Benton Flippen

about

James Benton Flippen (July 18, 1920 – June 28, 2011) was an old-time fiddler from Mount Airy, North Carolina. He was one of the last surviving members of a generation of performers born in the early 20th century playing in the Round Peak style centering on Surry County, North Carolina. Benton was the seventh of eight children. Benton recounts that he started playing the banjo in his early teens, and picked up the fiddle when he was about eighteen. He also played guitar from time to time, and his wife Lois recalls that he even sang the occasional song when they were courting. Benton Flippen is a one-time phenomenon. Ambling quietly forth from a musical family, he has taken the traditions around him and molded them into something unique to suit himself. Along the way, he's often astonished and delighted others. Being born and raised in Surry County, North Carolina didn't hurt. In this country, the home of celebrated old time musicians Fred Cockerham, Tommy Jarrell, Earnest East and Kyle Creed, musical signatures are very strong. Benton's is as strong as any in a place where individuality is taken for granted, even nurtured and approved, and powerful personalities abound. Old time fiddlers' conventions remain part of community life. Here, with very little listening experience, you can tell who's about to fiddle a tune as soon as a bow is drawn across the strings. Benton educated himself, in music as in most other things. He listened to a fiddling uncle who would come to visit

top songs

albums

Old Time, New Times

Fiddler's Dream

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270 Haystack Rd. (feat. The Smokey Valley Boys)

Old Time New Times

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We Are the Music Makers!

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Legends Of Old-Time Music:Fifty Years Of County Records

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Old Times New Times

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Fiddle Classics from the Vaults of County Records & Old Blue Records

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Old-Time Music on the Air: Volume 1

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The Best of WUNC's Back Porch Music - Volume 5

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Music Maker Treasure Box (disc 1)

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Beware Of Dog

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