Presenting: Larry Sparks & The Lonesome Ramblers

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center and the Jettie Baker Center will present Larry Sparks & The Lonesome Ramblers on Saturday, March 15th at 7:30 p.m. at the Jettie Baker Center in Clintwood. This event is the latest addition to the Music Along the Crooked Road concert series, which brings together the best in regional old-time, bluegrass, and gospel music to create wonderful evenings of culture and entertainment.

At his age, some artists would probably be content to take the triumph of two consecutive years of top industry awards as the equivalent of a gold watch and chain, but that’s not Larry Sparks’ style. Named as the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Male Vocalist of the Year in 2004 and 2005—and as winner of both Album of the Year and Recorded Event of the Year honors in the latter for the star-studded 40—the legendary veteran debuted his latest album, The Last Suit You Wear, on May 1, 2007. Wrapping his warm yet mournful voice around a choice collection of new songs and showcasing his distinctive, muscular guitar picking with the help of a crackerjack core band and a sprinkling of carefully chosen guests like Del McCoury, country piano legend Hargus “Pig” Robbins, and IBMA Hall of Honor member J. D. Crowe, The Last Suit You Wear makes a powerful case that, when it comes to Larry Sparks’ music, the best is yet to come. As one rising young bluegrass artist put it recently, “if the IBMA were to give an award for just being ‘The Man,’ Larry Sparks would win it every time.”

A musician by the time he started high school, Larry Sparks stepped into the history books and into the heart of the music when he began making appearances as the legendary Stanley Brothers lead guitarist before graduation. With the death of Carter Stanley in 1966, he became Ralph Stanley’s right-hand man, moving into the Clinch Mountain Boys’ all-important guitarist and lead singer role and carrying on the Stanley sound even as he began to make his own contributions. Three years later, he formed his own band, the Lonesome Ramblers, and quickly became favorite of the growing audience in the “Bluegrass Belt” that stretches from the Mississippi River through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and on across to the powerhouse bluegrass area around Baltimore and Washington, DC. Developing his bluesy, signature guitar licks and resonant, soulful voice into the building blocks of a traditional, yet immediately identifiable personal sound, he produced a steady stream of gripping albums, culminating in a pair of late 70s masterpieces: John Deere Tractor, which made instant classics of, among others the title track, Allen Mills’ “Love Of The Mountains,” “The Girl At The Crossroads Bar” and Keith Whitley’s “Great High Mountain” (personally handed to Sparks by its writer), and Larry Sparks Sings Hank Williams, which revealed Sparks’ profound affinity not just for The Drifting Cowboy’s legacy, but for the enduring simplicity of classic country sounds.

While “progressive” sounds dominated the bluegrass scene in the 1980s, Sparks remained true to his singular artistic vision, training younger musicians in the discipline of the Lonesome Ramblers sound. His perseverance was rewarded early the following decade, when he released another gem for the ages in Silver Reflections (1991). The album created another set of instant classics, including “Tennessee 1949,” “Blue Virginia Blues” and “Don’t Neglect The Rose,” and as traditional bluegrass began to make a comeback, Sparks’ lonesome sound and sternly personal approach to music and career drew new and renewed admiration. By the end of the decade, he could look back on such highlights as appearances on Ralph Stanley’s star-packed Saturday Night, Sunday Morning; on Austin City Limits’ 1995 “Bluegrass Special,” where he was teamed with Stanley and fellow Clinch Mountain alumnus Ricky Skaggs; and at the 1997 Bill Monroe memorial show that resulted in the CD/DVD release The Legend Lives On: A Tribute To Bill Monroe—and by the middle of the next, the homage paid by generations of bluegrass and country stars on 40 had finally helped to carry him to the prominence he’d long deserved.

Don't miss your opportunity to see the one and only Larry Sparks live at the Jettie Baker Center on March 15th. Admission to this event will be $15.00 per person.

For more information about upcoming events in the “Music Along the Crooked Road” series, or to purchase tickets, please visit our website at www.ralphstanleymuseum.com, call the Museum & Center at 926-8550, or call the Jettie Baker Center at 926-8694.