Ralph Stanley and His Clinch Mountain Boys at BB Kings

Ralph Stanley is one of the most important figures in country music today. While he has long been revered by enthusiasts of folk, bluegrass and country music, Ralph Stanley has lately been commanding the kind of honors due a musical original.

Already a Grammy-winner in the country and bluegrass music categories, Grand Ole Opry star Ralph Stanley has just been nominated for Best Traditional Folk Album Grammy. The nomination is for his recent DMZ/Columbia Records collection, A Distant Land To Roam: Songs Of The Carter Family.

The 79-year-old Stanley won his first two Grammy Awards for 2001 when the soundtrack of O Brother, Where Art Thou? (on which he appeared prominently) was voted Album of the Year and his chilling rendition of “O Death” from that same album was picked as Best Male Country Vocal Performance.

“Ralph Stanley is one of the most important country musicians in the world today”
–T Bone Burnett