Published: September 04, 2008 12:37 am            

Ralph Stanley brings ‘old-timey’ bluegrass to Sagebrush Sept. 13

FAIRMONT — Even in today’s high-tech world, there is a place for the old-fashioned.

Dr. Ralph Stanley will bring his unique brand of bluegrass to the 28th annual CMA of West Virginia Fall Festival Saturday, Sept. 13, at the Sagebrush Round-Up.

He will perform with the Clinch Mountain Boys in two shows, at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 ($15 in advance), and children 12 and under free with a paying adult. One ticket is good for both shows. Doors will open at 4 p.m., with music starting at 5.

Local bluegrass bands The Mt. State Bluegrass Band, 23 Special, The Matheny Family, along with The Round-Up band, will also perform.

“Dr. Stanley plays an old style, mountain-style blue grass,” said James Shelton, road manager and lead guitarist, from his home in Churchill, Tenn.

“It’s a little more back-in-the-mountain. It has an old-timey sounding ... more of a raw edge to it. That’s unusual for this day.”

But seeing that Stanley is 81 years old, that’s not unusual.

“He comes from a totally different world than most of have seen,” Shelton said.

Stanley started in the music business in 1946 with his brother Carter as The Stanley Brothers.

“Carter passed away in 1966. Since then, Ralph has carried on the band himself.”

He’s known as “Dr. Ralph Stanley” after being awarded an honorary doctorate of music from Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn., in 1976.

He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 1992 and in 200.

He became the first person to be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in the third millennium.

His work was featured in the 2000 film “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” in which he sings the Appalachian dirge, “O Death.” That song won him a 2002 Grammy Award in the category of Best Male Country Vocal Performance.

He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2006, the nation’s highest honor for artistic excellence.

The Virginia Legislature designated him the Outstanding Virginian of 2008.

This kind of music is popular even today, he said.

“People like to get in touch with their roots. They may be rural people who grew up maybe in the country or in farming communities. That kind of music reminds them of home, when they were young and growing up.”

You won’t find big amps or light shows at a Dr. Ralph concert.

“Our music is all acoustic. No electronics, amplifiers,” Shelton said. “We have guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin and upright bass. You can gather around in your living room and play what we do and still sound good. You don’t need a big sound system or lights that look like a rock and roll show.

“Give us our instruments and a few microphones on stage, and we’re ready to go.”

Stanley grew up near the southwestern Virginia town of Coeburn, “wedged in between Kentucky and Tennessee in the Appalachian Mountains,” Shelton said.

“He was heavily influenced by the early radio shows like the Monroe Brothers and the Carter Family, and also by the primitive Baptist Church he attended, where they sang with no music.

“He still features that on his shows. He was the first bluegrass performer to record a cappella style. A lot of bands do that today, but I believe he was the first.”

The band does about 100 dates a year, Shelton said.

“We just got back from playing the Alaska State Fair.”

He grew up in Gate City in southwestern Virginia, just above the Tennessee state line.

“I’d followed Ralph’s music since I was about 12. I learned to play the style of guitar he uses in his band, cross picking.”

Shelton filled in a couple of times with the band and when a slot opened up, was asked to join. That was more than 14 years ago.

The band travels from coast to coast, playing the major bluegrass festival and even appearing on such TV shows as “Late Night with David Letterman,” “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “The CBS Early Morning Show.”

“Ralph even played Carnegie Hall twice,” Shelton said.

They’ve also played in “venues big and small,” colleges and universities, and in Canada, Ireland, Scotland and England, and Japan.

“There have been so many, it’s hard to remember them all,” Shelton said.

“We have a timeless appeal.”

While the band has played in West Virginia before, this will be its first trip to the Round-Up.

“I want people to feel entertained, like they’ve seen a man who is a piece of American music history.

“He is an icon of American music, a true legend. He’s been in the business for 62 years. I want people to recognize the greatness of Ralph Snyder and who he is.”

Tickets are available at: Fairmont, The Sagebrush Round-Up, Rider Pharmacy and the Middletown Mall Service Desk; Morgantown, Our Family Craft Shop, Fawley Music and DeVincent’s Music Center; Clarksburg, Oreck Vacuum, Strand Barber Shop; Reedsville, Ron’s Furniture; Grafton, Quality Home Comfort; Farmington, The Cotton Patch; and Oakland, Md., Englander’s Antiques.

For more information, call 363-4864, 986-2159 or (301) 334-8629, or visit billjanoske.tripod.com.

E-mail Debra Minor Wilson at dwilson@timeswv.com.

        

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