The sound quality varies tremendously on and among the tapes. On some the quality is surprisingly good given they were made with very inexpensive monophonic tape recorder(s) and low quality microphone(s). On many tapes the recording quality is poor, usually because the source was too loud for the microphone and/or tape maximum sound level. On some tapes the tape mechanism was constantly sticking during the recording, making those recordings almost unusable.
Jim 'Ike' Bryner was born 1905 in Dunbar? (Fayette County), Pennsylvania. His family roots
are closely entwined with the history of this area (he did some genealogy research on his
family that his daughter Norma may have somewhere). He was married to Thelma Smitley?
in 19??. They had three children, Norma (now Norma Newcomer), Richard and Fred.
(*Someone please add a short biography of Jim and correct anything above.*)
Jim was an 'Old-Time' fiddler, playing with an old Southwestern Pennsylvania style that was common in the region around Dunbar, Pennsylvania where he grew up and lived. Jim's grandfather, father and older brother Louis Elliot "Sheepy", all played the fiddle. He says his mother's uncle (Uncle Jim) who lived nearby also played the fiddle 'and was very good'. He grew up hearing the old mountain songs and tunes that people sang, hummed, whistled and played on the fiddle and banjo. Jim wasn't really serious about playing the fiddle until later in life, some time after his older brother Sheepy died (around 1960?). Apparently, Sheepy was an excellent fiddle player, so much so, that Jim didn't play the fiddle very much while Sheepy was alive. Jim played a number of songs that he said he learned from Sheepy in a dream sometime after he had died.
Jim's style seems not to show much of the influences that changed the styles of many fiddlers
of his day. His repertoire included many old songs from the area where he grew up and lived.
Jim's style and repertoire may constitute a good representation of very old Southwestern
Pennsylvania fiddle music. In fact, Jim was one of the many sources for songs in Samuel
Bayard's collection of instrumental folk tunes of Pennsylvania. It's interesting to note that
in an earlier book of Samuel Bayard's, "Hill Country Tunes", there is specific mention of
"The Dunbar Tradition" where Bayard describes that area of Southwestern Pennsylvania as
being particularly rich in traditional music and song. Bayard mentions the large numbers of
musical families in that area and the "Bryners" are among some of them specifically named.
There are a couple of Bryner families in that area so it's unclear if this specifically Jim's
family.
(*I just started playing the fiddle and don't know a lot about the styles, correct me if any of
the above seems incorrect.*)
Jim was the source of over dozen songs (or versions of songs) that appear in Samuel P. Bayard's book "Dance to the Fiddle, March to the Fife - Instrumental Folk Tunes in Pennsylvania" published by the Pennsylvania State University Press. Songs were collected from Jim in 1946 by Samuel Bayard and again in 1960 jointly by Samuel Bayard and Phil Rowland Jack. Starting in 1948 the collection process included recording the musicians so the 1960 collection of Jim's songs should have been recorded on tape and may still exist somewhere.
Jim and some of his friends were the center piece of a short Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) show entitled "People Just Don't Whistle No More" (by WQED from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). This show was about an aspect of the musical heritage of Southwestern Pennsylvania, in particular the old mountain fiddlers, fiddling and songs in that area. Much of the show was filmed at Jim and Thelma's home in Dunbar, Pennsylvania in August of 1974.
A two hour video recording of Jim playing the fiddle together with his long time friend Jonah
"Doan" Hughes was made by Dave Krysty October 5, 1986 at Jim and Thelma's home in
Dunbar, Pennsylvania (a smaller house they moved into sometime after the PBS show was
filmed). Dave Krysty spent many months earlier that year visiting Jim to learn Jim's style
of fiddle playing. The video tape starts with Jim, Jonah and Dave playing the fiddle for about
five songs. The rest of the video has Jim and Jonah playing more songs and talking about the
songs, the musicians and of earlier days in the mountains. A copy of this video recording can
be found at the ????????? Historical Society in ??????????, Pennsylvania(?).
(*Dave, please correct any of the above, feel free to change/add/delete anything you want
to*).
Jim was a co-founding member of the "Old-Time Fiddlers Association of Southwestern
Pennsylvania" located in ???????.
(*Anyone, please correct me if anything above is incorrect. Also, feel free to add any
references to his fiddle playing, experiences and style.*)
Jim Bryner and my grandfather, John Raymond Mort were close friends. John came to the Dunbar area to work in the Quarries in 1931, married Wava Bell Bloom and remained, the Bryner/Mort connection begins at that time. Both Jim and John were involved in the Quarry and Glass industry, they shared many interests, particularly hunting and soon became very close friends. Their wives Thelma and Wava also became good friends, sharing a strong connection in the Franklin Memorial Methodist Church (they especially liked Pastor J.D. Schrencengost). In the late 1940's, Jim was General Superintendent of the Dunbar Corporation, Semet Solvay Corporation, and John was the Assistant Superintendent. When the Sand Mill, Dunbar Corporation closed Sept. 30. 1954, Jim and John partnered in the purchase of the holdings and dismantled and sold the remaining assets and property. When John and Wava moved, to Byron, Illinois in 1962, the miles of distance did not hamper the friendship of the two families. The "Jim 'Ike' to Johnny and Wava Tapes" are perhaps the most tangible evidence of their distant relationship. Over the next seventeen years, their friendship continued, John and Wava would make perhaps a single, but well cherished trip each year, back to Dunbar to visit family and friends. In 1980, John and Wava moved to Salt Point, New York, to be near to their only son (also John Raymond Mort). The Bryner/Mort friendship continued as did John and Wava's annual trips back to Dunbar. Wava died in early 1989 and John died soon after in that same year. Neither Jim or Thelma could travel to New York for either funeral, however both were deeply saddened by the end of their long and close friendships.
It was in May of 1989, that my grandfather died tragically at the age of eighty-two, when his home caught fire and burned. The house burned completely to the ground and we (my father and brothers) sifted thru the ashes to find anything that we could salvage to remember our grandparents. Among the dozen or so items found was a small wooden index card box that contained a number of cassette tapes my grandparents enjoyed listening to. Most of the tapes were made by Jim Bryner for my grandparents. We played one of Jim's tapes at the funeral service and viewing of my grandfather as a farewell from Jim to his old and dear friend 'Johnny'.
Realizing I had the tapes Jim made for my grandparents prompted me begin moving them onto CD so I could learn to play the fiddle from them. I have now begun to learn the songs from Jim's tapes. Perhaps some day, these old mountain songs will be heard 'live' here in New York City, played in the Western Pennsylvania style of Jim 'Ike' Bryner.
August 21, 2001
Kenneth R. Mort
551 Fourth Street
Brooklyn, New York 11215
USA
Last Edited on 04/29/2002