Violet Hensley, 1916 – 2026

Arkansas-born “whittlin’ fidder” Violet Hensley died on Aug. 7 at the utterly ridiculous age of 109. She was the daughter of George Washington (ha—not that one; another Arkansas musician), and eventually took up both playing and carving her own fiddles (which made her a “luthier”—you learn something new every day!). A 1970 National Geographic article on her put Hensley on the map, and she eventually recorded three albums. She turned up on TV in The Art Linkletter Show, Captain Kangaroo, The Bob Braun Show, and Live with Regis and Kathie Lee; her Wikipedia bio says that she appeared in the “Silver Dollar City Fair” episode of The Beverly Hillbillies, but you couldn’t prove it by me. Peter Herschend, of Herschend Family Entertainment, said, “I came to know Violet for the amazing wonderful woman that she is. She would amaze us with stories of field plowing with her mules. Then a new Violet would seem to appear when she would sit for an interview with some grizzled reporter (reporters who probably didn’t believe she was real), and she would proceed to win them over with her charm, her skills as an artist, and her talent as a musician.”

Playing “Rose Nell” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EISB4a5jQ4c&list=RDEISB4a5jQ4c&start_radio=1