Blind Dog Radio

Andrew & Jim Baxter

Andrew Baxter (b. March 1869, d. April 15, 1955), African-American fiddle player, and Jim Baxter (b. James Baxter January 18, 1898, d. June 11, 1950), African-American-Cherokee singer/guitar player, were a father and son fiddle/guitar duet from Gordon County, GA who recorded in the 1920s.

b. Calhoun, GA. A father and son duo, playing violin and guitar, respectively, the Baxters recorded at four sessions between 1927 and 1929. Their records offer a rare example of an older, more rural, black music tradition in Georgia. While some were blues, notably the gentle and melancholy 'KC Railroad Blues', others such as 'Georgia Stomp' were country dance tunes, similar in many ways to some of the white traditional music recorded around the same time. The latter even included spoken dance calls of the type more usually associated with white country music. Emphasizing this connection, Andrew, the father (who is said to have been half-Cherokee Indian), made one record with the white old-time group the Georgia Yellow Hammers, at the 1927 session.