Uncle Charlie Osborne

Charles N. Osborne, affectionately known as "Uncle Charlie," was a regionally known musician in the Appalachian Mountains of southwest Virginia. Born December 26th, 1890 in Castlewood, Virginia (now in Russell County, Virginia, but then in the now dissolved Fincastle County, Virginia). He was a regionally famous from the time he was about 15 until his death at age 101 on May 27, 1992.

Related Topics:
Appalachian Mountains - Virginia - December 26th - 1890 - Castlewood, Virginia - Russell County, Virginia - Fincastle County, Virginia - May 27 - 1992

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Charlie's unique left-handed fiddle playing made him famous through the south. He and his brother, Emmett Osborne, played on WOPI radio station in Bristol, Tennessee from the early 1920's until the early 1930's. They were contemporaries of country music founders Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family, and occasionally gave advice to Tennessee Ernie Ford on his music.

Related Topics:
Fiddle - Emmett Osborne - WOPI - Bristol, Tennessee - Jimmie Rodgers - Carter Family - Tennessee Ernie Ford

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Uncle Charlie was blinded in his left eye at age 19 when he was shot in the head with a pistol that had been stolen from him. Beginning in the 1930's, he cut back his music and farmed a large farm near the Osborne Family Homeplace in Copper Creek, Virginia. In the mid-1970's, after the death of his wife, Clara, Charlie began to focus more on his music.

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In 1985, in conjunction with East Tennessee State University, Junappal Records recorded Uncle Charlie's first album, "Relics And Treasures". The album contained over a dozen traditonal mountain songs, including "Ida Red", "Brown's Dream", and "Old Joe Clark". Uncle Charlie recorded two more albums with the label; his final was 1991's "One Hundred Years Farther On", which included the powerful and mournful mountain gospel song "Farther On," which Uncle Charlie called "As We Travel Through The Desert".

Related Topics:
1985 - East Tennessee State University - Junappal Records

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In the 1980's, Governor Chuck Robb personally came to his home and presented him with an award recognizing his contributions to Virginia life and culture. Also, in the mid eighties, he and his brother Emmett began playing heavily with their half-brother, George Osborne, a former country & western singer. Their weekly or semi-weekly jam sessions became the stuff of legends.

Related Topics:
Chuck Robb - George Osborne

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Uncle Charlie played numerous shows at the Carter Family Fold in Scott County, Virginia, a theatre showcasing traditional music ran by Janette Carter, one of the daughters of the original Carter Family. On one occasion, Johnny Cash was Uncle Charlie's "opening act".

Related Topics:
Scott County, Virginia - Carter Family - Johnny Cash

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Uncle Charlie walked three miles every day from his house in rural Tumbez, Virginia, about two miles from Lick Skillet, Virginia and three miles from Hansonville, Virginia, until just days before his death. Uncle Charlie Osborne died on May 27, 1992 after a brief illness.

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