Shelor Family

about

Jesse Shelor (born December, 1894) was the youngest boy of the fourteen children of Reverend William Ellis Shelor. Even though all of Jesse's brothers played fiddle or banjo, it was not their influence, but rather a more startling event that started ten year old Jesse fiddling. Dad BlackardOne day Jesse's father came home, picked up a fiddle, and played "Callahan". This impressed young Jesse greatly since he had no idea his father played! Community pressure against a Baptist minister playing the "Devil's Box" was strong. Even though this was the only time Jesse heard his father play, he never forgot that tune! After Jesse began playing, he learned a great deal from the great local fiddler, Wallace Spangler. Twelve year old Jesse, who came up to big 240 pound Wallace's waist, came to be known as "Little Dad" and Wallace as "Big Dad". Wallace was so well known that even Taylor Kimble had heard him play and knew him as a man of quick wit, especially when probed about the growth on his nose. One young smart aleck asked him, "Why is that rum bob on your nose so big? Wallace immediately replied, "Well, I gave it a chance to grow by not sticking it in other people’s business." In addition to helping Jesse with his music, Wallace taught his two sons, Tump and Babe, to play fiddle. Babe appears on "The Virginia Old Time Fiddlers" record, County #201. In the years 1906-1914, the Shelor family spent time in the factory towns of Danville, Virginia and Spray, North Carolina working in th

top songs

albums

R. Crumb's Heroes Of Blues, Jazz & Country

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RCA Country Legends: The Bristol Sessions, Vol. 1

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Bristol Sessions (Vol.1)

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Virginia Traditions: Blue Ridge Piano Styles

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The Bristol Sessions, Vol. 1

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Bristol Sessions

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The Bristol Sessions [Disc 2]

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Times Ain't Like They Used To Be: Early American Rural Music, Vol. 2

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r. Crumb's Heroes

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Misc

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1920's Country

The Bristol Sessions

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