Born in Cherokee, North Carolina, United States,[1] Moody got his start in the late 1930s in the string band J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers.
[1] In September 1940 he joined Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys on the Grand Ole Opry.
He appeared on Monroe's first solo recording session for RCA Victor's Bluebird label on October 7 of that year, playing guitar and singing lead vocals and bass on the Blue Grass Quartet's first recording ("Cryin' Holy Unto My Lord").
[3] Upon his departure from the Blue Grass Boys in 1944, he remained at WSM and the Opry for several years as a solo artist.
[4] Some of his career highlights include appearing in the White House three times and writing and recording the million-seller "Shenandoah Waltz" in 1947.