Latest “Country Music Trail” Marker to be Unveiled in Ackerman

ACKERMAN, Miss. (WCBI) -Ackerman is the latest town to be recognized on Mississippi’s Country Music Trail.A marker honoring Choctaw County fiddler Hoyt Ming will be unveiled Thursday.

Ming, along with his wife Rozelle and brother Troy,  performed as “Hoyt Ming and His Pep-Steppers”. Their 1928 recording, “Indian War Whoop” was considered a pre-war Country (before that term came into vogue) standard. A labeling SNAFU at Victor Records would credit the band as “Floyd” Ming and His Pep-Steppers, and lead to some confusion with fans and researchers in later years.

Ming stopped performing by the 50’s, but the Pep-Steppers records found a new audience in the Folk Revival of the 50’s and 60’s. Ming was re-discovered in 1973. He and Rozelle played folk festivals, recorded an album, and were featured on the motion picture soundtrack for “Ode to Billy Joe”. Hoyt Ming died in 1985.

The Pep-Steppers also recorded such tunes as : “Florida Blues” AKA “Tupelo Blues” and “Monkey in the Dogcart”.