Ervin T. Rouse
Musician · 1917–1981 · Craven County, North Carolina
Best known for
Songwriter
Ervin T. Rouse was a North Carolina-born Florida-based fiddler and songwriter who wrote the bluegrass standard “Orange Blossom Special” (1938) — widely called the unofficial anthem of bluegrass — named for the Seaboard Air Line Railway’s New-York-to-Miami passenger train.
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- Born September 19, 1917, east of Fort Barnwell in Craven County, North Carolina.
- Left home at eight to play vaudeville theaters in New York with his brothers Gordon and Earl.
- Wrote “Orange Blossom Special” in 1938, inspired by the Seaboard Air Line Railway’s New-York-to-Miami passenger train, which he’d seen at the Jacksonville station.
- Ervin and his brother Gordon Rouse cut the first commercial version on Bluebird in 1939.
- Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys cut the tune in 1942, helping cement it as a bluegrass standard.
- Johnny Cash’s 1965 vocal recording reached the country Top 5 and introduced the song to a pop audience.
- Bought a house in Miami in 1938 and spent the back half of his life in the Florida Everglades.
- Died July 8, 1981.
