Reed was born Ola Wave Campbell[2] in the unincorporated town of Grassy Creek, Ashe County, North Carolina.
[3][4][5][6] As a young child, Reed learned the clawhammer-style banjo and with her musical family sang old-time songs from the mountain region where they lived.
On her mother's side, family member Bob Ingraham taught singing schools and her uncle Herb Osborne was versed in mining songs.
[13] In January 2011, Ola Belle Reed's Rising Sun Melodies won The 10th Annual Independent Music Awards in the Reissue category.
[14] Her song "High on a Mountain" was sung by the character Mags Bennett on the TV series Justified.
On August 21, 2015, Dust-to-Digital released the hardcover book / 2-CD set Ola Belle Reed and Southern Mountain Music on the Mason-Dixon Line by Henry Glassie, Clifford Murphy and Douglas Dowling Peach.