No one clawhammer banjo player from SW Virginia represents both the style’s past and future better than Dennis Omar “Dent” Wimmer.  His playing, as well as any other master of the style, consisted of characteristics of both agrarian and geographic isolation, cross cultural exchanges between Black and White players, and the high-intensity rhythmic beat necessary to support the local dance tradition.  His playing seems to encompass both the banjo’s deep roots in African American dance music as well as the more modern “play parties,” frolics and barn dances of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

            Born to Thomas and Hattie Wimmer in the Copper Hill community, Dent was one of nine siblings, all of whom had some musical capacity.  Thomas, the father, was a renowned local fiddler and Dent’s earliest memories were filled with the sounds of old time music.  In an impoverished community, the family’s major source of socialization was following Thomas to musical events including corn shuckings, house parties and dances.

            At about the age of 12, Dent was given a fretless banjo and he immediately began to spend every spare hour learning his father’s tunes as well as those that were heard on the family’s record collection, as well as those he could copy from his father’s many musical friends.  His father emphasized driving rhythm and as Dent’s style developed, he paid particular attention to his right hand, developing what he, himself called a “thrashdown” style of playing characterized by solid and precise rhythmic chops.

            Among his most powerful influences were some of the region’s Black players who he often witnessed playing in the town square and in the rail yards near Floyd. One of them was Harrison Claytor who he heard play in local country stores. This background helped Dent develop into a player that, by his own admission, could “hold down a high energy dance,” all by himself without any other melodic accompaniment.  He was in demand for local social events and soon developed a deep musical friendship with a local fiddler his age by the name of Sam Conner.  The two became popular figures on the local music scene of the 1930’s and 40’s in Floyd, Patrick and Franklin counties.

            We know that at least some of Dent’s vast repertoire drew heavily from a family known as the Smith Brothers: John, Dink, and Dan who resided in the Green Creek area of Franklin County.  Dent met Sam Conner while working on a construction crew and once learning that they were both musicians, the two formed a lasting musical partnership that lasted nearly 40 years.  The longevity of their musical collaboration, with Dent’s rustic and hard driving banjo and Sam’s more relaxed and sliding fiddle allowed both musicians to develop a unique mountain sound that caught the attention of not only local folks, but also of visiting tune collectors.

            In 1973, nearly 30 years after Dent and Sam had first started carting their instruments to construction sites to play together, folklorists Blanton Owen and Tom Carter “discovered” the duo’s powerful sound and recorded them for the Old Originals project.  To Carter and Owen, their duets represented the Floyd County “string band” sound, but also presented a glimpse into the unspoiled past, before guitar, bass, and other instruments had invaded the sounds of the Blue Ridge.

            Among the sounds they captured Dent and Sam playing was a local anthem, “Shootin’ Creek,” named for the nearby body of water that supported more moonshine stills in Floyd and Patrick counties than any other.  They also played several modal tunes, including the “Coo-Coo Bird,” and “You’ll Never Miss Your Mamma” that clearly had paths back to the Black banjo players of the region.

            Michael Yates, another folklorist, also recorded the duo for the British label, Tradition Records in 1979, shortly before Dent’s death.  These recordings became what Yates regarded as “breathtaking” contributions to a four record set entitled “Far in the Mountain. 

            Thanks to the work of these tune collectors, Dent Wimmer’s powerful and masterful playing lives on in Floyd County where many younger followers of his tradition such as Mac Traynham keep his clawhammer legacy alive.