Clarence “Tom” Ashley, a banjo player and guitarist from Mountain City, Tennessee, got his start in the medicine show circuit in the late 20s, but was “rediscovered” in the Folk Revival of the 1960s. Ashley’s famous solo recordings are “Dark Holler Blues” and its flip-side, “The Coo-Coo Bird,” both eerie clawhammer banjo performances recorded in 1929. In the 1960s, Ashley recorded with Doc Watson, then at the beginning of his career. Their record on the Folkways label, “Old-Time Music at Clarence Ashley’s,” remains a classic.