Akeman was Born in Annville, Jackson County, Kentucky. He was taught to play the banjo by his father, James Roy Akemon. Akeman's interest in banjos began when he was a boy, when he made an old shoebox int a makeshift banjo by attaching strings to it. He got his first real banjo when he was 12 years old in exchange for a pair of prize bantam chickens. Akeman began playing at local dances and gained a reputation as a musician, but the income was not enough to live on. He joined the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps, building roads and planting trees. When he was 16 he won a contest and joined Asa Martin's band. Martin forgot his name and called him String Beans. That is why he is mostly known as Stringbean.