Biography
Hailing from Sunshine, North Carolina, the banjoist cut sides under his own name for multiple storied regional bluegrass labels while also serving as a supporting musician on dozens of recordings by outfits like the Carlisles, where he performed on both banjo and mandolin. He first took up the banjo in childhood, and residence near Snuffy Jenkins exposed him to decisive influence from that old-time master. Grayson launched his professional career alongside the Carlisles led by brothers Bill and Louis Carlisle; at the time he was 18 or 19 and promptly abandoned mill employment after sampling the musical life. Between the 1930s and the 1950s he worked steadily as a full-time player, including a six-year stretch with the Carlisles. When not on the road he lived in Charlotte and performed locally with the Briarhoppers, an old-time string band that also played mainstream bluegrass, broadcasting on North Carolina outlets such as WBT. Three years of that association brought East Coast tours reaching from Washington down to Florida. On occasion the ensemble’s popularity required two separate touring units, each augmented by additional pickers, prompting Grayson’s remark in an interview that “You couldn’t tell one from the other hardly. It took almost an expert to tell one from the other.”
His flair for comedy supplied another dimension, possibly coloring the prior observation. Grayson belonged to the hillbilly comedy troupe Hot Shot Elmer’s Family, whose members appeared barefoot, disheveled, and wildly unrestrained; their midday broadcasts over WNOX in Knoxville offered lunchtime listeners a favored diversion. In the early 1950s he fronted the Golden Valley Boys, whose repertoire centered on gospel numbers alongside occasional brisk banjo instrumentals. The project sought a fresh blend of vocal quartet and string band and yielded one notably bold track, “If You Don’t Love Your Neighbor,” whose pointed social message stands out within bluegrass gospel. Mandolinist Millard Presley and Dewey Price, who supplied tenor vocals and rhythm guitar, numbered among the personnel. Unlike many contemporaries, the Golden Valley Boys avoided ongoing radio sponsorships and instead appeared at special events, frequently sharing bills with early country singer Carl Story. Eight releases on the widely circulated RCA label plus four more for King generated steady bookings and apparently reliable income for the musicians and their leader. Jukeboxes across Appalachia commonly featured Grayson’s singles, yet the resulting visibility prompted him to exit the business by the 1960s in order to preserve family ties; he took up cabinetmaking while remaining a familiar figure at Charlotte-area bluegrass gatherings.
His flair for comedy supplied another dimension, possibly coloring the prior observation. Grayson belonged to the hillbilly comedy troupe Hot Shot Elmer’s Family, whose members appeared barefoot, disheveled, and wildly unrestrained; their midday broadcasts over WNOX in Knoxville offered lunchtime listeners a favored diversion. In the early 1950s he fronted the Golden Valley Boys, whose repertoire centered on gospel numbers alongside occasional brisk banjo instrumentals. The project sought a fresh blend of vocal quartet and string band and yielded one notably bold track, “If You Don’t Love Your Neighbor,” whose pointed social message stands out within bluegrass gospel. Mandolinist Millard Presley and Dewey Price, who supplied tenor vocals and rhythm guitar, numbered among the personnel. Unlike many contemporaries, the Golden Valley Boys avoided ongoing radio sponsorships and instead appeared at special events, frequently sharing bills with early country singer Carl Story. Eight releases on the widely circulated RCA label plus four more for King generated steady bookings and apparently reliable income for the musicians and their leader. Jukeboxes across Appalachia commonly featured Grayson’s singles, yet the resulting visibility prompted him to exit the business by the 1960s in order to preserve family ties; he took up cabinetmaking while remaining a familiar figure at Charlotte-area bluegrass gatherings.