Join
John Ray "Curly" Seckler

John Ray "Curly" Seckler

Musician · 1919–2017 · China Grove, North Carolina
Best known for Mandolin Lead Vocals Harmony Vocals

Curly Seckler was one of the purest tenor voices in bluegrass history — a mandolinist and singer whose crystalline tenor harmony defined the classic Flatt and Scruggs sound through the 1950s and early 1960s, and who later led Lester Flatt's Nashville Grass through nearly two decades of keeping traditional bluegrass alive. Lester Flatt called him the greatest tenor singer in bluegrass music; his 77-year career spanned from pre-bluegrass hillbilly string bands to the 21st century.

  • Born John Ray Sechler (later spelled Seckler) in China Grove, North Carolina, on Christmas Day 1919. Grew up in a large musical family: father Calvin played old-time fiddle, harmonica, and autoharp; mother Carrie taught him organ. Worked a life of labor in a local cotton mill with his brothers while developing his music.
  • Formed the Yodeling Rangers with his brothers by age 18. Played WSTP radio in Salisbury, North Carolina on a program sponsored by Russell Furniture Company — paid in furniture rather than cash.
  • Borrowed $42 from a sponsor to buy his first mandolin. Played with Charlie Monroe's Kentucky Pardners in 1939; recorded “Mother's Not Dead, She's Only Sleeping” and “There's No Depression in Heaven” with Charlie in Atlanta.
  • Teamed with Mac Wiseman in 1947 at WCYB Bristol. Then joined Hoke Jenkins's Smoky Mountaineers at WGAC Augusta, Georgia — a band that at various points included Jim and Jesse McReynolds. The close tenor-baritone-lead blend with the McReynolds brothers foreshadowed his later bluegrass harmony work.
  • Joined Flatt and Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys on March 17, 1949. Left after about a year over a minor disagreement with Lester Flatt; spent 1951 briefly with Jim and Jesse and the Virginia Boys (writing “Purple Heart” for their first Capitol session).
  • Rejoined the Foggy Mountain Boys in late 1951 just as the band entered its most prosperous and creative decade. Recorded over 130 songs with Flatt and Scruggs 1951–1962, including “Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms,” “My Little Girl in Tennessee,” “Cabin on the Hill,” and the foundational gospel quartet recordings.
  • Was present when Flatt and Scruggs joined Martha White Flour and moved from Knoxville to Nashville in 1953. Traveled over 100,000 miles a year with the band playing schoolhouses, theaters, radio, and TV stations across the Southeast.
  • Left Flatt and Scruggs in 1962 and stepped back from full-time music for over a decade. Worked outside music while occasionally recording and performing.
  • Lester Flatt called him back in 1973 to join the Nashville Grass. When Lester died in 1979, Flatt had requested the band continue under Seckler's leadership. The band became “Curly Seckler and the Nashville Grass,” later partnered with lead singer Willis Spears on January 1, 1987.
  • Led the Nashville Grass through 1994, keeping a disciplined traditional bluegrass sound at festivals and in recordings across the 1980s and early 1990s.
  • Returned to the stage in later years. Released Sixty Years of Bluegrass with My Friends (Copper Creek, 2005) featuring collaborations with Marty Stuart, Ricky Skaggs, Josh Graves, and others.
  • Inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 2004. Inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2010.
  • Subject of Penny Parsons's 2016 biography Foggy Mountain Troubadour: The Life and Music of Curly Seckler (University of Illinois Press).
  • Died in his sleep on December 27, 2017 in Hendersonville, Tennessee, two days after his 98th birthday — making him one of the longest-lived first-generation bluegrass musicians.

Roulette Settings

Calculating…
Popularity
Type
Genres
Bluegrass
Folk
Country
Old-Time
Other
Popularity
Difficulty
Type
Key
Featured Instruments
Origin
All Instrument Tuner
Metronome
Chord Finder

Share Playlist