First-generation bluegrass musician Curly Seckler, whose percussive mandolin chop was an integral part of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs’ sound in the 1950s, died Wednesday morning. He was 98 years old ...

Jon C. Lakey photo In an Aug. 2, 2003, file photo, John ‘Curly’ Seckler holds a mandolin on the front porch of his sister’s house off Lipe Road, near where he grew up. He used to play with the famous ...

In recent years, Curly Seckler’s friends and family gathered on New Year’s Day to celebrate the life of the bluegrass great with songs, stories and birthday cake. This year was the first time he ...

Bluegrass pioneer Curly Seckler’s death, which happened Dec. 27 in Nashville at age 98, was not unexpected. But it was still dreaded by many in the bluegrass world – especially by his biographer, ...

Curly Seckler isn’t necessarily a household name, not like fellow bluegrassers Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, Lester Flatt or Earl Scruggs. But at one point or another, Seckler, born near China Grove, in ...