Ralph Stanley › Similar Artists

Larry Sparks - 80% match to Ralph Stanley

15 September 1947, Lebanon, Ohio, USA. After learning to play guitar in his early teens, he first played with local bluegrass and country bands. He made his professional debut at 16, and in the mid-60s, he made some appearances with the Stanley Brothers. In February 1967, following Carter Stanley’s death, he joined Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys. His singing Read more

The Country Gentlemen - 71% match to Ralph Stanley

This bluegrass group were first established in Washington, DC, USA, on 4 July 1957. Over the years, the various line-ups became popular at major folk and bluegrass festivals. When national interest waned somewhat in bluegrass music in the late 60s, the group still managed to exist and were never afraid to use material from a wide variety of writers and genres. When interest in Read more

The Osborne Brothers - 71% match to Ralph Stanley

Bobby Van (7 December 1931; mandolin, vocals) and Sonny (b. 29 October 1937, both at Hyden, Kentucky, USA; banjo, vocals) formed this talented bluegrass duo. Bobby had played with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers in 1949 and in 1951, they recorded as a duo with Jimmy Martin. During Bobby’s military service in 1952, Sonny, though barely 15 years old, was playing and appearing Read more

The Stanley Brothers - 69% match to Ralph Stanley

Carter Glen Stanley (27 August 1925, McClure, Dickenson County, Virginia, USA, d. 1 December 1966, Bristol, Virginia, USA) and his brother Ralph Stanley (b. Ralph Edmond Stanley, 25 February 1927, Big Spraddle Creek, near Stratton, Dickenson County, Virginia, USA). Their father Lee Stanley was a noted singer and their mother played banjo. They learned many old-time songs as Read more

Blue Highway - 66% match to Ralph Stanley

Formed in 1994, this contemporary bluegrass group comprises Tim Stafford (Kingsport, Tennessee, USA; guitar, vocals), Wayne Taylor (bass, vocals), Rob Ickes (b. 26 May 1967, San Mateo, California, USA; dobro), Shawn Lane (mandolin, fiddle, vocals), and Jason Burleson (b. 7 December 1967, USA; banjo, guitar, mandolin). Blue Highway proved to be very popular with audiences and Read more

Hot Rize - 57% match to Ralph Stanley

Formed in 1978 in Boulder, Colorado, this traditional bluegrass band included Tim O’Brien (16 March 1954, Wheeling, West Virginia, USA; mandolin, violin, vocals), Pete Wernick (b. 25 February 1946, New York City, New York, USA; banjo/vocals), Charles Sawtelle (b. 20 September 1946, Austin, Texas, USA, d. 20 March 1999; bass, guitar, vocals), and Mike Scap (bass, guitar, Read more

Del McCoury - 56% match to Ralph Stanley

Delano Floyd McCoury, 1 February 1939, Bakersville, North Carolina, USA. Guitarist and vocalist Del McCoury is one of the most celebrated keepers of the traditional bluegrass sound, and has enjoyed a long career spanning over five decades.Raised in Bakersville and Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, McCoury began his music career in the 50s as a banjo player wit Read more

The Johnson Mountain Boys - 55% match to Ralph Stanley

A popular bluegrass group which, when founded in 1978, consisted of Dudley Connell (Dudley Dale Connell, 18 February 1956, Scherr, West Virginia, USA; guitar, banjo, lead vocals), Richard Underwood (b. 14 July 1956, Seabrook, Maryland, USA; banjo, bass, vocals), David McLaughlin (b. David Wallace McLaughlin, 13 February 1958, Washington DC, USA; mandolin, lead vocals), Eddie Read more

The Grascals - 54% match to Ralph Stanley

Accomplished bluegrass outfit the Grascals is the recording outlet for six experienced session players; Jamie Johnson (Indiana, USA; guitar/vocals), Danny Roberts (b. Kentucky, USA; mandolin), David Talbot (b. Canada; banjo/vocals), Jimmy Mattingly (b. Kentucky, USA; fiddle), Terry Smith (bass) and Terry Eldredge (b. Indiana, USA; vocals). Between them the sextet can boast e Read more

Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver - 52% match to Ralph Stanley

Doyle Wayne Lawson, 20 April 1944, Fordtown, near Kingsport, Tennessee, USA. Lawson’s father sang in a gospel quartet and he was attracted to both gospel and bluegrass music as a child. By the time he reached his teens, he could play mandolin, banjo and guitar but captivated by Bill Monroe’s playing, he specialized in the former. He began his professional career in Read more

Ricky Skaggs - 51% match to Ralph Stanley

Ricky Lee Skaggs, 18 July 1954, Brushey Creek, near Cordell, Kentucky, USA. His father, Hobert, was a welder, who enjoyed playing the guitar and singing gospel songs with Skaggs’ mother, Dorothy. Skaggs later recorded one of her songs, ‘All I Ever Loved Was You’. Hobert returned from a welding job in Ohio with a mandolin for the five-year-old Skaggs, but had t Read more

Bill Monroe - 48% match to Ralph Stanley

William Smith Monroe, 13 September 1911, on a farm near Rosine, Ohio County, Kentucky, USA, d. 9 September 1996, Springfield, Tennessee, USA. The Monroes were a musical family; his father, known affectionately as Buck, was a noted step-dancer, his mother played fiddle, accordion and harmonica, and was respected locally as a singer of old-time songs. Among the siblings, elder Read more

Mac Wiseman - 48% match to Ralph Stanley

Malcolm B. Wiseman, 23 May 1925, Crimora, Virginia, USA. Wiseman attended the Conservatory of Music at Dayton, Virginia, and developed a great knowledge of the folk music of his native Shenandoah Valley. He first worked as a disc jockey on WSVA Harrisburg but was soon playing such shows as the Tennessee Barn Dance on WLOX Knoxville, where he also worked with Molly O’Da Read more

Jimmy Martin - 44% match to Ralph Stanley

James Henry Martin, 10 August 1927, on a farm near Sneedville, Tennessee, USA, d. 14 May 2005, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Martin learned to play the guitar as a boy and first appeared on radio in Morristown in 1948. He joined Bill Monroe in 1949 and remained with him (except for a short break) until 1954. Many rate Martin to be the finest lead singer and guitarist ever to wo Read more

The Nashville Bluegrass Band - 43% match to Ralph Stanley