Clarence Ashley

"Clarence "Tom" Ashley (Sep 29 1895 - Jun 2 1967) was a 20th-century American clawhammer banjo player and singer.

Born in Bristol, Tennessee and nicknamed "Tommy Tiddy Waddy" by his grandfather, Ashley became best known to friends and acquaintances as 'Tom'. He began to play banjo and guitar at a young age, and at 16 joined a traveling medicine show as a banjo-picker and singer. Ashley made his first recordings with Garley Foster and Doc Walsh in 1928. Throughout the late '20s and early '30s, Ashley recorded with Gwen Foster, The Blue Ridge Mountain Entertainers and Byrd Moore & His Hot Shots. He also made solo banjo recordings. He would become well known for his recordings of "The Coo Coo Bird," "The House Carpenter" and "Peg and Awl" (Carolina Tar Heels) which were featured on Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music. For several of his solo songs Ashley used a G-modal banjo tuning that he called the 'sawmill' tuning