Walter McNew Collection

Walter McNew (1912 - 1998) inherited his knowledge of, and love for, shape note singing from his father, John G. McNew who was a fiddler, singing school teacher, and telegraph operator for the L&N Railroad in Rockcastle and Madison counties of Kentucky. The earliest of his recordings were made by Walter and his siblings on reel-to-reel tape. These recordings document both Walter alone and as part of a family gospel quartet with siblings, Astor, Homer, and Bernice (Branaman). The solo recordings, made by Walter in the early 1970s, are of his old-time fiddling and shape note hymns using a homemade system of "overdubbing" which allowed him to record his voice in two or three harmonizing parts. For fiddle instrumental pieces, he used this system to accompany himself on the guitar. Much of his fiddle repertoire came from the playing of his father and Madison County fiddlers, Doc Roberts and Van Kidwell. Other likely influences are musicians he played with while in the Civilian Conservation Corps, in various fiddle contests, and on stage and radio at the nearby Renfro Valley county music enterprise. The quartet recordings, made in the early 1960s were made mostly in the Wilde Christian church, both with and without organ accompaniment. Some of these recordings were used on "The Lifeline Hour" radio program conducted by Rev. Homer McNew on station WRVK in Renfro Valley, Kentucky.