![\"M-34-ralph-stanley\"](\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/M-34-ralph-stanley.jpg\")
<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nThe bluegrass legend\u2019s latest album is a family affair\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Ralph Stanley comes right to\u00a0the point when asked about his legacy. \u201cI\u2019m proud of it,\u201d he says of his iconic near seven-decade career. \u201cI\u2019m really thankful the good Lord has kept me around and shown me what to do and all. I\u2019m real\u00a0proud of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Renowned for his distinctive vocals and banjo technique, Stanley, 87, formed his first band, the Clinch Mountain Boys, in 1946, while also performing with his brother Carter as the Stanley Brothers. Stanley is recognized as a master of the clawhammer banjo style\u2014a three-finger technique distinguished by a rapid fire \u201cforward roll\u201d that\u2019s played close\u00a0to the banjo\u2019s bridge.<\/p>\n
Stanley\u2019s contributions to American music were officially recognized in 2006 when he was awarded the National Medal of the Arts. A member of the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and a Library of Congress Living Legend, he won the Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 2002 for his performance of \u201cO Death\u201d from the O Brother, Where Art Thou?<\/i> soundtrack, which has sold more than 8 million copies.<\/p>\n
Despite the accolades, the plainspoken Mr. Stanley\u2014make that Dr. Stanley, courtesy of the honorary doctorate of music he was awarded by Lincoln Memorial University in 1976\u2014seems most pleased with his induction into the Grand Ole Opry in 2000. \u201cI\u2019m thankful that I\u2019ve done well,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I\u2019m real proud of that. That was something I always wanted for several years because that\u2019s a very big thing. When you get there, you\u2019ve reached the top.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the decades, Stanley has also been responsible for fostering new talent, including future stars Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley. \u201cThey started with me when they were 15 or 16,\u201d he says. \u201cI certainly saw their talent immediately. Keith stayed with me six or seven years and Ricky stayed maybe two or three years\u2014but he was with me a couple of different times.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bluegrass veteran\u2019s latest collaboration is with an artist closer to home\u2014son Ralph Stanley II, who has performed on his father\u2019s albums since he was a teen. Their new album, Side by Side<\/i>, finds the two co-billed for the first time. \u201cHe just thought of it,\u201d Stanley says. \u201cI don\u2019t know why he hadn\u2019t thought of it before. I was proud to help him out. I didn\u2019t do it for me, I did it for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new album finds the legend’s mournful vocals in fine form, although he’s playing on only one track. \u201cI don\u2019t play the banjo much anymore,\u201d he admits, \u201cjust a little bit of clawhammer sometimes. I have arthritis, and my fingers aren\u2019t exactly what they were a few years back. I figured I\u2019d quit, because I didn\u2019t want to mess up. There are plenty who play just like me, so I can always get someone to play those parts. There\u2019s always someone wanting to record with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
So will Stanley head into the studio again? \u201cI haven\u2019t thought much about it,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve been doing this for 67 years, and I\u2019m still going good. But I couldn\u2019t tell you at this point one way or another. If things come around the right way, and I feel like I can do it justice, then it could happen. But like I said, I might not. You never know what might come around.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, Stanley is happy performing live at a snappy pace. \u201cAs long as I\u2019m able, I\u2019m glad to do it,\u201d he maintains. \u201cI still play with the Clinch Mountain Boys\u2014we go out and work a week or two and then come home for five or six days. That makes a pretty good life, to be able to express yourself like that. I\u2019m well pleased with it. I don\u2019t think my voice has faded any, and that\u2019s something I\u2019m real thankful for.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013Lee Zimmerman<\/b><\/p>\n