Threlkeld, Buford aka "Whistler"
(born: 1893 - died: 1935)Buford Threlkeld, born in Eminence, KY, was a guitarist, nose-whistle player, and singer. He moved to Louisville, KY around 1915 and formed a jug band that played for all types of occasions. It was also in Louisville that he began playing the nose whistle. The jug band, which cut a record in 1924, is thought to be the first jug band to be recorded.
A few years before his death, Threlkeld left Louisville for New York. Buford Threlkeld was in Manhattan, NY when he died from tuberculosis on September 1, 1935 [sources: New York Death Index (in Ancestry); and Find A Grave]. He is buried in City Cemetery at Hart Island, New York.
For more see "Whistler" in Oxford Music Online (database); "Foldin' Bed," by Whistler and His Jug Band, on YouTube; "Whistler's Jug Band" in The Red Hot Jazz Archive at web.archive.org; and additional information and images at Buford "Whistler" Threlkeld at Find A Grave.
