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The Stoneman Family

Band · Active 1924–2000 · Galax, Virginia — Washington, D.C. — Nashville
Old-Time (Traditional) Gospel

The Stoneman Family is the longest continuously-active act in country music history, per the Country Music Association — a multigenerational dynasty that began in 1924 when Galax, Virginia carpenter Ernest V. “Pop” Stoneman traveled to New York to record for Okeh, and extends into the 2020s through the ongoing work of his daughters Donna and Roni. Between those bookends lies a century of hillbilly 78s, DC bluegrass, MGM and RCA country, CMA awards, Hee Haw comedy, and bluegrass festival tours.

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  • Ernest V. “Pop” Stoneman (b. May 25, 1893, Monarat/Carroll County, Virginia — d. June 14, 1968) cut his debut Okeh session in September 1924. “Sinking of the Titanic” (1925) reportedly sold over two million copies.
  • Pop helped Ralph Peer organize the legendary 1927 Bristol sessions that discovered the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers — making him arguably the Unsung Father of commercial country music.
  • Married Hattie Frost in November 1918. Together they had 23 children, 13 of whom survived to adulthood.
  • Great Depression wiped out the music income. Family moved to Washington, D.C. area around 1932 — “prayers and pinto beans” sustained them through the 1930s.
  • Pop worked at the U.S. Naval Gun Factory during WWII. Family won a 1947 Constitution Hall talent contest leading to 62 weeks on Connie B. Gay's DC television.
  • 1956: Pop won $10,000 on NBC's The Big Surprise (hosted by future newscaster Mike Wallace). Same year, the Bluegrass Champs (Scotty, Donna, and Jimmy Stoneman with Jimmy Case and Porter Church) won Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts with “Salty Dog Blues.” Mike Seeger recorded Pop and Hattie for Folkways.
  • Starday albums 1962–1963; World Pacific 1964 (after moving to California). Signed with MGM in late 1965 and launched the syndicated TV show Those Stonemans (1966–1972).
  • Named CMA Vocal Group of the Year in 1967 — one of only two bluegrass-oriented acts to win that award (Osborne Brothers 1971 being the other).
  • Scotty Stoneman (Calvin Scott, 1932–1973) became a legendary bluegrass fiddler, winning multiple national contests and briefly joining the Kentucky Colonels. Donna LaVerne Stoneman (b. 1934) was one of the first women to play bluegrass mandolin on a record. Patsy (Pattie Inez, 1925–2015) was the autoharp-playing matriarch who held the family together post-Pop.
  • Roni Stoneman (Veronica Loretta, 1938–2024) joined Hee Haw in 1973 as banjo player and comedic character Ida Nagger, remaining on the show for roughly 19 years (through 1991–92).
  • Pop was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008. Patsy, Donna, and Roni were inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame as the Stoneman Family.
  • Jimmy (Oscar James, 1937–2002) played bass; Van Haden (1940–1995) played guitar. Recordings continue through Donna and Roni into the 2020s.

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