John Wesley Summers

John Wesley "Dick" Summers (b. Howard County, November 2,1887 - d. 1976) -- Fiddle player. Summers was a master fiddle player, who won many traditional fiddling contest throughout the midwest. In his adulthood, he had a farm in Greentown and would host informal events that featured old timey music. He became well known is his area and often played for parties and dances nearby and in Kokomo. Thanks to folk revivalist Art Rosenbaum, who made field recordings of Summers, his playing can be heard on Fine Times at our House: Indiana Ballads, Fiddle Tunes, and Songs (1964). Of the nineteen short tracks on the album, six of them are solos of fiddle tunes by Summers. From tapes made by Judge Dan White, a friend of Summers, a full album entitled John Summers: Master Indiana Fiddler was issued by Field Recorders' Collective in 2008.