User:Jj2320/Benny Simms

Benny Sims ... Benny Sims was a very famous fiddler but most people barely know his name or what he did in his life time. Benny Sims is most known for his work with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys from 1949-1950. He fiddled on 17 total songs such as "Pike County Breakdown", Little Girl In Tennessee" and other hits from that era. Earl Scruggs said that the band got along much better when Benny was with them, and there were hardly any arguments. Sims also helped co-compose "Foggy Mtn. Breakdown" with Earl Scruggs, which is probably Flatt and Scruggs biggest hit. Sims left the group to become a staff musician on the WNOX "Mid-Day Merry-Go-Round" and "Tennessee Barn Dance" in Knoxville, Tenn. The Foggy Mountain Boys were not the only bluegrass band he played with he also played with Nashville grass after his stint with the Foggy Mountain Boys. Also during this time Sims worked on classical music with the U.S. Air Force Orchestra. Sims retired from music in the 1960's and went on to become an insurance salesman in the Johnson City-area as well as a formidable fiddle teacher, producing several instructional books for Joe Morrell Music Distributors. As far as Benny's teaching career is concerned his biggest accomplishment was being one of the instructors who helped Hunter Berry the current fiddle player for Rhonda Vincent. Benny Sims passed away in 1996 but is still remembered all around the Tri-Cities area in many ways, ETSU currently has a scholarship named in Benny Sims' name for their Bluegrass and Old Time Country Music Program.