Vassar Clements made his professional debut at the age of 14 playing the Grand Ole Opry with Bill Monroe, with whom he toured and recorded for more than 15 years. He has performed on more than 4,000 recordings with acts as diverse as John Hartford, David Grisman, The Allman Brothers, The Grateful Dead and The Boston Pops. He was a key figure in the classic album "Will The Circle Be Unbroken," and received a Grammy nomination for "Together At Last" with jazz great Stephanie Grappelli.

Vassar's unique style has been termed "Hillbilly Jazz," an amalgam of the diverse influences that have touched him throughout his career - bluegrass, country, swing, blues and jazz, all rolled into a distinctive and now-legendary fiddle sound. Vassar continued to tour and record with his own band and as a feature artist with many other top performers until his death in 2005.