Lily May Ledford
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Lily May Ledford (March 17, 1917 – July 14, 1985) was an American
clawhammer Clawhammer, sometimes called down-picking, overhand, or frailing, is a distinctive banjo playing style and a common component of American old-time music. The principal difference between clawhammer style and other styles is the picking direct ...
banjo and fiddle player. After gaining regional radio fame in the late 1930s as head of the
Coon Creek Girls The Coon Creek Girls were a popular all-female "string band" in the Appalachian style of folk music (a precursor of country music) which began in the mid-1930s. Created (and named) by John Lair for his Renfro Valley Barn Dance show, the band ori ...
, one of the first all-female
string band A string band is an old-time music or jazz ensemble made up mainly or solely of string instruments. String bands were popular in the 1920s and 1930s, and are among the forerunners of modern country music and bluegrass. While being active countr ...
s to appear on radio, Ledford went on to gain national renown as a solo artist during the American folk music revival of the 1960s. In 1985, she was awarded a
National Heritage Fellowship The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folk and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure award, the Fellowship is the United States government's ...
.Ron Pen, "Lily May Ledford." ''Encyclopedia of Appalachia'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 2006), p. 1181.


Biography


Early life and career

Ledford was born along the banks of the Red River in rural
Powell County, Kentucky Powell County is a county located in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,129. Its county seat is Stanton. The county was formed January 7, 1852, by Kentucky Governor Lazarus W. Powell from parts of ...
in 1917. She was the seventh of fourteen children born to tenant farmer Daw White Ledford and wife Stella May Tackett. Her father taught her to play banjo at a young age, and by age 12 she had learned to play the fiddle. Lily loved the traditional dance tunes, and she often had to sneak off to play at area dances, as her mother considered this type of music to be "old drunkard songs".Cari Norris, Kentucky Folkweb (ed.)
Lily May Ledford as Traditional Artist — excerpt
1998. Retrieved: 2009-09-01.
In 1936, Ledford won a music competition at
Mount Vernon, Kentucky Mount Vernon is a home rule-class city and the seat of Rockcastle County in southeastern Kentucky. The intersection of U.S. Routes 25 and 150 is located here. The population was 2,477 at the time of the 2010 U.S. census. Mount Vernon is part o ...
, and the following year made her radio debut on WLS Chicago's ''
National Barn Dance ''National Barn Dance'', broadcast by WLS-AM in Chicago, Illinois starting in 1924, was one of the first American country music radio programs and a direct precursor of the ''Grand Ole Opry''. ''National Barn Dance'' also set the stage for other ...
''. Shortly after this appearance, she was recruited by John Lair for his new radio program, ''
Renfro Valley Barn Dance ''Renfro Valley Barn Dance'' was an American country music stage and radio show originally carried by WLW-AM in Cincinnati, Ohio on Saturday nights. It debuted on October 9, 1937 from the Cincinnati Music Hall and moved to the Memorial Auditorium i ...
'', which was initially broadcast from
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
and later moved to Mount Vernon. Ledford and Lair formed the Coon Creek Girls, with Lair providing the band's name, even though there was no such place as Coon Creek, as it was typical for early country music producers to give bands colorful rural-sounding names. The Coon Creek Girls originally consisted of Ledford on banjo and vocals, Ledford's sister Rosie on guitar, Evelyn Daisy Lange on bass, and Esther Violet Koehler on mandolin. The band made its radio debut on October 9, 1937. Lange and Koehler left in 1939, and were replaced by Ledford's sister, Minnie. The group performed at the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
in 1939 for President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
and his guests, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.Folk, Country Music Pioneer Lily May Ledford Dies
''Lexington Herald-Ledger'', 1985-07-16. Retrieved: 2009-09-01.
The group made regular appearances on ''Renfro Valley Barn Dance'' until disbanding in 1957.


Folk music revival and later career

In the 1960s, musicologist
Ralph Rinzler Ralph Rinzler (July 20, 1934 – July 2, 1994) was an American mandolin player, folksinger, and the co-founder of the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the Mall every summer in Washington, D.C., where he worked as a curator for American a ...
rediscovered Ledford, and invited her to play at the
Newport Folk Festival Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. It was one of the first modern music festivals in America, and remains a foca ...
in 1968. Delighted by the positive response she received from the folk music movement, Ledford became a regular at folk festivals across the U.S. and Canada, initially with her sisters, and then as a solo artist when her sisters were unable to join her. In 1971, she appeared at the "Man and His World Festival" in
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
, and she played at the
Smithsonian Folklife Festival The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, launched in 1967, is an international exhibition of living cultural heritage presented annually in the summer in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is held on the National Mall for two weeks around the F ...
in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
the following year. In 1976, Ledford toured the Western U.S. and Canada with
Mike Seeger Mike Seeger (August 15, 1933August 7, 2009) was an American folk musician and folklorist. He was a distinctive singer and an accomplished musician who played autoharp, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, guitar, mouth harp, mandolin, dobro, jaw harp, a ...
's Old-Time Music Festival. In 1979, while on tour with the
Red Clay Ramblers The Red Clay Ramblers are a North Carolina-based band founded in Durham, North Carolina, performing continuously since their formation in 1972. The current touring band has been together since 1987, with Jack Herrick (trumpet, bass), Bland Simpson ...
, Ledford recorded an album, ''Banjo Pickin' Girl'', that was released on the Greenhays label in 1983. Around the same period, she appeared at the
Mariposa Folk Festival Mariposa Folk Festival is a Canadian music festival founded in 1961 in Orillia, Ontario. It was held in Orillia for three years before being banned because of disturbances by festival-goers. After being held in various places in Ontario for a f ...
in
Orillia Orillia is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is in Simcoe County between Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a single-tier municipality. It is part of the Huronia region of ...
. In the early 1980s, author Loyal Jones interviewed Ledford extensively as part of research conducted with a grant from the
National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
, and broadcast the interviews on
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
. In 1980,
Berea College Berea College is a private liberal arts work college in Berea, Kentucky. Founded in 1855, Berea College was the first college in the Southern United States to be coeducational and racially integrated. Berea College charges no tuition; every a ...
published ''Coon Creek Girl'', an autobiography Ledford had written in the late 1970s. Ledford stopped performing in 1983, when she was diagnosed with
lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...
. Just before her death in 1985, she was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. Ledford inspired a generation of younger folk musicians, including
Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...
.


Repertoire

Ledford typically played a five-string banjo in the frailing, or "clawhammer" style taught to her by her father. She also occasionally played the fiddle. Notable recordings include versions of the old world ballad "
Pretty Polly Pretty Polly may refer to: * "Pretty Polly" (ballad) * ''Pretty Polly'' (film) * ''Pretty Polly'' (opera) * Pretty Polly (horse) Pretty Polly (March 1901 – 17 August 1931) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and bro ...
" and folk songs such as "
Darling Cory "Darlin' Cory" (also "Darling Corey" or "Darling Cora") (Roud 5723) is a well-known American folk song about love, loss, and moonshine. It is similar in theme to "Little Maggie" and "The Gambling Man" but is not considered the same as those songs. ...
", "Jim Along Josey," and "Kitty Clyde". Her fiddle recordings include a rendition of the folk song "Cackling Hen". In the 1970s and early 1980s, Ledford played at a relatively leisurely pace, often stopping to give extensive background information about the songs she was playing.


Discography


Coon Creek Girls

*''Coon Creek Girls: Lily May, Rosie, & Susie'' (1968, County Records 712) *''Early Radio Favorites'' (1982/1983, Old Homestead Records OHCS 142)


Solo albums

*''Banjo Pickin' Girl'' (1983, Greenhays Recordings GR712) *''Gems: Lily May Ledford'' (2000, June Appal Recordings JA 0078D)


Further reading

*''Kentucky Country: Folk and Country Music of Kentucky'' (1982)


References


External links

* *
Lily May Ledford Music and Heritage Festival
— annual festival held at Kentucky's Natural Bridge State Park
Lily May Ledford Collection
— archive at Berea College
Berea College Sound Archives
— contains several dozen mp3 recordings of Lily May Ledford and the Coon Creek Girls {{DEFAULTSORT:Ledford, Lily People from Powell County, Kentucky National Heritage Fellowship winners American banjoists Musicians from Kentucky 1917 births 1985 deaths Musicians from Appalachia 20th-century American musicians