Ralph Stanley

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Ralph Stanley
Ralph Stanley performing with The Clinch Mountain Boys at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on June 17, 2007
Background information
Birth name	Ralph Edmond Stanley
Born	February 25, 1927 (1927-02-25) (age 81)
Origin	Big Spraddle Creek, Virginia, USA
Genre(s)	Bluegrass,Old Time music
Occupation(s)	Bluegrass Musician
Instrument(s)	Banjo Bluegrass\|
Years active	1946 – Present
Associated acts	The Stanley Brothers
Members
International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor Grand Ole Opry
Notable instrument(s)
Banjo

Ralph Stanley (born February 25, 1927) is a legendary American bluegrass banjo player.

1 Biography
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Stanley was born in Big Spraddle Creek, Virginia, near McClure, Dickenson County, Virginia, USA.

The son of Lucy and Lee Stanley, Ralph Edmond Stanley grew up in rural southwestern Virginia. He learned to play the banjo, claw-hammer style, from his mother. It was her inspiration, coupled with Stanley's natural ability, which led Ralph and his older guitar-playing brother, Carter, to form the their band, the Clinch Mountain Boys, in 1946. Drawing heavily on the musical traditions of the area, which included the unique minor-key singing style of the Primitive Baptist Church and the sweet down-home family harmonies of the Carter Family, the Stanleys began honing their own special style of music by singing at local events in the early 1940s.

Ralph and Carter performed as The Stanley Brothers with their band, the Clinch Mountain Boys from 1946 to 1966. After Carter died in 1966, Ralph Stanley continued to perform, eventually reviving the Clinch Mountain Boys. Larry Sparks, Roy Lee Centers, Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, and Charlie Sizemore were among those with whom he played in the revived band. Stanley has maintained an extensive touring schedule, with dates scheduled through 2007. Known in the world of bluegrass music by the popular title, "Dr. Ralph Stanley" (after being awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music from Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, in 1976), Stanley was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1992 and in 2000, and became the first person to be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in the third millennium.

John and Elizabeth Edwards with Ralph Stanley and Clinch Mountain Boys, July 18, 2007.

In 2006 he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. Stanley's work was also featured in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, in which he sings the Appalachian dirge "O Death". With that song, Stanley won a 2002 Grammy Award in the category of Best Male Country Vocal Performance. He's featured in the Josh Turner hit song "Me and God," released in 2006.

Ralph created a unique style of banjo playing, sometimes called "Stanley Style". It evolved from Scruggs style, which is a three finger technique. "Stanley style" is distinguished by incredibly fast "forward rolls," led by the index finger, sometimes in the higher registers utilizing a capo.

On November 10, 2007, Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys performed at a rally for presidential candidate John Edwards in Des Moines, Iowa, just prior to the Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner. Between renditions of "Man of Constant Sorrow" and "Orange Blossom Special," Stanley told the crowd that he had cast his first vote for Harry S. Truman in 1948 and would cast his next for John Edwards in 2008.