Clarence Ashley

Clarence Ashley, who decided to take his last name from the maternal grandfather who raised him, was inspired by the songs that he heard played by transients who boarded in his family home. He was taught songs and instructed on the banjo by his aunties.

Although he supplemented his income as a musician by doing other ‘dirty’ works as farming and working at a sawmill, Ashley continued to perform. By 1927, Ashley was performing with numerous string bands, including the “Blue Ridge Entertainers”. He recorded as a member of “Byrd Moore & His Hot Shots” and the “Carolina Tar Heels”. His solo debut came in 1929 when he recorded “The Cuckoo Bird” and “The House Carpenter” for Columbia Records.

Even if his songs were revived by string band instrumentalists in the 1950s, Ashley disappeared almost completely from the music scene soon after that time.