Ola Belle Reed (August 18, 1916 – August 16, 2002) was an American

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

singer, songwriter and

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

player.

Early life

Reed was born Ola Wave Campbell in the unincorporated town of Grassy Creek, Ashe County,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, to Arthur Campbell and Ellen Campbell (née Osborne). She was the fourth of thirteen children. As a young child, Reed learned the clawhammer-style banjo and with her musical family sang old-time songs from the mountain region where they lived. Several family members on both sides of her family played instruments and sang. Reed's paternal grandfather, Alexander Campbell, played the fiddle. Her father played several instruments including the fiddle, banjo, guitar, and organ. Her uncle, Dockery Campbell, is credited with teaching Reed the clawhammer style. On her mother's side, family member Bob Ingraham taught singing schools and her uncle Herb Osborne was versed in mining songs. Reed learned ballads and songs from her mother and grandmother.

Career

When she was a teenager, Reed's family moved to Southern Pennsylvania. In the mid-1930s, Reed joined The North Carolina Ridge Runners. She later formed the band, The New River Boys and Girls, with her brother, Alex Campbell, which went on to open the New River Ranch in Rising Sun, Maryland, a music park that hosted many well known performers until being destroyed in 1958. They went on to be the "house band" and broadcast live shows at another music park called Sunset Park in West Grove, Pennsylvania. Reed's songs often speak of Appalachian life and traditions. Her best-known songs have been recorded by mainstream bluegrass and country artists. "High on a Mountain" has been recorded by

Del McCoury Delano Floyd McCoury (born February 1, 1939) is an American bluegrass musician. As leader of the Del McCoury Band, he plays guitar and sings lead vocals along with his two sons, Ronnie McCoury and Rob McCoury, who play mandolin and banjo respec ...

, Tim O'Brien, and

Marty Stuart John Marty Stuart (born September 30, 1958) is an American country and bluegrass music singer, songwriter, and musician. Active since 1968, Stuart initially toured with Lester Flatt, and then in Johnny Cash's road band before beginning work as a ...

; "I've Endured" has been recorded by

as well as Tim O'Brien. The New York-based folk music group

Ollabelle Ollabelle is a New York-based folk music group named after the influential Appalachian songwriter Ola Belle Reed. The group is composed of five singing multi-instrumentalists hailing from disparate parts of the United States, Canada and Austral ...

is named after Reed. The annual Ola Belle Reed Music Festival in

Lansing, North Carolina Lansing is a town in Ashe County, North Carolina, Ashe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 126 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The town of Lansing was incorporated May 16, 1928. Lansing has one stop ...

, celebrates her life and music.

Honors

* 1978: University of Maryland, Honorary doctorate * 1986: NEA

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 h ...

* 1988: Distinguished Achievement Award, International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), first woman so honored ( https://ibma.org/awards-by-year/ ) * 2019: The

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

selected her 1973 album ''Ola Belle Reed'' to be added to the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...

Personal life

In 1949, Reed married Ralph "Bud" Reed. They had two sons, Ralph and David. She had a stroke in 1987 that left her unable to continue to perform music. She died on August 16, 2002, and is buried in West Nottingham Cemetery in West Nottingham, Maryland.

Releases

In 2010, Smithsonian Folkways released ''Rising Sun Melodies'', a collection of 11 songs that appeared on her previous Folkways recordings, plus eight previously unreleased tracks that were recorded at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in the 1970s. Among the musicians accompanying her on the album were her brother Alex Campbell, her husband Bud Reed, her son Dave Reed, and the husband and wife team of John Coffey and Betsy Rutherford. In January 2011, Ola Belle Reed's ''Rising Sun Melodies'' won The 10th Annual Independent Music Awards in the Reissue category. Her song "High on a Mountain" was sung by the character Mags Bennett on the TV series '' Justified''. The same song was used in a dramatic scene in the penultimate episode of '' Fargo'', season 4. On August 21, 2015,

Dust-to-Digital Dust-to-Digital is a record company that specializes in documenting the history of American popular music, including historical recordings of blues, gospel, and country music. Their method combines rare recordings with historic images, photograp ...

released the hardcover book / 2-CD set ''Ola Belle Reed and Southern Mountain Music on the Mason-Dixon Line'' by

Henry Glassie Henry Glassie (born 24 March 1941) College Professor Emeritus at Indiana University Bloomington, has done fieldwork on five continents and written books on the full range of folkloristic interest, from drama, song, and story to craft, art, and archi ...

, Clifford Murphy and Douglas Dowling Peach.

Discography

* 1962: ''Sixteen Radio Requests Favorites'' (

Starday Records Starday Records was an American record label producing traditional country music during the 1950s and 1960s. History The label began in 1952 in Beaumont, Texas, when local businessmen Jack Starnes (Lefty Frizzell's manager) and Houston record di ...

) * 1963: ''Bluegrass Spectacular'' (Starday Records) * 1965: ''Travel On'' (Starday Records) * 1972: ''Ola Belle Reed'' (

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by Al ...

) * 1973: ''Country Bluegrass Jamboree'' (Madbag) * 1976: ''My Epitaph'' (

Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...

) * 1978: ''Ola Belle & Bud Reed, All in One Evening'' (Folkways Records) * 1978: ''The Old-Time Banjo in America'' (Kicking Mule) * 1978: ''Ola Belle Reed & Family'' (Rounder Records)

References

External links

Ola Belle Reed Collection, 1969–1979 (#20010)
at the

Southern Folklife Collection The Southern Folklife Collection is an archival resource at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, dedicated to collecting, preserving and disseminating traditional and vernacular music, art, and culture related to the American South. ...

Wilson Library The Louis Round Wilson Library is a library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Completed in 1929, it served as the university's main library until 1984. Today, it houses several special collections. The dome rises 85 feet over the ...

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

Jason Pate Collection (#Coll123)
at Maryland Traditions Archives, Special Collections,

University of Maryland, Baltimore County The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Ola Belle 1916 births 2002 deaths American folk singers American banjoists People from Ashe County, North Carolina Musicians from Appalachia 20th-century American singers National Heritage Fellowship winners