Clyde Moody also known as the "Hillbilly Waltz King" and sometimes as "The Genial Gentleman of Country Music" was one the great founders of American Bluegrass music

Bluegrass music

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...

.

Born in Cherokee, North Carolina

Cherokee, North Carolina

Cherokee is a town in Swain County, North Carolina, USA, within the Qualla Boundary land trust. It is located in the Oconaluftee River Valley, near the intersection of U.S. Route 19 and U.S...

, Moody got his start in the late 1938 in the string band J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers

J. E. Mainer

J. E. Mainer was an American old time fiddler who followed in the wake of Gid Tanner and his Skillet Lickers.-Biography:...

. He continued as a member of the Browns Ferry Four with Merle Travis

Merle Travis

Merle Robert Travis was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and musician born in Rosewood, Kentucky. His lyrics often discussed the life and exploitation of coal miners. Among his many well-known songs are "Sixteen Tons", "Re-Enlistment Blues" and "Dark as a Dungeon"...

, Grandpa Jones

Grandpa Jones

Louis Marshall Jones , known professionally as Grandpa Jones, was an American banjo player and "old time" country and gospel music singer...

 and The Delmore Brothers

The Delmore Brothers

Alton Delmore and Rabon Delmore , billed as The Delmore Brothers, were country music pioneers and stars of the Grand Ole Opry in the 1930s...

. In 1940 he was one of Bill Monroe

Bill Monroe

William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...

's original Blue Grass Boys and on the Grand Ole Opry

Grand Ole Opry

The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...

. They started out in Cincinnati in 1943 as the Drifting Pioneers on WLW

WLW

WLW is a clear channel talk radio station located in Cincinnati, Ohio, run by Clear Channel Communications. The station broadcasts locally on 700 kHz AM...

 radio. He also played at the first Bluegrass Festival at Fincastle, Virginia, in 1965.

His career highlights include appearing in the White House

White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

 3 times and writing and recording the million-seller Shenandoah Waltz. He sang with a young Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 in 1955 when Tom Parker

Colonel Tom Parker

"Colonel" Thomas Andrew "Tom" Parker born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk, was a Dutch-born entertainment impresario known best as the manager of Elvis Presley...

 paired them for a six-week tour.

He died in Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

.

His nephew, Bruce Moody is also a popular bluegrass musician and toured with him 1962-1969.

External links