fishers Peak near the Round Peak community of Surry County, North Carolina, Thomas Jefferson Tommy Jarrell absorbed much of the music that later brought him national recognition. The son of Benjamin Franklin Jarrell and Susan Letisha Amburn, he grew up in a musically rich community and in a home known for good music, good stories, and good brandy. The sounds of his father, uncle, and older neighbors playing fiddles and banjos instructed him thoroughly in the instrumental styles and repertories that thrived in his region before 1925. (Submitted on November 6, 2021, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA.)
Photographed by Sandra Hughes Tidwell, October 23, 2021
2. Tommy Jarrell Marker
Photographed by Mark Parker, December 30, 2024
3. Wide view of Tommy Jarrell (left), Fred Cockerham & Ralph Epperson, and markers
Credits. This page was last revised on January 5, 2025. It was originally submitted on November 6, 2021, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. This page has been viewed 509 times since then and 36 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on November 6, 2021, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. 3. submitted on January 1, 2025, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
