Ola Belle Reed

North Carolina · born or raised1916–2002

American folk singer, songwriter and banjo player (1916–2002)

Born in Lansing
Born in Grassy Creek

Quotations with a citation

You don’t change that much. I could stay away from the mountains a lifetime, and I can still see, know, feel the things that I grew up with. And our way of life was embedded into you so strong that you just naturally knew it. You didn’t have to be told.

And if I would be away a hundred years, I don’t think I’d ever forget a minute of it.

Whether they were right, whether they were wrong, they were devoted, dedicated, because they felt that when they went to the church, they felt that they had something more to live for, more to hang on to, because life was, if you look at it right, it was hard. Survival. It was really hard, but it surely was great.

And I think they played for enjoyment, rather than for money, and that’s how they kept it alive.

And I never forgot that, because I know people now that were born and raised where I was born and raised, that don’t know about their place.