Curly Seckler

Who is Curly Seckler?

Born John Ray Sechler to Carrie and Calvin Sechler in China Grove, North Carolina, on December 25, 1919, "Curly" was destined to have a huge contribution on Bluegrass music. In his youth and formative years, Curly learned to play music from his parents. His father, Calvin, played old time fiddle, harmonica, and autoharp, while his mother taught him how to play the organ. Curly like most of his local contemporaries, was forced into a life of labor, tirelessly working in a local cotton mill for sustenance with his brothers. However, this laborious sentencing did not retard his musical development, Curly found time to keep up his love for music, expanding his musical knowledge by picking up the five string banjo. Seckler began learning the instrument from local musician, Happy Trexler.