Hoyt Ming (1902-1985) was born in Mississippi, into a musical family. He began teaching himself to play the fiddle at the age of fifteen after seeing a string band perform at his father’s house. With his wife, Rozelle, on guitar and his brother, Troy, on mandolin, they formed a band that played for local dances and parties. Ming was a potato farmer and pursued music on the side.
In 1928, the group was discovered at a fiddle contest in Tupelo and was recruited by talent scout Ralph Peer to record for Victor at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. The band, named “The Pep Steppers” by Peer, recorded four songs, including the tune “Indian War Whoop” which was later recorded by John Hartford for the “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” in 2000. The band’s name was a reference to the rhythmic foot-stomping of Rozelle, a sound that Peer encouraged her to amplify for the recordings, a practice that was a departure from the recording standards of the time. On the record label, Ming’s name was misspelled as “Floyd Ming”. Following this recording, Ming focused on farming and played locally until he stopped performing in the late 1950s.
Hoyt Ming’s song “Indian War Whoop” was included in Harry Smith’s 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music, a collection that became influential in the folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s. This led to a search for the musician. In 1973, County Records producer David Freeman located Ming by searching for the misspelled “Floyd” Ming around the Tupelo area.
Following his rediscovery, Ming and his wife began playing at folk festivals, including the 1973 National Folk Festival and the 1974 Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife. The album Hoyt Ming and His Pep Steppers: New Hot Times was recorded for Freeman’s Homestead imprint during this period.