Tim Lewis
Musician Tim Lewis is a familiar face around Johnson County jam sessions. Lewis and his banjo have kicked off many an old-time or bluegrass song and kept the sound of our area’s traditional mountain music alive and well. His work with the Johnson County Center for the Arts after school Pathways Program and the Junior Appalachian Musicians (J.A.M.) is invaluable.
Growing up near Lansing, North Carolina, Lewis often traveled to Johnson County to visit with his mother’s family.“My mother was a Cornett from Ackerson Creek,”said Lewis.“I always loved to come to Mountain City to visit my grandparents and especially my great grandmother, Pearl Cornett, aka‘Granny.' Mountain City is such a beautiful, magical place. It’s my desire to live here someday.”
He got his start in music playing guitar but later fell in love with the banjo.“I have a relative, his name is also Tim Lewis, and he was the first one I’d ever seen play banjo. After that I was hooked,”said Lewis.“I’ve played banjo for 48 years and still love to hear its echoes in the wind.”
“I developed an interest in traditional music at an early age,”continued Lewis.“Some of my classmates played and inspired me to learn. I would look at the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, and I could feel the music playing in my soul. I thought of my ancestors and the music they played. I wanted to feel a connection and to experience the same things they did.
“I enjoy playing and listening to other instruments, but the banjo has always been special. I like listening to fiddle tunes, and learning the melodies on banjo. Besides banjo and guitar, I’ve learned bass fiddle out of necessity for when my friends need a bass player in an emergency situation. I received a dulcimer as a Christmas gift once, and I enjoy their sound as well,”Lewis added.
He is one of the instructors for the Johnson County Junior Appalachian Musicians program that teaches traditional music to school aged children. The program meets at the Center for the Arts in Mountain City and runs from late September until early April.“I started working with the Alleghany County North Carolina program J.A.M. in 2005,”said Lewis.“My wife Alison was a teacher at Piney Creek Elementary, Piney Creek, North Carolina, and at the time she was the program coordinator. We had around 30 students, and I enjoyed the program an awful lot.
“My favorite part of being a J.A.M. instructor is seeing all the kids with their instruments and their eagerness to learn. I really love it when a student learns a new song or a new fancy lick.”Lewis added,“JAM gives me the opportunity to pass along the music I’ve learned, which is my goal in life. I love it when everything comes together and all the students can sit in a circle and play as a group. I’m probably happier than they are.”
“I have been privileged to play on some of my friends’recordings,”said Lewis.“Including Wayne Henderson, Gerald Anderson, Big Country Bluegrass and Cabin Creek Bluegrass. I have played mountain music with many of Mountain City’s legendary musicians.”
You can hear Lewis and his banjo at the Johnson County Center for the Arts’Pickin’Porch which is held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of June, July and August. Also, he and some of his friends can be heard at the Lansing Cafe, Lansing, North Carolina, from time to time as well as area churches and random places during the summer.
