Lester McCumbers

{{Short description|American musician (1921–2015)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Lester McCumbers

| image = Lestermccumbers.jpg

| caption = McCumbers in 2009

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| birth_date = {{birth date|1921|8|15|df=y}}

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| death_date = {{Death date and age|2015|01|26|1921|8|15}}

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| occupation = Fiddler

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}}

Lester McCumbers (August 15, 1921 – January 26, 2015) was an American old-time fiddler from Nicut, West Virginia. His students included Erynn Marshall and Jake Krack.{{cite news|title=Lester Virgil McCumbers|url=http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/603642/Lester-Virgil-McCumbers.html?nav=5062|accessdate=16 May 2015|agency=Parkersburg News and Sentinel|date=29 January 2015}}

He also made fiddles, sometimes using local woods.{{Cite web|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/20030817fiddle0817fnp2.asp|title=In a West Virginia hollow, mountain music thrives}}

He utilized the "pancake grip" when holding his fiddle; that is, he rested the fiddle against his chest rather than under his chin, with the palm of his hand flat against the bottom of the fiddle's neck.

In December 1937, at the age of 16, McCumbers married the singer Malinda (known as Linda) McCumbers, with whom he performed for many decades. They had nine children together, some of whom are also musicians. Their son Roger, who played banjo, died in 1998 at age 43.{{Cite web|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/20030817fiddle0817fnp2.asp|title=In a West Virginia hollow, mountain music thrives}}

McCumbers often performed with his wife and children, as well as the banjo player Kim Johnson, who lived near him.{{Cite web|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/20030817fiddle0817fnp2.asp|title=In a West Virginia hollow, mountain music thrives}} He was a frequent visitor to the Appalachian String Band Music Festival in Clifftop, Fayette County, West Virginia, where he won first prize in the fiddle competition for his age group.{{Cite web|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/20030817fiddle0817fnp2.asp|title=In a West Virginia hollow, mountain music thrives}}

McCumbers was featured in The New York Times in 1999.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/10/us/passing-along-the-art-of-appalachian-fiddling.html?pagewanted=1|title = Passing Along the Art of Appalachian Fiddling|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 10 October 1999|last1 = Clines|first1 = Francis X.}}