Portrait of the artist as a workaholic: More than a half century of touring isn’t enough for Ralph Stanley.
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If someone had a hankering to carve the visages of bluegrass legends onto a towering Appalachian rock face, a la Mount Rushmore, Ralph Stanley’s wizened mug would undoubtedly be a candidate for inclusion.
A native of Big Spraddle Creek, Va., the 79-year-old former banjo picker has performed on 170 albums, won three Grammys (nabbing his first for his iconic rendition of “O Death” in the Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou?), earned countless spots in the International Bluegrass Hall of Fame and Country Music Hall of Fame and — in 1976 — picked up an honorary doctorate from Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn., an accomplishment he’s embraced ever since, referring to himself as “Dr. Ralph Stanley.”
But the good doctor isn’t ready to be memorialized quite yet. After 55 years of touring, he’s looking forward to another season on the road.
“There are not too many people that have stayed around for as long as I have,” says Stanley. “I guess God’s blessed me. He’s helped me keep my health, and kept me being able to go.”
While Stanley has been justly praised for his innovative style of banjo picking — a cousin of the three-finger method developed by Earl Scruggs in which the index finger takes the lead — his famous high tenor remains the heart of his music. Buffed down a bit from its spooky prime, his voice today combines a bluesman’s lone wail with a grandfather’s sweet gruffness.
“I just let it sound like it comes out,” says Stanley. “I’ve never tried to sound like anybody else or anything else, and it’s just my natural voice. I put more into my singing now than I ever did. That’s one reason I’ve set my banjo down.”
It isn’t unusual for traditional bluegrass musicians to log generations on the road, stomping their feet on stages long after their arthritic fingers can no longer strum at the breakneck speeds demanded by energetic audiences and they’ve forgotten the narrative lyrics to beloved standards. But even in this elder-friendly genre, Stanley’s longevity is staggering.
“I would miss it if I stopped,” he says. “I’ve had to cut down a lot, but I don’t want to ever completely retire if I can help it.”
So while he may be cutting back on touring, scheduling fewer than a dozen dates a month, and not displaying his trademark picking, there’s no indication Stanley’s best work is behind him.
His latest album, A Distant Land to Roam: Songs of the Carter Family — a collection of spirituals, ballads and dirges — has been nominated for a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album, a category that pits him against Odetta, Linda Ronstadt, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and relative youngster Bruce Springsteen, whose We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions features a number of tunes recorded decades ago by Stanley.
Stanley says he’s proud to continue contributing to a genre he helped define and refine.
“I guess if there ever was a legend, I’m probably one of them.”
[Jason Bugg is a freelance writer based in Asheville.]
Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys play the Orange Peel (101 Biltmore Ave.) on Friday, Jan. 12. 8:30 p.m. $18. 225-5851.
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