A drifter and itinerant musician, Byrd Moore was born (as William B. Moore) in 1899 in Blackwater, VA, although nothing about Moore's life is certain except for the music he made. A passable guitarist and singer, he drifted through Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee most of his life, making money as a barber when he wasn't playing music. He recorded countless sides in the 1920s and 1930s, often working as a sideman, and he performed regularly with banjo player Dock Boggs in the Wise County, KY, area. He also worked with Clarence (Tom) Ashley, and as Byrd Moore's Hot Shots they recorded the spooky "Frankie Silvers" for Columbia Records in 1929. Moore was in ill health and living in the Wise County Poorhouse by the late '40s, where he is said to have died in 1949. ~ Steve Leggett