Fiddlin' Powers & Family

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Cowan Powers and his Family Band was a Virginia string band from the 1920s, considered pioneers in early country music. They were the first family string band to make a commercial record (1924). The band consisted of Cowan Powers (Scott County, Virginia, October 3, 1879 - August 22, 1953) and his children, Charles, Orpha, Carrie and Ada. Cowan also played with his wife, Matilda, until her death in 1916. Record companies of the time were trying to get "old time" or "hill country" music to sell, and tried using professional musicians such as Vernon Dalhart to imitate the sound. When it became clear the customers wanted the "real thing" the companies sought musicians to travel from the south to the recording studios in New York and Chicago. The Powers family made records with Victor Talking Machine Company, Edison Records and Okeh Records. They recorded at least 26 songs, of which 15 were issued. Their recording of Old Joe Clark in 1924 was the third best selling album for that year. They performed live in "the Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and perhaps a dozen other states". They played dances. At the time of the Bristol Sessions they were performing live over the radio, WOPI in Bristol, Virginia, and were among the first country acts to do so. The daughters restarted the band in the 1970s, with Orpha's husband Eugene D. Ireson. Recording history: Victor 1924 The Powers family did a trial recording with Victor Recordings in New York City, August 8, 1924, reco

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