Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys to Perform in Hannibal, September 26
Last Updated on Wednesday, 02 March 2011 17:20 Friday, 06 August 2010 21:53
The Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum, in conjunction
with the Hannibal Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Missouri Arts
Council, is pleased to announce the upcoming performance of Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys on Sunday, September
26 from 4-6 pm at historic Clemens Field in Hannibal. Gates open at 3 pm.
Ticket prices are $12.50 in advance and $15.00 at the door. Tickets are
available through the Clemens Box Office, Monday-Friday from 9 am to 6 pm.
Tickets can also be purchased online.
Now 81 years old, Stanley has been performing
professionally since he and his older brother, Carter, formed a band in their
native southwestern Virginia in 1946. Between that date and 1966, when Carter
died, the Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys became one of the most
celebrated bluegrass groups in the world, rivaling in popularity such titans as
Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs.
While enthusiasts of folk, bluegrass and country music
have long revered him, Stanley has lately been commanding the honors due a
musical original. In 2003, he shared with his friend Jim Lauderdale a Grammy
for Best Bluegrass Album. The year before that, he won Grammys for Best Country
Male Vocalist Performance (beating Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Tim McGraw, Lyle
Lovett and Ryan Adams) and Album of the Year (for his part in the O Brother, Where Art Thou? Collection).
In 2001, he was the subject of an admiring profile in The New Yorker, written by novelist David Gates, who traveled with
Stanley for months gathering material. He is the central figure in the D. A. Pennebaker/Chris
Hegedus 2000 documentary, Down from the
Mountain.
Rolling
Stone
“A
master performer without an expiration date…”
Chicago
Tribune
“The
timeless air has always been present in the voice of Ralph Stanley…There was
nothing high, lonesome or mournful about his tone. Instead, he embodied the
protagonist in an ancient murder ballad. His voice was sharp, scolding,
vengeful, and it’s why this music cuts so deep…”
Denver
Post
“Then
there was Stanley, today’s Elvis of traditional music. With his hands casually
clasped at his waist, he filled the theater with his plaintive plea against
dying, “O Death,” whose solemn lyrics he magically makes uplifting.”
