American fiddle player (1928-2005) whose musical career spanned 5 decades, 5 Grammy nominations, and over 2000 recordings. He signed his first major label deal with Mercury/Polygram in 1973; he then recorded 27 solo albums featuring his versatile fiddle playing in such styles as country, waltzes, traditional bluegrass, swing and jazz.
Clements started with Bill Monroe as a Blue Grass Boy in 1949 and was with him through 1956, after which he performed with Jim & Jesse McReynolds until 1961. In 1972 his work with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on Will the Circle Be Unbroken? led to a new audience discovering him, as well as to gigs with Paul McCartney, the Grateful Dead, and the Allman Brothers. In May of 1973, he joined Old and In The Way, a bluegrass band that featured David Grisman,
Jerry Garcia and Peter Rowan. In addition to the violin, Clements could play viola, cello, bass, mandolin, guitar and tenor banjo.