Ralph Stanley

Genres:	Country & Bluegrass • Folk • Music Videos & Concerts • Special Interest • World Music
Descriptive "tags":	bluegrass • country • folk • americana • old-timey
Decades Active:	1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s
Links online:	Wikipedia

Biography

Ralph Edmond Stanley, 25 February 1927, Big Spraddle Creek, near Stratton, Dickenson County, Virginia, USA. Over the years, Stanley’s style of banjo playing has been copied by many young musicians and he has become respected (like Bill Monroe) as one of the most important artists in the popularization of bluegrass music.

Stanley first started performing in 1941, forming the Lazy Ramblers with his brother Carter and two school friends. The brothers first worked together as a duo (the Stanley Brothers) the following year, with Carter on guitar and Ralph on banjo, and the former singing lead to Ralph’s tenor harmony. Four years later they established their act on a more permanent basis, and with backing from the Clinch Mountain Boys they quickly became one of the most renowned bluegrass acts on the country circuit.

After his brother’s untimely death in December 1966, Ralph Stanley re-formed the Clinch...

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