French (Curley) Mitchell was a well-known American fiddler from Buffalo, West Virginia.
French played the fiddle for more than 60 years and was a regular at the annual Vandalia Gathering on the statehouse grounds in Charleston.
His first professional music job came in the mid-20s, when he and his brother, Auvil, and a banjo player formed the Buffalo Nighthawks and played on The Old Farm Hour on Charleston radio station WOBU.
[2] The Mitchell brothers went on to play in Columbus, Ohio, and later in Wheeling on the WWVA Jamboree with Cowboy Loye and Tex Harrison.
He has one track (Turkey in the Straw) on the LP called "The Music Never Dies: A Vandalia Sampler, 1977-1987" (Elderberry ER004).