Clarence Ashley

Clarence Ashley
Clarence Ashley
	Ashley as a member of the Carolina Tar Heels
Background information
Birth name	Clarence Earl McCurry
Also known as	Tom Ashley; Thomas C. Ashley;
Born	September 29, 1895; Bristol, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	June 2, 1967 (aged 71); Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.
Genres	Folk music
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Banjo; guitar;
Years active	c. 1928–1943; 1960–1967
Labels	Gennett; Columbia; ARC; Folkways;
Formerly of	Carolina Tar Heels; Haywood County Ramblers; Blue Ridge Mountain Entertainers;

Clarence "Tom" Ashley (born Clarence Earl McCurry; September 29, 1895 – June 2, 1967) was an American musician and singer, who played the clawhammer banjo and the guitar. He 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. After his "rediscovery" during the folk revival of the 1960s, Ashley spent the last years of his life playing at folk music concerts, including appearances at Carnegie Hall in New York and at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island.^[1]

^ Colin Larkin (ed.), "Clarence Tom Ashley", The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Vol. 1 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 272, ISBN 978-1846098567

[larkin-1] Colin Larkin (ed.), "Clarence Tom Ashley", The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Vol. 1 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 272, ISBN 978-1846098567

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