Hubert Dwane "Hoot" Hester (August 13, 1951 – August 30, 2016) was an American fiddle player, multi-instrumentalist, and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

and bluegrass artist. He was born on a small farm near

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, on August 13, 1951. Hester played with a number of well-known bands, and later became a session musician and a longtime member of the Grand Ole Opry's staff band. Hester was also a featured performer at the

NAMM The NAMM Show is an annual event in the United States that is organized by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), who describe it as "the industry’s largest stage, uniting the global music, sound and entertainment technology commun ...

Show during the time it was held in Nashville c. 1993 and 2004.

Career

Hester had played backup for a number of country music recording artists, among them

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

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, Conway Twitty, Randy Travis,

Bill Monroe William Smith "Bill" Monroe (; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre take ...

, Vern Gosdin, and

Ricky Van Shelton Ricky Van Shelton (born January 12, 1952) is an American retired country music singer. Active between 1986 and 2006, he charted more than 20 singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts. This figure includes 10 Number One hits: " Somebo ...

. He had also recorded with Manhattan Transfer and

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

. Hester was the former fiddler and founder of a Nashville-based

Western swing Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which attracted huge crowds to dance ...

band, named the Time Jumpers. He appears on the band's debut album, On the Air. For many years Hester was a fiddle player for the Grand Ole Opry's staff band.

Beginnings

Hester attended Louisville's Southern High School. He began his fiddling career with the Bluegrass Alliance in Louisville. In 1973 he moved to Nashville, having received several job offers after winning fifth place in a fiddle contest at which

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music ...

and other prominent people in the music industry were judges. For the next year he played with The Whites.

From the 1980s onward

During the 1980s Hester began doing session recording for various artists and producers, and has continued this work until his death. He also began appearing on television shows, one of which played for eleven years. In 1997 Dennis Crouch and Hester put together a western swing band called The Time Jumpers. Hoot eventually left The Time Jumpers to produce and write with Rachael Hester, his youngest daughter, who leads a band named "Rachael Hester and The Tennessee Walkers". Hoot has played with the Grand Ole Opry staff band since the year 2000. He has also worked with Earl Scruggs until Scruggs' death in March 2012.

Death

Hester died on August 30, 2016 after battling cancer. He was 65.

References

External links