Published: Sun, Oct. 21, 2007 12:00AM

Modified Sun, Oct. 21, 2007 01:48AM

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"Ah, that's enough o' that [expletive]," he says with a laugh and puts the guitar away.

Down at the mill

George Shuffler was born in 1925, the second-oldest of nine children, all of them still alive. Long living runs in the family -- his mother and father lived until 93 and 99, respectively -- as does church-singing. After Shuffler left bluegrass, he and his family turned to gospel. He played guitar, his two daughters sang, a son played bass and a nephew played drums.

But back before his music career, Shuffler grew up working tough manual-labor jobs around Valdese. The worst was in a textile mill where he made $30 a week, less than $1 an hour working six days a week. He absolutely hated his boss.

"During the war, when there were shortages, they'd pay time and a half if you did a second shift," he remembers. "So some days, I'd work 16 hours straight through. The owner was a short fellow, white burr head, and I just wanted to knock the snot out of him. I was high-tempered and strong as a young bull, just meaner 'n a snake. Something'd get my back up and I'd get all to cussing and leave. 'One day,' he said, 'there will come a time when I'll fire you.'"

That day came, Shuffler recalls, when World War II ended. So he went to work at the local bakery for "Mr. Jenkins," who was a kinder sort. But that was no more satisfying than working at the mill. So when musical opportunity presented itself, Shuffler jumped on it.

One night, he was at a show in Granite Falls to watch the Bailey Brothers, Danny and Charlie, one of the top hillbilly acts of the time. Their backup band didn't show up, so Shuffler volunteered to fill in on bass.

He acquitted himself well enough for the Bailey Brothers to ask him back the next night, and the night after that. After a week, they asked if he wanted to come to Nashville to play with them on the Grand Ole Opry radio show.

"It was $60 a week," Shuffler says, "and I was making $30 at the bakery. So I could send more home than my dad was making at the mill. I asked my dad what to do and he asked me if this was what I wanted. 'Yeah,' I said, 'it's the only thing I've ever wanted to do.' 'OK, then, be careful and keep in contact.' We pulled into Nashville at 2 o'clock in the afternoon and were onstage that night, playing in front of 3,000 people and on WSM. I was scared to death, knew my mom and dad would be listening. But we got an encore. I was ready to pick all night."

Shuffler spent the next few years playing where he could, including a preacher's tent and Hickory radio station WHKY -- where he met his wife, Sue. They made a date to meet at his next show, but he didn't recognize her because she'd cut her hair.

"He told me he didn't like it," she says now. "I told him I did not care."

It was love at first sight. They've been married 56 years.

Play all day and night

While Shuffler is primarily known for his guitar-playing, some people insist his best instrument is actually bass. Joe Wilson, chairman of the national council for the traditional arts, calls him "one of the best bass players ever." Jim Watson of the Red Clay Ramblers first saw Shuffler playing bass with Ralph Stanley in the late 1960s and was similarly impressed.

"I was just entranced by his playing, it was so good," Watson remembers. "He wasn't just doing this basic thump-thump thing, he was a real accompanist playing a lot of notes without getting in the way of the rest of the music. He used to be legendary for his stamina. He could go all day and all night long playing music."

Shuffler liked to keep as close to home as possible, which is one reason why he spent two decades with the Stanley Brothers, Carter and Ralph. They were based in Bristol, Va., just a few hours drive from Valdese, so the Shuffler family didn't have to move to Nashville.