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What’s up Sorry State readers? I hope everyone is having a nice week. This coming Friday, I’ll be departing for a road trip that spans from the mountains of North Carolina to the muddy banks of the Mississippi in Memphis while catching some Billy Strings shows along the way. It’ll all be capped off with a Sunday night performance at The Ryman in Nashville, which I’m still in disbelief that I actually have tickets for. Since I’ll be making the voyage to the Mother Church, I thought it would be fitting that this week I write about the Father of Country Music, Mr. Jimmie Rodgers. Jimmie is known for his yodeling, which understandably, might not be everyone’s cup of tea. I remember the first time I heard yodeling was when I was in elementary school in Nashville. We had a school assembly to watch this girl perform who was on America’s Got Talent or some similar TV show for yodeling. Obviously America did not select this yodeling little girl to be their new champion, but that didn’t stop Walnut Grove Elementary from booking her. I remember hearing it and thinking it sounded pretty funny, but also kinda intriguing? Fast forward 15+ years and I still feel the same way. It does sound kinda funny but also nice. It’s a very natural thing and pretty much anyone can yodel, but to convey some sort of emotion with it is where the talent steps in. Jimmie’s yodel is a very high, lonesome sound, almost like a coyote howl. The man had a short and tough life, so it’s no wonder these blues were flowing through him. He was working as a brakeman for the railroad when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1924 and by 1927, had to stop working due to his declining health. Following medical advice that stated he should live somewhere high and dry to ease his symptoms, he moved his family to Asheville, North Carolina. This led to him focusing more on his recording career and his time working on the railroad was very influential to his sound and the subject matter of his music. He continued his musical career until his untimely death in 1933 at the age of 35. The amount of timeless music he recorded in this short time is staggering and continues to influence country, folk and bluegrass artists even today. His presence even remains in pop culture. The movie O Brother Where Art Thou features the main characters, The Soggy Bottom Boys, performing a version of his song In the Jailhouse Now. This record is a compilation of some of his more popular tunes, my favorites being My Rough and Rowdy Ways and Peach Picking Time in Georgia, both songs Doc Watson would commonly cover (and now Billy as well.) Who knows, maybe I’ll have a real full circle life moment and get to hear Billy do some yodeling down at the Ryman in Nashville. Either way, I’m looking forward to traveling through the great states of North Carolina and Tennessee and hearing the music the land had such a huge part in developing.