Ralph Stanley

Description

Ralph Stanley (born February 25, 1927) is an American bluegrass musician. <p>Stanley was born in Big Spraddle Creek, Virginia, near Stratton, Dickenson County, Virginia, USA. <p>The son of Lucy and Lee Stanley, Ralph Edmond Stanley grew up in rural southwestern Virginia. Stanley 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 - the holiness singing 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. <p>Ralph and Carter performed as The Stanley Brothers with their band, the Clinch Mountain Boys from 1946 to 1966. After Carter's death in 1966, Ralph Stanley continued to perform, eventually reviving...