He was the son of Robert E & Mary Elizabeth "Lizzy" Sandy Wine.∼Melvin P Wine, 93, of Copen, Braxton County, died Sunday, March 16, 2003, in the Braxton County Memorial Hospital at Gassaway, after a short illness.
He was born April 20, 1909, at Stout Run, Braxton County, a son of the late Robert Wine & Mahala Elizabeth Sandy Wine. He was also preceded in death by his first wife, Etta Singleton Wine on March 15, 1992 and his second wife, Anna L Sprouse Prunty Wine on Sept. 17, 1997; two grandchildren; and several brothers and sisters.
Surviving are daughters, Susie Wyant, Rita Cochran, both of Copen, WV, and Havonda Wine of Columbus, OH; sons, Elmer Wine, Denzil Wine, both of Gem, WV, Grafton Wine, Jerry Wine, Lewis Wine, and Junior Wine, all of Copen, WV; and Letcher Wine of Jane Lew, WV; four foster-daughters; brother, Lorie Wine of Virginia; several stepchildren; 35 grandchildren; 57 great-grandchildren.
Wine was the first recipient of West Virginia's Vandalia Award, in 1981. The award is presented at the Vandalia Gathering, sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, and held on the state Capitol grounds as "a free celebration of the arts, music, crafts, and food that reflect West Virginia's heritage".
Wine was a recipient of a 1991 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.
Wine was born to Bob Wine, a fiddler, and Elizabeth Sandy, a singer of ballads and hymns. His grandfather John Nelson "Nels" Wine was not a string musician but learned to whistle and sing his father's tunes. The Wine family fiddling tradition began with Melvin's great-grandfather David S "Smithy" Wine, who was born in 1829.
Melvin Wine dropped out of school in the first grade and was unable to read or write, or to read music. He picked up the fiddle at age nine, while his father was out of the house working as a farmhand. One of the first tunes young Melvin learned was "Bonaparte's Retreat", which he played for his father. His father in turn taught Melvin some of the songs he had learned from his father.
As a teenager, Wine began playing for dances and community gatherings. He also sought out musical mentors from the Central West Virginia region, such as well-known fiddlers John Cogar, Pat Cogar and "Uncle" Jack McElwain. At age 13, Wine won a fiddler's contest held in Gassaway, beating the longtime champion, an older man named Bailey. Mr. Bailey told Melvin he was having a hard time making a living, so Wine gave him the contest prize money.
During the Great Depression, Melvin and his brother Clarence performed together in restaurants and bars, and over regional radio. Melvin took whatever work he could find, including many years as a coal miner and then as a farmer.
While working on his farm, Wine continued to play the fiddle and his reputation in the area grew. Starting in the late 1950s, he performed at the West Virginia State Folk Festival in Glenville, eventually becoming the most frequent winner of that festival's fiddling contest. Since the late 1960s, Wine was regionally well known for his lively style of old-time fiddling. He has also been recognized for his versatility on the fiddle and is "renowned for his deft bow work, and the immensity of his repertoire, including varied melodies and tunes of his youth, many of which date back more than 200 years to the earliest Appalachian settlers".
Melvin Wine played his music for a variety of audiences at venues as diverse as the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, the Wolf Trap Farm Park in Vienna, VA, Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, at festivals across West Virginia, as well as a weekly volunteer gig at a Braxton County nursing home, homecomings, and fund raisers in his region.
Wine was also a mentor to many West Virginia fiddlers over the years. He taught for the master-apprentice program at the Augusta Heritage Center at Davis & Elkins College, whose goal was to pass along the largely unwritten canon of pre-Colonial Appalachian music to the next generation.
Wine and his music was the subject of a 2002 book titled Fiddling Way Out Yonder. A 2011 children's book titled Passing the Music Down was about the relationship between Wine and his protégé Jake Krack and was the official West Virginia entry into the 2011 National Book Festival.
He was born April 20, 1909, at Stout Run, Braxton County, a son of the late Robert Wine & Mahala Elizabeth Sandy Wine. He was also preceded in death by his first wife, Etta Singleton Wine on March 15, 1992 and his second wife, Anna L Sprouse Prunty Wine on Sept. 17, 1997; two grandchildren; and several brothers and sisters.
Surviving are daughters, Susie Wyant, Rita Cochran, both of Copen, WV, and Havonda Wine of Columbus, OH; sons, Elmer Wine, Denzil Wine, both of Gem, WV, Grafton Wine, Jerry Wine, Lewis Wine, and Junior Wine, all of Copen, WV; and Letcher Wine of Jane Lew, WV; four foster-daughters; brother, Lorie Wine of Virginia; several stepchildren; 35 grandchildren; 57 great-grandchildren.
Wine was the first recipient of West Virginia's Vandalia Award, in 1981. The award is presented at the Vandalia Gathering, sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, and held on the state Capitol grounds as "a free celebration of the arts, music, crafts, and food that reflect West Virginia's heritage".
Wine was a recipient of a 1991 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.
Wine was born to Bob Wine, a fiddler, and Elizabeth Sandy, a singer of ballads and hymns. His grandfather John Nelson "Nels" Wine was not a string musician but learned to whistle and sing his father's tunes. The Wine family fiddling tradition began with Melvin's great-grandfather David S "Smithy" Wine, who was born in 1829.
Melvin Wine dropped out of school in the first grade and was unable to read or write, or to read music. He picked up the fiddle at age nine, while his father was out of the house working as a farmhand. One of the first tunes young Melvin learned was "Bonaparte's Retreat", which he played for his father. His father in turn taught Melvin some of the songs he had learned from his father.
As a teenager, Wine began playing for dances and community gatherings. He also sought out musical mentors from the Central West Virginia region, such as well-known fiddlers John Cogar, Pat Cogar and "Uncle" Jack McElwain. At age 13, Wine won a fiddler's contest held in Gassaway, beating the longtime champion, an older man named Bailey. Mr. Bailey told Melvin he was having a hard time making a living, so Wine gave him the contest prize money.
During the Great Depression, Melvin and his brother Clarence performed together in restaurants and bars, and over regional radio. Melvin took whatever work he could find, including many years as a coal miner and then as a farmer.
While working on his farm, Wine continued to play the fiddle and his reputation in the area grew. Starting in the late 1950s, he performed at the West Virginia State Folk Festival in Glenville, eventually becoming the most frequent winner of that festival's fiddling contest. Since the late 1960s, Wine was regionally well known for his lively style of old-time fiddling. He has also been recognized for his versatility on the fiddle and is "renowned for his deft bow work, and the immensity of his repertoire, including varied melodies and tunes of his youth, many of which date back more than 200 years to the earliest Appalachian settlers".
Melvin Wine played his music for a variety of audiences at venues as diverse as the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, the Wolf Trap Farm Park in Vienna, VA, Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, at festivals across West Virginia, as well as a weekly volunteer gig at a Braxton County nursing home, homecomings, and fund raisers in his region.
Wine was also a mentor to many West Virginia fiddlers over the years. He taught for the master-apprentice program at the Augusta Heritage Center at Davis & Elkins College, whose goal was to pass along the largely unwritten canon of pre-Colonial Appalachian music to the next generation.
Wine and his music was the subject of a 2002 book titled Fiddling Way Out Yonder. A 2011 children's book titled Passing the Music Down was about the relationship between Wine and his protégé Jake Krack and was the official West Virginia entry into the 2011 National Book Festival.
He was the son of Robert E & Mary Elizabeth "Lizzy" Sandy Wine.∼Melvin P Wine, 93, of Copen, Braxton County, died Sunday, March 16, 2003, in the Braxton County Memorial Hospital at Gassaway, after a short illness.
He was born April 20, 1909, at Stout Run, Braxton County, a son of the late Robert Wine & Mahala Elizabeth Sandy Wine. He was also preceded in death by his first wife, Etta Singleton Wine on March 15, 1992 and his second wife, Anna L Sprouse Prunty Wine on Sept. 17, 1997; two grandchildren; and several brothers and sisters.
Surviving are daughters, Susie Wyant, Rita Cochran, both of Copen, WV, and Havonda Wine of Columbus, OH; sons, Elmer Wine, Denzil Wine, both of Gem, WV, Grafton Wine, Jerry Wine, Lewis Wine, and Junior Wine, all of Copen, WV; and Letcher Wine of Jane Lew, WV; four foster-daughters; brother, Lorie Wine of Virginia; several stepchildren; 35 grandchildren; 57 great-grandchildren.
Wine was the first recipient of West Virginia's Vandalia Award, in 1981. The award is presented at the Vandalia Gathering, sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, and held on the state Capitol grounds as "a free celebration of the arts, music, crafts, and food that reflect West Virginia's heritage".
Wine was a recipient of a 1991 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.
Wine was born to Bob Wine, a fiddler, and Elizabeth Sandy, a singer of ballads and hymns. His grandfather John Nelson "Nels" Wine was not a string musician but learned to whistle and sing his father's tunes. The Wine family fiddling tradition began with Melvin's great-grandfather David S "Smithy" Wine, who was born in 1829.
Melvin Wine dropped out of school in the first grade and was unable to read or write, or to read music. He picked up the fiddle at age nine, while his father was out of the house working as a farmhand. One of the first tunes young Melvin learned was "Bonaparte's Retreat", which he played for his father. His father in turn taught Melvin some of the songs he had learned from his father.
As a teenager, Wine began playing for dances and community gatherings. He also sought out musical mentors from the Central West Virginia region, such as well-known fiddlers John Cogar, Pat Cogar and "Uncle" Jack McElwain. At age 13, Wine won a fiddler's contest held in Gassaway, beating the longtime champion, an older man named Bailey. Mr. Bailey told Melvin he was having a hard time making a living, so Wine gave him the contest prize money.
During the Great Depression, Melvin and his brother Clarence performed together in restaurants and bars, and over regional radio. Melvin took whatever work he could find, including many years as a coal miner and then as a farmer.
While working on his farm, Wine continued to play the fiddle and his reputation in the area grew. Starting in the late 1950s, he performed at the West Virginia State Folk Festival in Glenville, eventually becoming the most frequent winner of that festival's fiddling contest. Since the late 1960s, Wine was regionally well known for his lively style of old-time fiddling. He has also been recognized for his versatility on the fiddle and is "renowned for his deft bow work, and the immensity of his repertoire, including varied melodies and tunes of his youth, many of which date back more than 200 years to the earliest Appalachian settlers".
Melvin Wine played his music for a variety of audiences at venues as diverse as the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, the Wolf Trap Farm Park in Vienna, VA, Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, at festivals across West Virginia, as well as a weekly volunteer gig at a Braxton County nursing home, homecomings, and fund raisers in his region.
Wine was also a mentor to many West Virginia fiddlers over the years. He taught for the master-apprentice program at the Augusta Heritage Center at Davis & Elkins College, whose goal was to pass along the largely unwritten canon of pre-Colonial Appalachian music to the next generation.
Wine and his music was the subject of a 2002 book titled Fiddling Way Out Yonder. A 2011 children's book titled Passing the Music Down was about the relationship between Wine and his protégé Jake Krack and was the official West Virginia entry into the 2011 National Book Festival.
He was born April 20, 1909, at Stout Run, Braxton County, a son of the late Robert Wine & Mahala Elizabeth Sandy Wine. He was also preceded in death by his first wife, Etta Singleton Wine on March 15, 1992 and his second wife, Anna L Sprouse Prunty Wine on Sept. 17, 1997; two grandchildren; and several brothers and sisters.
Surviving are daughters, Susie Wyant, Rita Cochran, both of Copen, WV, and Havonda Wine of Columbus, OH; sons, Elmer Wine, Denzil Wine, both of Gem, WV, Grafton Wine, Jerry Wine, Lewis Wine, and Junior Wine, all of Copen, WV; and Letcher Wine of Jane Lew, WV; four foster-daughters; brother, Lorie Wine of Virginia; several stepchildren; 35 grandchildren; 57 great-grandchildren.
Wine was the first recipient of West Virginia's Vandalia Award, in 1981. The award is presented at the Vandalia Gathering, sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, and held on the state Capitol grounds as "a free celebration of the arts, music, crafts, and food that reflect West Virginia's heritage".
Wine was a recipient of a 1991 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.
Wine was born to Bob Wine, a fiddler, and Elizabeth Sandy, a singer of ballads and hymns. His grandfather John Nelson "Nels" Wine was not a string musician but learned to whistle and sing his father's tunes. The Wine family fiddling tradition began with Melvin's great-grandfather David S "Smithy" Wine, who was born in 1829.
Melvin Wine dropped out of school in the first grade and was unable to read or write, or to read music. He picked up the fiddle at age nine, while his father was out of the house working as a farmhand. One of the first tunes young Melvin learned was "Bonaparte's Retreat", which he played for his father. His father in turn taught Melvin some of the songs he had learned from his father.
As a teenager, Wine began playing for dances and community gatherings. He also sought out musical mentors from the Central West Virginia region, such as well-known fiddlers John Cogar, Pat Cogar and "Uncle" Jack McElwain. At age 13, Wine won a fiddler's contest held in Gassaway, beating the longtime champion, an older man named Bailey. Mr. Bailey told Melvin he was having a hard time making a living, so Wine gave him the contest prize money.
During the Great Depression, Melvin and his brother Clarence performed together in restaurants and bars, and over regional radio. Melvin took whatever work he could find, including many years as a coal miner and then as a farmer.
While working on his farm, Wine continued to play the fiddle and his reputation in the area grew. Starting in the late 1950s, he performed at the West Virginia State Folk Festival in Glenville, eventually becoming the most frequent winner of that festival's fiddling contest. Since the late 1960s, Wine was regionally well known for his lively style of old-time fiddling. He has also been recognized for his versatility on the fiddle and is "renowned for his deft bow work, and the immensity of his repertoire, including varied melodies and tunes of his youth, many of which date back more than 200 years to the earliest Appalachian settlers".
Melvin Wine played his music for a variety of audiences at venues as diverse as the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, the Wolf Trap Farm Park in Vienna, VA, Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, at festivals across West Virginia, as well as a weekly volunteer gig at a Braxton County nursing home, homecomings, and fund raisers in his region.
Wine was also a mentor to many West Virginia fiddlers over the years. He taught for the master-apprentice program at the Augusta Heritage Center at Davis & Elkins College, whose goal was to pass along the largely unwritten canon of pre-Colonial Appalachian music to the next generation.
Wine and his music was the subject of a 2002 book titled Fiddling Way Out Yonder. A 2011 children's book titled Passing the Music Down was about the relationship between Wine and his protégé Jake Krack and was the official West Virginia entry into the 2011 National Book Festival.
Family Members
Siblings
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Clara Ellen Wine Brown
1898–1982
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John Perry Wine
1900 – unknown
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Jesse Lee Wine
1902–1967
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Joseph Kenton Wine
1904–1910
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Edna Ruth Wine Smith
1907–1930
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Melvin Playford Wine
1909–2003
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Clarence Edward Wine
1911–1968
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Nellie R Wine Goodson
1914–1988
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Albert Nelson Wine
1917–1957
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Lorie Emery Wine I
1922–2008
