Born on July 16, 1915 in the heart of Southern Appalacjoa. Fred Price heard his mother sing old time mountain songs and pick the banjo when he was still a babe in arms.

Fred's father encouraged his son to take up the fiddle, which he carried in a sack when he visited his sisters on Sundays.When Fred entered the US Army during World War II, he was already a skilled fiddler; he entertained his fellow soldiers by playing old time fiddle tunes.

When he returned from service, Fred courted and married Mattie Howard, a first cousin of his friend and future playing partner Clint Howard in 1948. Fred and Clint met and played with Arthel "Doc" Watson from Deep Gap, North Carolina. When their neighbor Clarence Ashley, a veteran old time country musician was rediscovered by folk mysic collector Ralph Rinzler in 1960, Fred, Cllnt and Doc became Ashley's backup band. Never a fulltime professional musician, Fred Price made his living as a farmer and school bus driver. He died where he was born on September 13,1987.