James Charles Rodgers was born on September 8, 1897, in Meridian, Mississippi. Although later in life Rodgers claimed he was born in Geiger, Alabama, where his grandparents lived. Rodgers’ mother died when he was about six. He spent several years living with different relatives in Mississippi and Alabama before settling with his father and his new wife in Meridian. Rodgers discovered his love for entertaining at an early age. By the time he was 13, he had organized two traveling shows but was forced to return home by his father. Rodgers father, a foreman on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, found him a job as a railroad water boy. This experience gave him an even greater love for music, as he learned to play guitar from rail workers and hobos. Within a few years, Rodgers was made a brakeman on the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad. However, in 1924 he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was forced to abandon his railroad career. Rodgers used this time to organize his own traveling roadshow across the Southeastern US. Unfortunately, disaster struck and a storm destroyed his tent, forcing him to return home.