Worked with Hank Garland on some of the first Osborne Brothers MGM recordings that utilized electric instrumentation.
He was the Grand Ole Opry's oldest regular performer at the time of his death. He joined the show's cast with his brother Sonny in 1964 and last appeared on its stage a month before his death.
He started out in the late 1940s as a guitarist with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, along with his brother Sonny on banjo.