After his appearance with Jesse McReynolds, Bobby Osborne and J.D. Crowe at the IBMA’s FanFest on Saturday night (10/2), Curly Seckler has an appointment this Thursday (10/7) at the David H. Murdock Core Laboratory Building, Kannapolis, North Carolina, where he will be inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame.
Other inductees include Doc Watson, Andy Griffith, George Hamilton IV, Arthur Smith and Don Gibson.
The evening will include a reception and dinner, with a variety of entertainment. Several of the inductees, including Seckler, will perform.
Seckler was born in China Grove, NC on December 25, 1919. He got his start as a professional musician over WSTP radio in Salisbury, North Carolina in 1935. In 1939 he joined Charlie Monroe’s Kentucky Pardners and moved to WWVA in Wheeling, West Virginia. He went on to perform with several of the top first generation bluegrass bands, including Jim & Jesse, the Stanley Brothers, the Sauceman Brothers, and Mac Wiseman & the Country Boys.
In 1949 Seckler joined Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys, as tenor singer and mandolin player. He was an integral part of this group during its most musically productive years. During his tenure they landed a lucrative sponsorship with Martha White Mills and a daily radio show on WSM in Nashville, became members of the Grand Ole Opry, and began a series of highly successful television programs in multiple markets across the Southeast. Seckler remained with the Foggy Mountain Boys for about twelve years, recording over 130 songs with them, many of which have become bluegrass classics.
After Flatt & Scruggs went their separate ways, Seckler joined Lester Flatt’s Nashville Grass. Before Flatt passed away in 1979 he asked Seckler to take over leadership of the band. Seckler continued to lead the Nashville Grass for another 15 years, before retiring from active touring.
In 2004 he was inducted into the IBMA Hall of Fame. That same year he made a series of new recordings and began performing more frequently. His recent appearances have included those at MerleFest in North Carolina, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in California, River of Music Party (ROMP) in Kentucky, the IBMA Awards Show in Nashville and in the Song of the Mountains television series on PBS.
At age 90, Seckler continues to be a creative, hard working entertainer. This year he celebrates his 75th anniversary in music!
You can find more information about the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame by visiting www.northcarolinamusichalloffame.org.
