Lily May Ledford

Lily May Ledford
Birth nameLily May Ledford
Also known asLily May Pennington (married name)
Born(1917-03-17)March 17, 1917
Powell County, Kentucky, U.S.
DiedJuly 14, 1985(1985-07-14) (aged 68)
Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
GenresAppalachian folk
Instrument(s)Banjo, fiddle
Years activec. 1937–1957, 1968–1983
LabelsGreenhays, June Appal

Lily May Ledford (March 17, 1917 – July 14, 1985) was an American clawhammer banjo and fiddle player.[1] After gaining regional radio fame in the late 1930s as head of the Coon Creek Girls, one of the first all-female string bands to appear on radio, Ledford went on to gain national renown as a solo artist during the American folk music revival of the 1960s. In 1985, she was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship.[2]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference nhf was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Ron Pen, "Lily May Ledford." Encyclopedia of Appalachia (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 2006), p. 1181.