Jimmie Rodgers will be honored with the dedication of a N.C. Highway Historical Marker at 2 p.m. Sept. 8 on Haywood Street at Battery Park Avenue, as part of Jimmie Rodgers Day in Asheville.

Rodgers moved to Asheville in 1927 and worked as a railway brakeman, janitor, cab driver and even a city detective. 

But it was appearances on Asheville radio station WWNC-AM (570)  that gave him his big break in music. He went on to become known as the “singing brakeman” or “yodeling cowboy.”

 Rogers played live weekly with his friend Otis Kuykendall on WWNC, beginning in April 1927. Other musicians were added and the group was known as the Tenneva Ramblers and later as the Jimmie Rodgers Entertainers. WWNC featured old-time country musicians and broadcast from the Flat Iron Building.

 Record producer Ralph Peer captured Rodgers’ first two tracks on Aug. 4, 1927. “The Soldier’s Sweetheart” and “Sleep, Baby, Sleep,” were recorded in Bristol, Tenn.

The well-known Carter Family also made their first recordings that week in what became known as the “Big Bang of Country Music.” When a successful Rodgers returned to Asheville in December 1929, he was touted as “Asheville’s Own.” He died of tuberculosis in 1933.

In addition to the 2 p.m. public highway marker dedication, there will be a parade with street musicians and performers leading to a ticketed musical celebration at 4 p.m. at the Asheville Music Hall at 31 Patton Avenue downtown. 

For information on the highway marker dedication, call (919) 807-7290. For information on the musical celebration, visit http://ashevillemusichall.com/music-schedule/event/jimmie-rodgers-day/.