See it while you can: Museum exhibit honors Whitley Co. native

Whitley County native and renowned banjo maker Jimmy Cox is currently being honored with a temporary display at the Bluegrass Hall of Fame Museum in Owensboro, but if you want to see it then you better hurry as it will soon be gone.

Photo by Katha Rohrbaugh

The exhibit honoring James “Jimmy” Harold Cox was installed in January 2021 and will be on display until at least Feb. 1 at the museum.

“A musician his entire life, he began working as a luthier when he couldn’t access the parts he needed for his banjo. Utilizing his knowledge as a jet engine mechanic, Cox began a career as a luthier by fabricating rims, nuts, and resonators. His work was recognized as a custom instrument maker, and many in the bluegrass industry sought out his work,” Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum Marketing Director Hannah Koller wrote in an e-mail to the News Journal.

“We installed the exhibition when we discovered a local businessman was a collector of Jimmy’s custom banjos. They’re unique instruments with top-level craftsmanship, and we saw this as an opportunity to highlight a Kentucky native.”

Cox, who was the eighth of 12 children, was born on Sept. 9, 1933, in Wolf Creek. His father played banjo and worked in coal mines while his mother played the pedal organ. The pair also worked the family farm. Cox’s father taught him to play the banjo at age six.

Cox was 20 years old when he joined the Air Force in 1953. He was originally stationed throughout Texas but was transferred to Presque Isle Air Force Base in Maine where he was trained to be a jet engine mechanic. During his time in the Air Force, Cox performed in many bands playing both the mandolin and the banjo, according to the exhibit.

“From Wolf Creek, Kentucky, to Topsham, Maine, banjo maker and innovator Jimmy Cox left his boyhood home in the bluegrass state for a life in the northeast, carrying with him a love of bluegrass music and the 5-string banjo,” the exhibit reads in part. “Born out of necessity, his passion for creating the perfect banjo turned into a business and has fueled the custom banjo market for decades. Cox explains, ‘I had a pretty good banjo in the late 50s, but I never could get the kind of sound out of it, the clarity, sparkle, and dynamic range I thought a banjo could have. I worked on it a lot to try to improve it but never to my satisfaction. It was then that I thought I was going to try to make one.’”

According to coxbanjos.com, the “Kentucky-5” is the original banjo in the Cox line and has been in continuous production since 1965. It is one of five banjos listed for sale on the company’s website along with “The Wolf Creek,” “The Carolina,” “The Johnny Rebel,” and “The Cumberland.” The banjos range in price from $2,700 to $4,000.

Cox’s grandsons, Adam and Jeremy Cox, learned the trade from their grandfather and continue to manufacture custom banjo parts that are highly sought-after all over the world, the exhibit reads.

Jimmy Cox died in 2021 at the age of 87.

The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum is located at 311 W. Second Street, Owensboro, KY, and is open from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday – Saturday, and from 1 – 5 p.m. on Sunday. It is closed on Mondays.