{{Short description|American musician (1912–1982)}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Kyle Creed | image = | caption = | image_size = | birth_name = Andy Kyle Creed | alias = | birth_place = Round Peak, North Carolina, U.S.A. | birth_date = {{Birth date|1912|9|20}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|1982|11|22|1912|9|20|mf=yes}} | instrument = Banjo, fiddle | genre = Old-time | occupation = Carpenter, Luthier | years_active = | label = Mountain Records | associated_acts = Camp Creek Boys | website = }} '''Kyle Creed''' (1912–1982) was an influential musician and banjo luthier of 20th century Appalachia.<ref>"Kyle Creed," Encyclopedia of Appalachia, 2011, Encyclopedia of Appalachia. 7 Jul 2011 <http://www.encyclopediaofappalachia.com/entry.php?rec=64 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008062823/http://www.encyclopediaofappalachia.com/entry.php?rec=64 |date=2018-10-08 }}></ref> Along with Tommy Jarrell, and Fred Cockerham, he was a central figure of the Roundpeak-style old-time music that began to find an outside audience in the 1960s, and his clawhammer banjo playing came to shape banjo practices in the Old-time music tradition.<ref>{{cite book|last=Carlin|first=Bob and Dan Levenson|title=Kyle Creed: Clawhammer Banjo Master|year=2010|publisher=Mel Bay|isbn=978-0-7866-8271-3|pages=6}}</ref>
==Biography== He was born in the Round Peak area of Surry County, North Carolina on September 20, 1912, becoming immersed in the traditional music of the region from an early age.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Faurot|first=Charlie|author2=Tom Mylet |author3=Kirk Sutphin |title=Kyle Creed: A 1966 Interview|journal=Old-Time Herald|date=December 2009|volume=12|issue=2|pages=23–32|url=http://proxygsu-gai1.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=47529705&site=ehost-live}}</ref> Creed was a multi-instrumentalist but concentrated on clawhammer banjo, playing in various groups such as the Camp Creek Boys<ref>"Kyle Creed," Encyclopedia of Appalachia, 2011, Encyclopedia of Appalachia. 7 Jul 2011 <http://www.encyclopediaofappalachia.com/entry.php?rec=64 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008062823/http://www.encyclopediaofappalachia.com/entry.php?rec=64 |date=2018-10-08 }}></ref> and winning the prestigious Galax, VA Old Fiddler's Convention banjo competition in multiple consecutive years<ref>{{cite web|title=Winners|url=http://www.oldfiddlersconvention.com/winners.htm|publisher=Old Fiddler's Convention, Galax, Virginia|accessdate=2011-07-07}}</ref> He also operated a music store and built banjos for other players of the style. His work as a luthier continues to influence preferences and standards in open back banjo construction and sound.<ref>{{cite book|last=Carlin|first=Bob and Dan Levenson|title=Kyle Creed: Clawhammer Banjo Master|year=2010|publisher=Mel Bay|isbn=978-0-7866-8271-3|pages=6}}</ref>
Particularly influential was Creed's novel practice of executing the right hand playing motion over the highest frets of the banjo fretboard as opposed to the standard method of striking the strings directly above the banjo head.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Faurot|first=Charlie|author2=Tom Mylet |author3=Kirk Sutphin |title=Kyle Creed: A 1966 Interview|journal=Old-Time Herald|date=December 2009|volume=12|issue=2|pages=23–32|url=http://proxygsu-gai1.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=47529705&site=ehost-live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Burke|first=John|title=John Burke's Book of Old Time Fiddle Tunes for Banjo|year=1968|publisher=Amsco|location=N.Y.|isbn=978-0-8256-2801-6|pages=49}}</ref> Kyle Creed recorded individually and with the Camp Creek Boys and is included in the Library of Congress Archive of Folk Culture and the seminal ''County Records Clawhammer Banjo'' series.
He died November 26, 1982.<ref>"Kyle Creed," Encyclopedia of Appalachia, 2011, Encyclopedia of Appalachia. 7 Jul 2011 <http://www.encyclopediaofappalachia.com/entry.php?rec=64 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008062823/http://www.encyclopediaofappalachia.com/entry.php?rec=64 |date=2018-10-08 }}></ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Biography}} *Wade Ward *Clawhammer *Old-time music
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.unc.edu/~pmitchel/oldindex.html/ Kyle Creed MP3 Collection]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Creed, Kyle}} Category:American banjoists Category:Old-time musicians Category:Musicians from North Carolina Category:Appalachian old-time fiddlers Category:1912 births Category:1982 deaths Category:20th-century American fiddlers Category:People from Surry County, North Carolina