Reed was a blind street musician and fiddler from Pipestem (Summers County). He wrote and recorded songs in the late 1920s about real-life events and issues. Even though he was born in Virginia, he spent most of his life in West Virginia.

In 1927, he recorded his song "The Wreck of the Virginian" in Bristol, Tennessee. Some of his other songs were also about local tragedies, such as mine disasters. Others shared strong opinions, like "Why Do You Bob Your Hair, Girls?" and “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?”

Reed was very religious and worked as a Methodist lay preacher. He sometimes performed with his son Arville and a neighbor as the West Virginia Night Owls. In 1998, all of his songs were released on CD, and in 2007, he was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.