Jim Snow Home: Oxford, Pennsylvania Kilby and Jim Snow, playing the famous cross-handed duo style.

Jim was born on December 19, 1942 in Grayson County, Virginia. He is the eighth and youngest child of Kilby and Lily (Blanche) Snow. As was common for the time, a midwife delivered Jim at the family home. Unfortunately, the midwife passed away before she could deliver any paperwork to the County Courthouse. Because of this, Jim’s birth certificate was never filed. It was an inauspicious beginning for the youngest son of Kilby Snow, who himself became an International Autoharp champion at the Mountain Laurel Autoharp Championship in 1994.

Jim’s first love was the guitar. “When I was 8 or 10 years old, I used to go to sleep with my guitar at my side,” remembers Jim. Soon after, Kilby “kept on” pushing the autoharp to Jim, as Jim began to learn the famous Kilby Snow style. One problem was that Kilby was left-handed, playing the autoharp upside-down and backwards, and using his forefinger to do 95% of the work on the strings. Jim was right-handed and while still replicating Kilby’s upside-down/backwards style, had to improvise and use his right thumb just as Kilby used his left forefinger. Despite this difference, Kilby continued to work with Jim.

Jim has learned his songs all by ear, and mostly from guitar greats on records. “I learned to play my guitar runs on the autoharp, which gave me my own unique style and sound,” says Jim. When Jim turned fourteen, he and Kilby appeared together at many festivals and concerts, and would delight their audiences by playing together, in a cross-handed style. Jim and Kilby began to make several appearances together, including the Newport Folk Festival. At one festival, they received a long-standing ovation and were compelled to play the same song three times! Each would play their own chord bars, but would play the other’s strings! A sample of this style will be illustrated at the 2006 California Autoharp Gathering.

After Kilby’s death in 1980, Jim gave up playing the autoharp and placed Kilby’s memorabilia along with his own instruments into a closet where they remained for fourteen years. In 1994, Jim was coaxed out of retirement by close friend and Kilby Snow style-player Joe Riggs. Jim made a triumphant return to the autoharp community by appearing in, and winning, the 1994 International Autoharp Championship.

“My dad was a genius,” says Jim, as he remembers his father. “He was a complete original. He would set up his autoharp with his own felts, different string arrangements, and he made his own fingerpicks.” Kilby used brass, from automobile parts from 1930s Model “T” cars to design and create his original fingerpicks. Kilby would angle the tips of the fingerpicks to strike the strings in just the right fashion for his style.

Today, Jim resides in Oxford, Pennsylvania, in the area that he has called home nearly fifty years. He offers this tip for autoharp players – “Let your teeth rest on your harp when you play it. The music will go right through your soul!” Good thoughts from the youngest son of the Snow family.

Jim is our special guest at the 2006 California Autoharp Gathering. We will be honoring him and his father with many special tributes during the festival.