13 Facts About Clarence Ashley

Clarence Ashley began performing at medicine shows in the Southern Appalachian region as early as 1911, and gained initial fame during the late 1920s as both a solo recording artist and as a member of various string bands.

When Clarence Ashley was very young, he was nicknamed "Tommy Tiddy Waddy" by his grandfather Enoch, and thus became known to friends and acquaintances as 'Tom'.

Clarence Ashley's grandfather bought him a banjo when he was eight years old, and his mother and aunts taught him to play traditional Appalachian folk songs and ballads.

Clarence Ashley learned a number of songs and techniques from itinerant lumberjacks and railroad workers lodging at his grandfather's boarding house.

Clarence Ashley played banjo and guitar, and performed blackface comedy.

Later that year, with the help of Victor producer Ralph Peer, Clarence Ashley made several recordings with The Carolina Tar Heels, which consisted of Tom on guitar and vocals, his friend Dock Walsh on banjo, and Gwen or Garley Foster on harmonica.

In 1929, Frank Walker of Columbia Records auditioned Clarence Ashley to make his first solo recordings, as well as to record with a trio called "Byrd Moore and His Hot Shots" at the Johnson City Sessions.

Clarence Ashley worked briefly as a coal miner in West Virginia, and did odd jobs back in Shouns to support his wife, Hettie, and their two children.

Clarence Ashley formed a local string band, the Tennessee Merrymakers.

Clarence Ashley eventually persuaded him to start playing banjo again and to record his repertoire of songs.

Clarence Ashley appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York and played at dozens of venues in California.

Clarence Ashley died in 1967 at Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Clarence Ashley learned much of his repertoire from his grandfather and aunts and itinerant musicians lodging at his grandfather's boarding house in the early 1900s.