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Marion Sumner, who earned the title "Fiddle King of the South," died on August 17th 1997.  He was raised on George's Branch, above Vicco in Perry County.  His years on the road with Opry stars Johnny and Jack, Kitty Wells, Roy Acuff, Jim and Jesse, and Don Gibson made him a legend among fellow musicians.

Marion Sumner's influence as a fiddler upon others of his generation was notable, particularly on Kenny Baker, who won wide acclaim as a sideman for Bill Monroe over a long period. Although born in sunny Florida, Marion Sumner moved with his parents back to their Kentucky mountain homeland in 1921.  His extended family contained numerous musicians and young Marion became something of a child prodigy. At age 10, he was especially captivated by the fiddling of the Grand Ole Opry’s Arthur Smith. At 16, Marion took his first radio job with the Haley Brothers at WCPO Cincinnati, Ohio. After winning a fiddle contest during the 1937 Black Gold Festival in Hazard, he gained the attention of Cousin Emmy and joined her group where he performed for several years.  During WWII, Sumner worked briefly for Molly O’Day and Lynn Davis, and then with Eddie Hill and Johnny Wright (replacing Paul Warren, who was in the service). In the post-war period, Marion worked as a sideman with many bands on WKIC in Hazard.  He later joined Don Gibson and Chet Atkins in Knoxville and Esco Hankins in Lexington. Marion spent briefer periods with Cowboy Copas, the York Brothers, Preston Ward, Archie Campbell and the then youthful duo of Jim & Jesse. Sumner also fiddled extensively on the night club circuits in Cincinnati, Columbus and Knoxville. Somewhat surprisingly, he recorded but sparingly in his wide travels, doing a session with Preston Ward for King Records in 1947 and no more than two with Don Gibson. Marion got off the road in 1965. For a time he worked in a band called the Payroll Boys, but mostly just honed his skills. In 1979, he cut a well-received album for June Appal. In the mid-80’s, he waxed two more albums, both with the assistance of Jesse McReynolds, who always held Marion’s fiddling in high regard. Before his death in 1997, Sumner lived in retirement in Isom, Kentucky in Letcher County.