Waits and Melissa Ledford, Steve Ledford, seated at the old Cloudland Hotel Site.

Mitchell County has produced many fine musicians, especially those playing traditional Appalachian music and Bluegrass.  One family with its share and more of talented musicians was the Ledford family of Glen Ayre.  The father of this musical family was A.W. (Amos Waits) Ledford (1879-19430, the son of Reuben G. and Millie Freeman Ledford.  The mother was Melissa Edney Ledford (1880-1970), daughter of Marvel Napoleon Bonaparte and Matilda Biddix Edney.

A.W. and Melissa had a dozen children, born 1896 through 1922; they were sons Smith, George, Frank, Steve, Taft, Charlie, and Wayne and daughters Dona, Rettie, Maggie Ellen, Zelma Jane, and Dovie.  In a 1980 interview, Wayne Ledford said, “We were all musicians, five girls and seven boys.”  His mother didn’t play, he said, but his father did, in a tradition going back at least 4 generations.

Perhaps the best known of the Ledford siblings was “Fiddlin’ Steve Ledford (born 1906).  He began winning fiddling contests when he was eight years old.  Steve performed with several of his brothers and sisters at one-room schools around Glen Ayre and Roan Mountain, TN, and played live at radio stations from Asheville and Roanoke to Chicago and New York.

Playing not only the fiddle but also the banjo and guitar, the Ledfords were part of string bands through the years, including the Ledford String Band, Carolina Ramblers, the Smiling Rangers, and the Glen Ayre Ramblers.  Working with well-known musicians such as Bill Monroe and A.P. and Maybelle Carter, the Ledfords helped popularize traditional Appalachian music.  They sang, shared, and recorded music from earlier generations that might otherwise have been lost.  In addition, their original tunes and their styles of playing continue to inspire musicians today.