Ralph Stanley

Once you’ve heard that voice, you never forget it. Ralph Stanley’s is the voice of the mountains – the voice of generations molded by poverty, pain and enduring faith. Soon to turn 82 years old, Ralph Stanley has been performing professionally since he and his older brother, Carter, formed a band in their native southwestern Virginia in 1946. Between that date and 1966 when Carter died, the Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys became of the most celebrated bluegrass groups in the world. Ralph’s unmistakable tenor singing and his banjo style were a part of the Stanley Brothers’ style as Carter’s soul-filled voice and song writing. After Carter’s death, Ralph shifted the band’s musical emphasis from hard-driving bluegrass to an older, sadder, less adorned mountain style. While long revered by enthusiasts of folk, bluegrass and country music, Ralph lately has commanded honors from a much broader spectrum of the music industry. In 2003, he shared with his friend Jim Lauderdale a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album. The year before that, he won Grammys for Best Country Male Vocalist Performance and Album of the Year for his part in the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. Ralph holds the Living Legend award from the Library of Congress and was the first recipient of the Traditional American Music award from the National Endowment for the Humanities. His life has been documented in books and videos. He has recorded more than 170 albums, and performers as varied as Bob Dylan, Dwight Yoakum, Jerry Garcia and Patty Loveless credit him as their inspiration. As one of the oldest touring bluegrass professionals, Ralph Stanley is a living link to the first generation of bluegrass musicians – and beyond that, to the mountain music from which bluegrass evolved. Whether he’s singing with contemporary country stars or gospel music with the Clinch Mountain Boys, his voice still inspires and awes. The words “Living Legend” can be over used in today’s media, but that’s not the case with Ralph Stanley. The RiverCity Bluegrass Festival is honored that Ralph has come to Portland to be the featured artist at this year’s festival