George Shuffler, pioneering cross picking guitarist and one of the memorable personalities in bluegrass music, will be acknowledged by the North Carolina Arts Council with its annual Folk Heritage Award on October 25 in Raleigh, NC.

Shuffler will lunch with NC Governor Mike Easly on the 24th, and receive his award the following day.

Shuffler spent 18 years as a member of The Stanley Brothers in the 1950s and 1960s where his cross picking lead guitar technique was a distinctive aspect of the band’s sound. The technique involves using a flatpick jumping across three or more strings to mimic the rolling sound of the 5 string banjo. This cross picking style mixes a basic melody with “fill notes” for an eighth note flurry that has been replicated and honed to this day.

Here is a YouTube clip taken from his instructional DVD with James Allen Shelton, Clinch Mountain Guitar.