Jim Tom Hedrick is an American moonshiner, singer and reality TV star, born on December 25, 1940 in Robbinsville, North Carolina, United States. He is known for his appearance on the Discovery Channel show “Moonshiners”.
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Early life
Marvin ‘Jim Tom’ Hedrick grew up in Graham County. Although there is no information about his childhood, family and education, it is known that he left school at a very young age and therefore started working at the age of 15.
Career
Different jobs
Marvin Hedrick had many different jobs during his youth. Although his main job was as a plumber, he also worked as an electrical technician, radio operator and the job he hated the most: car maintenance.
Moonshiner Occupation
There is no information on who taught Hedrick the process of creating bootleg liquor, although it is speculated that he learned it from a local distiller in Appalachia in his early twenties.
Hedrick has worked as a moonshiner for almost 60 years, and his specialty is unaged rye, winning several awards for it, including a bronze medal from the American Distilling Institute, silver medals from the LA International Spirits Competition and Beverage Testing Institute, a Gold Medal in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and achieved Double Gold in Fifty Best.
When Marvin became known as “Jim Tom”, he is undefined, although it is speculated that he adopted the moniker as his popularity as a Moonshiner grew in his native North Carolina.
Media appearances
Jim Tom’s first media appearance was in “Mountain Talk” in 2004, directed by Neal Hutcheson. In this documentary, audiences learn about the culture and dialect of southern Appalachia, as well as the good humor, music, and distilled spirits traditions of their people.
In 2009, Jim Tom appeared in “Shine”, Matt Stillwell’s music video filmed at Fontana Village in Graham, North Carolina; Hedrick also took part in the 2012 short “Squzz Corn N’ Ole Scratch”.
Moonshiners – TV Show
Centered on the illegal producers of Moonshine located in Appalachia, Discovery Channel premiered this drama documentary series in 2011, though it wasn’t until the show’s second season in 2012 that Jim Tom Hedrick made his first appearance.
Although the show focuses on distillers’ efforts to produce moonshine by circumventing the law, authorities claimed there was no actual alcohol production on the show: “If an activity had in fact taken place, the Virginia ABC Bureau of Law Enforcement would have taken action.”
Authorities in Virginia also said the “Moonshiners” were misleading their audiences, making them mistakenly believe that illicit distilling-related activities were being ignored by police. Discovery Channel refuted these allegations, ensuring that everything seen in the series is real, denying its dramatic nature.
Despite this, “Moonshine” has been a popular show for years, and Jim Tom Hedrick was highly admired by fans for his unforgettable and charismatic personality.
This led to him becoming a local celebrity in his native South Carolina, where miniature copper stills autographed by him are sold.
In 2016, however, Jim Tom Hedrick ceased appearing on the show for unknown reasons.
Singer
Jim Tom is also a country musician. His most famous work, which is part of the “Moonshiners” soundtrack, is “Golly that’s Good”, which he sang in collaboration with My Highway.
Why is Moonshine illegal?
Despite its popularity, moonshine — commonly known as white whiskey, mash liquor, or white flash — is illegal to produce. This liqueur is traditionally created by illicit craft distilleries and takes its name from the conditions in which it was originally made: underground or in “moonlight”.
Moonshine also plays an important role in Southern history, dating back to 1791, when protests began in response to George Washington’s Congressional liquor taxation. Farmers were deeply affected by this law, as many of them became distillers when they could not market and sell all of their grain, and instead chose to refine it to produce various alcoholic beverages, drawing their main revenue.
Widely distributed and with the highest consumption rates of the time, the whiskey market was the most affected, which is why the movement acquired the name “The Whiskey Rebellion”, taking place in various states such as Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and of course South Carolina. .
The uprising was suppressed by government forces after becoming an armed rebellion in 1974, although the tax decree was rescinded in 1801.
However, in 1861 another “whisky tax” was instituted during the Civil War, forcing distillers to once again hide their activities to evade taxes. The Moonshiners came into existence as a result of this situation.
In the early 1900s, Moonshine consumption grew exponentially as alcohol was made illegal in many places, especially during the prohibition period of 1920 to 1933. Having this immense growth in demand, distillers opted to distill large quantities of moonshine without taking its quality into consideration.
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Because of this, moonshine and other illicit alcohols have been contaminated by various factors related to its production process, leading to serious health problems for consumers, including poisonings.
Nowadays, craft distilleries are strictly prohibited not only in the United States but also in many countries, as they have been found to be unsafe to circumvent health regulations, leading to detrimental consequences in many cases.
Moonshine can only be made by registered distilleries, which is why Hedrick has partnered with Sugarlands Distilling Co., to market its own brand of this alcoholic beverage.
Private life
There is not much personal information about Jim Tom.
His relationships, eventual children and family are unknown as he prefers to stay away from social media. However, it is known that he married at least twice in his youth.
Despite the lack of information, Hedrick shared some aspects of his past adventures in various interviews during the show “Moonshiners”.
In 1962, Jim had an accident on Halloween night while riding a Starliner 390 bicycle. He ended up with a broken leg and a serious head injury after hitting a Ford Station Wagon at 115 mph, allegedly flying through the air for 300 feet. Luckily, he survived said accident, and feverishly tells the story now.
As a youth, he was locked up several times, and in 2015 he held the North Carolina impaired driving record.
Net value
Jim Tom Hedrick has an estimated net worth of $100,000 in 2020 which is the result of his work as a moonshiner and reality TV star.
Physical appearance
Jim Tom Hedrick is a man of white ethnicity, with blue eyes and white hair, who was said to have been blond in his youth. Regardless of his advanced age, he is a healthy man with a slender figure who stands around 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in).
Interesting facts
His biography on SugarLands.com describes him as “a legendary moonshiner, a master storyteller and always a creator”.
The Discovery Channel’s official YouTube channel shared a video of Jim Tom being asked about the things he can’t live without, to which he replied, “Women.” Now you can’t do it without them. Now I move. People don’t know that I move. Yes sir. Women and alcohol. There’s never been anything that fits like this together.
I’m on Twitter now. 180 proofs! pic.twitter.com/kT7Xnc1rWk
—Jimtom Hedrick (@JimtomHedrick) March 18, 2014
Jim Tom is said to have partied a lot during his youth, once waking up in a tent with two women he didn’t know.
Despite his age, Jim Tom rides a 50cc Cruiser Chopper motorcycle.
Even before his appearances in “Moonshiners”, he was already popular in his hometown. However, it was the show that made him famous across the country, but regardless of his fame, he remains humble.
He has a deep, characteristic southern accent, which is why he was captioned during his “Moonshiners” appearances, as his words were difficult to understand for non-native English speakers and people from other states.
Although his most famous song is “Golly that’s Good”, he released many other country songs during his time as a radio operator.
