In his career, he would be associated with country and bluegrass pioneers such as Uncle Dave Macon, Fiddlin' John Carson, Roy Acuff, Charlie Poole, and Bill Monroe.

[3] Bowman was born July 30, 1889, in Gray Station, Tennessee, a small community approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of Johnson City.

In his teen years, he and his brothers (who had each learned a different instrument) collected pocket change by playing at square dances and other local events around Washington County.

[3] In the early 1920s, a local businessman sponsored Bowman in the United Commercial Travelers' fiddle contest in nearby Johnson City.

The band then relocated to Washington, D.C. where they played regularly on D.C.-area radio station WLS, and in 1928, performed at a White House social hosted by President Calvin Coolidge.

[3] In the early 1960s, at the height of the folk revival movement in the United States, Bowman was interviewed by several magazines and music collectors, including Dorsey Dixon and Pete Seeger.

"East Tennessee Blues: The Story of 'Fox Hunt' Charlie Bowman," Steve Goldfield, Fiddler Magazine, Spring 2002, Vol.