obituaries: March 2010 Archives

Jim Turley, a Knoxville old-time fiddler who performed at Jubilee Community Arts' Jubilee Festival for 40 consecutive years, died on Tuesday, March 9.

Turley was expected to play at this year's festival, which starts on Friday. Instead, organizers will start the weekend-long event with a memorial performance by Turley's son, Dean, and Greg Horne, Earl Bull, Darrell Acuff, and others.

From JCA:

"A native of Boone County, West Virginia, and one time coal miner, Jim located to Knoxville after service in the Navy in WWII and education as an engineer.  He was much appreciated in the old-time music community in Knoxville and taught many younger musicians their first fiddle tunes.  Jim performed at the Laurel Theater's Jubilee Festival for 40 consecutive years."

Shannon Stanfield, who was part of the local music scene for years as a journalist, photographer, and musician, died on Sunday after a two-year battle with cancer. Stanfield was a member of several local bands over the years, but is probably best remembered as the frontman of the country-rock band the Clintons, whose heyday in the late 1980s and early '90s helped establish the template for groups like the V-Roys.  

Stanfield also took photos for Metro Pulse, the News Sentinel, and Knoxville Voice, and wrote the Town Hound column on local music for the News Sentinel in the late 1990s.

Randall Brown at the News Sentinel wrote a brief obituary here. There's also a long tribute thread on Knox Blab. That thread includes a link to an mp3 of one of the Clintons' last shows, at Patrick Sullivan's in 2008.