A central figure whose work as a performer influenced two distinct regional genres, Bluegrass and Western Kentucky thumbpicking, was the coal miner and itinerant fiddler Arnold Shultz (1886-1931). His contributions to these two musical styles cannot be understated. A laborer by day and a musician by night, Shultz first learned guitar from his uncle while growing up in Ohio County, KY, and expanded his musical reach by adding fiddling to his instrumental repertoire in the 1920s. Schultz is one of the better-known examples of the central yet under-acknowledged role that black musicians played in the region’s musical landscape in the early twentieth century.
Schultz was known for playing dances from Kentucky to Mississippi and down through New Orleans. His own bluesy, soulful style was a significant influence on “The Father of Bluegrass” Bill Monroe, who grew up playing with his brothers on their home place near Rosine, and who also performed with Shultz for local events. The influence of Shultz , as well as that of Monroe’s fiddle-playing uncle Pen Vandiver, helped Monroe develop his own distinct style.