[3] In 1936, Ledford won a music competition at Mount Vernon, Kentucky, and the following year made her radio debut on WLS Chicago's National Barn Dance.
[4] Shortly after this appearance, she was recruited by John Lair for his new radio program, Renfro Valley Barn Dance, which was initially broadcast from Cincinnati and later moved to Mount Vernon.
The group performed at the White House in 1939 for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his guests, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
In 1979, while on tour with the Red Clay Ramblers, Ledford recorded an album, Banjo Pickin' Girl, that was released on the Greenhays label in 1983.
Just before her death in 1985, she was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship,[2][3] which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.
Notable recordings include versions of the old world ballad "Pretty Polly" and folk songs such as "Darling Cory", "Jim Along Josey," and "Kitty Clyde".