J. Preston Nestor recorded four songs in Bristol, Tennessee, in 1927 and never recorded again. Not much is known of him other than he was already dead by the 1970s when the fiddler on this track, Norman Edmonds, was interviewed by Stephen Davis and Robert Mobley (Old Time Music 9 (1973)). Nestor was invited to a second session in New York, but refused to leave his Hillsville, Virginia home. His fiddler, Edmonds, (1889-?) did continue to play. Nicknamed "Uncle Norm," he played with The Old Timers, a string band from the Galax, Virginia area. "Train on the Island" has become a favorite tune in the Virginia/North Carolina region due to the influence of Nestor's recording.
FOR ADDITIONAL RECORDINGS of Nestor see the collections: Rural String Bands of Virginia (CTY 3502c) and Round the Heart of Old Galax, Vol. 3 (CTY 535a). For additional recordings of Edmonds see Train on the Island (DU 33002a) and the collection Galax Old Time Fiddler's Convention (FW 2435c). For additional information on Nestor and Edmonds see Stephen Davis and Robert Nobley, "Norman Edmonds, Mountain Fiddler", Old Time Music 9 (1973).
OTHER RECORDED VERSIONS include:
Country/String Band: as Train on the Island: The Iron Mountain String Band (FW 2473c); Tommy Jarrell (CTY 778d); The Kimble Family (RND 0057a); Walt Koken (RND 0337c); Velma Nester (LC recording AAFS1343B1); The New Ballard's Branch Bogtrotters (HRT 109d); The New Lost City Ramblers (FW 2496c, VF 9003a); Matokie Slaughter (RND 0331c, MMC 9028d); Stephen Wade (CTY 2721c); The Ward Brothers (FW 3832c); The Wildcats (MMC 9015d).
Bluegrass: as Train on the Island: Ash and W (REB 1686c); Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard (SF 40065c, FW 31034c); Todd Phillips (Gourd Music 122d)).
Folksong revival: as Train on the Island: Atwater and Donnelly (Beacon 10133c); The Mother Bay State Entertainers (ELK 292a); The Double Decker String Band (MMC 9021d); Joe Hickerson (FL 39d); Peggy Seeger (His Masters Voice 1174 a).
