2012.02.10
Grammy Awards preview podcast — Ralph Stanley, nominated for Best Bluegrass Album
Ralph Stanley on the cover of his most recent disc, "A Mother's Prayer" | Courtesy Morris Public Relations
Ralph Stanley is a roots and bluegrass music icon, no doubt. His decades in the business featured some ups and downs — not the least of which was the loss in 1966 of his Stanley Brothers cohort, Carter Stanley — but he has persevered.
On Sunday, Stanley will be in New York City, playing music with his Clinch Mountain Boys, while on the other coast, the Grammy Awards will be presented. Stanley, nominated many times, is up for what would be his fourth Grammy win, for Best Bluegrass Album. On this podcast, we talk about that disc, “A Mother’s Prayer,” and about the a cappella singing that he grew up with in church and eventually made him world famous, among other topics.
By the way, I heard that he likes to be called Dr. Stanley, after the honorary doctorate of music that Lincoln Memorial University presented him in 1976, so that’s what I called him.
Read more about Stanley, DJ Cox of Royal Tailor and the Bristol Sessions box set in Sunday’s edition of The Roanoke Times and roanoke.com/entertainment.
