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Ola Belle Reed

Recording Artist · Active 1973–2002 · Also a musician
Old-Time (Traditional) Folk Revival

Ola Belle Reed was a North Carolina-born clawhammer banjoist and singer-songwriter whose 1916 birth in Ashe County and 1934 family migration to the Maryland/Pennsylvania bluegrass-and-old-time circuit anchored New River Ranch in Rising Sun, Maryland — an NEA National Heritage Fellow (1986) and composer of "High on a Mountain."

  • Born Ola Wave Campbell on August 18, 1916 in Grassy Creek, Ashe County, North Carolina; fourth of thirteen children in a musical family.
  • Learned clawhammer banjo from her uncle Dockery Campbell as a young child; later learned guitar and organ from her aunt Ellen.
  • Played in The North Carolina Ridge Runners in the mid-1930s after her family migrated to the Maryland/Delaware/Pennsylvania region.
  • After marrying Bud Reed in 1949, co-founded The New River Boys & Girls with brother Alex Campbell and operated New River Ranch in Rising Sun, Maryland — a major mid-Atlantic bluegrass/old-time music park in the 1950s.
  • Composed "High on a Mountain," famously recorded by Del McCoury, Marty Stuart (1992 country hit), and Tim O'Brien; also wrote "I've Endured."
  • Awarded the NEA National Heritage Fellowship in 1986 and the IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award in 1988 (first woman recipient).
  • Received an honorary doctorate from the University of Maryland in 1978.
  • Suffered a stroke in 1987 that ended her performing career; died August 16, 2002, two days before her 86th birthday.

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