Sumerlin, Macom 2002-06-20

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General Interview Information

Interviewee Name: Macom Sumerlin

Additional Parties Recorded:

Date: June 20, 2002

Location:

Interviewer:

Length: 01:34:35

Abstract

Tape 1, Side 1:

Life, Was a composer, Born on October 24, 1919, Born on a farm, Learned how to play guitar and mandolin, Didn’t learn to read until he was 17, Got a Degree in violin, Studied at Hardin Simmons, Graduated in 1940, Went to Eastman, Teaching career, Taught public school for 2-3 years, First school was in Clyde, Tx as band director, Enlisted for 4 years, Got masters degree in composing from UT, Came back to Hardin Simmons to teach, Also taught at Mac Murray, Grandfather was an old time fiddle player from Mississippi, Played with many musicians in the area including Sam Baker, Was in a fiddle band and wanted to get on the radio, Played just for pocket money, Have about 3000 favorite tunes from the past, Memorized the lyrics and the tunes to them all, Taught civics in high school, Taught a wide range of classes, Judging scores, Has an excellent memory, Doesn’t write anymore music because his hands are too bad, Knows how to write scores by hand, Only one copy when doing scores, Was there for the entire duplication process of scores through the years, Very hard to duplicate back in the older days, Can write scores without playing the piano, Used to judge kids that wrote scores, Got a banjo from Korea, Could play things better on the keyboard better than the fiddle, Has diabetes, In 1970-1980 was big into electronic music and synthesizers, Very fond of Jazz, Jazz guitar player

Tape 1, Side 2:

Pt 2, Written one of everything, Two Operas, Christmas and a birthday opera, Written a lot of songs for church, Symphony for an orchestra, 2 symphonies for band, Written lots of arrangements and pieces for the band, Written instrument solos, Written a violin and piano solo that his son played, Son played fiddle when he got to high school, Doesn’t know what his favorite works are, Did electronic music, Wife sings

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