Stanley adds mountain music to celebration

One of the true legends of bluegrass music, Dr. Ralph Stanley, will bring his Clinch Mountain Boys to Lincoln County tonight as a part of the July Fourth celebrations.

The concert will begin around 7:30 p.m. with fireworks to follow. The event will be at the Lions Club field on W.Va. 3 in Hamlin. Tickets are $10 for the show. However, the concert is free for Lincoln County residents if they bring proof of residency.

Earlier in the day, there will be an antique car show, a horseshoe tournament, and performances by RD Clay, Midnight Rider and Traci Ann Stanley.

One of the key ingredients to Stanley's unique mountain music in recent years has been the addition of Steve Sparkman on banjo. In 1994, Stanley was hurt in a farm accident and needed a banjo player to take over temporarily. Enter Sparkman, a young picker out of Kentucky who grew up learning and loving the "Stanley-style" of playing.

"In 1994, when I joined him, Ralph had a farming accident and broke his hip," said Sparkman. "Ralph II (Stanley's son) went to him and said, 'What do you want to do?' He said, 'Well, we need to try and get Steve if we can get him.' So, Ralph II contacted me and told me about it and said they needed some help for at least six weeks while Ralph healed from his surgery, and I've been here ever since."

The interesting part of the story is that Sparkman never thought he would be a professional musician. He learned the clawhammer style of banjo by watching his father play the instrument while growing up in Lincoln County, Ky. But, he soon discovered that the Stanley style was what he enjoyed the most, something he would get to tell his idol through the years at various concerts. He was working odd jobs and playing in local bands when he got the call at 21 years of age.

"I grew up going to a lot of the festivals," said Sparkman. "Ralph would always recognize me. He remembered me because I learned to play his style, and he knew that. I think he was kind of flattered by it, with a man learning his style, which was very distinctive. Most banjo players, they pattern after Earl Scruggs or J.D. Crowe or somebody like that, and Ralph was always kind of out in a field of his own. It's a mountain style of picking that expresses feeling, and it expresses the melody 100 percent. No real hot licks or nothing like that. It's just full of feeling, and people can feel it when you play it, and they love that."

Sparkman has just released a new instructional DVD called "Stanley Style Banjo" that will be available at the show and online at www.stanleystylebanjo.com. He will fill up the valley with music tonight, and you just might see Stanley pick up the banjo for a tune or two as well.

Submitted photo

Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys will perform at 7:30 tonight in Hamlin.