death_date death_place years_active birth_place label name background birth_date instrument genre article_title birth_name
february 17 , 1931 laguardo , tennessee , usa 1925 -- 1931 smith county , tennessee , usa . columbia , brunswick/vocalion uncle jimmy thompson non_vocal_instrumentalist 1848 fiddle old-time music uncle jimmy thompson
 jesse donald thompson
uncle jimmy thompson

jesse donald `` uncle jimmy '' thompson -lrb- 1848 -- february 17 , 1931 -rrb- was an american old-time fiddle player .
he is best remembered as the first performer to play on nashville 's grand ole opry -lrb- then called the wsm `` barn dance '' -rrb- , appearing with founder and host george d. hay on the evening of november 28 , 1925 .
the positive response generated by thompson 's performance would be an important influence on the show 's creative direction in its formative years .
while thompson made only a handful of recordings late in his life , his cantankerous and eccentric personality and his fiddle skills have made him one of the best-known icons of early country music .
