We’ve been in touch recently with Fred Robbins, a photographer and bluegrass enthusiast who has posted a brilliant set of photos from the 1972 Country Gentlemen Festival at Indian Ranch online. This was the first such festival hosted by the Gents, held in Webster, MA.

Fred tells us that he just stumbled across the slides after decades sitting in a box, and says that he is delighted to be able to share them with the bluegrass community.

If you enjoyed the Bluegrass Country Soul DVD released in 2006, you are sure to appreciate Fred’s photos, which were taken a year after the festival documented in that DVD. New bluegrass fans will get a kick out of seeing some of today’s premier artists when they were younger, and folks who were following bluegrass in the 1970s will have some powerful memories rekindled.

There are shots of The Country Gentlemen, The Kentucky Gentlemen, Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys, James Monroe, Bluegrass 45, The McLain Family, Mac Wiseman, IInd Generation and the original Newgrass Revival.

Here are a few images Fred agreed to let us post, but you really need to see them all, put together in a very nice slide show online.

               

Fred also has a great many audio and video recordings from bluegrass events posted where they can be seen and heard online.

The Gospel Music Association on Friday (2/20) announced the nominations for their forthcoming awards show.
Among the finalists for the 40th Annual Dove Awards are the following nominees in the two bluegrass categories.

Bluegrass Recorded Song (song; album; artist; writer; label)

• Help Is On The Way; Help Is On The Way; Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver; Michael E. Reed; Horizon Records
• I See A Crimson Stream; Sounds Like Sunday; Janet Paschal; Garfield T. Haywood; Vine Records
• The Old White Flag; You Gotta Love It!; Triumphant Quartet; Dianne Wilkinson; Daywind Records
• They’re Holding Up The Ladder; We Are Family; Jeff & Sheri Easter, Lewis Family, Easter Brothers; Russell Easter, James Easter, Edd Easter; Daywind Records
• What Will I Wear?; I Just Wanted You To Know; Kim Hopper; Deborah Bailey; Canaan Records

Bluegrass Album (album; artist; producer; label)

• Bluegrass Worship; Various; Steve Ivey; Star Song Music
• Help Is On The Way; Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver; Doyle Lawson; Horizon Records
• Hymns From Chigger Hill; Chigger Hill Boys & Terri; Mike Richards, Terri Argot Gore, Ricky Gore, Mark Dunham, Bobby Strangenberg, Ethan Blair, Justin Kropf; Daywind Records
• I Don’t Regret A Mile; Larry Sparks; Larry Sparks; Sparks Music
• Pickin’, Praisin’, & Singin’: Hymns From The Mountain; Cody Shuler & Pine Mountain Railroad; Bill McBee, Dale Thomas, Jerry Cole, Cody Shuler, Matt Flake; Rural Rhythm
• We Are Family; Jeff & Sheri Easter, Lewis Family, Easter Brothers; Jeff Easter, Sheri Easter; Daywind Records
• What A Journey; Paul Williams & The Victory Trio; Paul Williams; Rebel Records

Bluegrass artists, musicians, producers and labels are also represented among the nominees in a variety of other categories, most notably in the following …..

Special Event Album (album; artist; producer; label)

• Billy: The Early Years Official Motion Picture Soundtrack; Brooks & Dunn, Mac Powell, Sara Evans, Alan Jackson, China Edelman, Patty Griffin, Brandon Heath, Gregory Page, Michael W. Smith, Melinda Doolittle, Roy Orbison, Brad Paisley, Josh Turner, Sierra Hull, John Cowan, Harry Stinson, Ronnie Bowman, Ronnie McCoury, John Wesley Ryles; Anastasia Brown; Arista Nashville, Essential Records
• Country Bluegrass Homecoming Volume One; Gaither Vocal Band, Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives, The Grascals, Buddy Greene, The Isaacs, Gordon Mote, Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys, The Booth Brothers, George Jones, Wesley Pritchard, Reggie & Ladye Love Smith, Brittany Allen, Jeff & Sheri Easter, Charlotte Ritchie, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Jimmy Fortune, Dailey & Vincent, Jason Crabb, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, Cherryholmes, Lisa Daggs-Charette, Vince Gill, Sonya Isaacs, Becky Isaacs Bowman; Bill Gaither; Gaither Music Group
• How Great Thou Art: Gospel Favorites from the Grand Ole Opry; The Charlie Daniels Band, Mac Powell, Alan Jackson, Patty Loveless, Ronnie Milsap, Ricky Skaggs & The Whites, Sara Evans, Brad Paisley, Trace Adkins, Loretta Lynn, Vince Gill, Dierks Bentley, Carrie Underwood; Steve Gibson; Sony BMG Nashville

Long Form Music Video (title; artist; director; producer; production company; label)

• Country Bluegrass Homecoming Volume One; Bill & Gloria Gaither; Doug Stuckey; Bill Gaither; Gaither Television Productions; Gaither Music Group

The recipients will be announced at the televised show on April 23 in Nashville, Tennessee.

A complete list of nominees and more information about the GMA and the Dove Awards is available online.

Blueridge Guitars is set to introduce a limited edition, signature model guitar for Larry Sparks, honoring a true trend-setter among bluegrass flatpickers.

It will be designated as the Blueridge BR-3060, and styled after Larry’s legendary early 1950’s D-28, including the distinctive double pickguard.

Specifications for the BR-3060:

• Select solid Sitka spruce top
• White body binding - with characteristic W/B/W purfling
• Select solid East Indian rosewood back and sides
• Select mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard and mother of pearl position markers
• Ebony Bridge with mother of pearl dots and maple bridge plate
• Bone nut and Saddle
• Characteristic single-ply double pickguard
• Vintage-style, nickel-plated round button tuners
• Larry’s signature on the peghead
• A signed and numbered certificate of authenticity and soundhole label

Blueridge is a subsidiary of Saga Musical Instruments, and the Larry Sparks BR-3060 will be available from any the many Saga dealers starting in February ‘09. There is no information yet on the Blueridge web site about this guitar, but David Gartland with Saga gave us a rundown on how it came to be…

“Being huge fans of Larry’s and thankful for his valuable contribution to the Stanley Brothers and Bluegrass music, we felt it only natural to pay tribute to our own personal hero and this Bluegrass legend.  As you may already know, we had already set a precedent for creating special guitars, notably the BR-1060P Carter Stanley Memorial Blueridge Guitar, and we thought that recreating Larry’s unmistakable guitar was the perfect next step. Truly an honor for us.

An integral part of the process has been our ability to work hand in hand with Mr. Sparks to produce a guitar that will stand up to his unique style of play and remain true to his original instrument.

Our primary objective for Larry and the Saga team was to maintain the highest level of quality using only the best materials; while at the same time trying to making it more affordable.

It is a truly an amazing instrument.”

The suggested retail price for the BR-3060 will be $1395.

Larry Sparks has announced that he will be introducing his own signature set of guitar strings.

Most bluegrass fans know Larry primarily as among the most soulful and expressive singers in bluegrass music, but guitar players and pickers in general recognize him as a strong and influential rhythm guitarist as well.

He has been working with the Mapes Piano String Company to develop a wrap that will reduce string breakage, and has been using a string manufactured with this process for the past few years. Larry reports that he has only broken two strings in the past five years and wants to share this discovery with the rest of the guitar world.

Mapes manufactures wire for nearly all the major string companies, so if you play a stringed instrument, odds are that you use their product.

The new Sparks strings will be packaged in three gauges (light, medium, heavy) and are expected to be available starting in November. We’ll get a few sets from Larry when they arrive and let you know how they hold up.

The Richmond Indiana-based Palladium-Item reported on Sunday that bluegrass veteran Larry Sparks is to receive the Legacy Continues Award from the Starr-Gennett Foundation.

Sparks who has enjoyed over 40 years as a professional bluegrass musician, beginning when he started high school and was at the same time working for the Stanley Brothers. Subsequently, he formed his own band, The Lonesome Ramblers.

Twice he has been named the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Male Vocalist of the Year (2004 and 2005) and was honoured for Album of the Year and Recorded Event of the Year (both for 40; 2005).

Sparks is headlining the foundation’s Walk of Fame Musical Festival on September 6, when the award will be made.

To read the full story go to the Pal-Item website.

The Starr-Gennett Foundation Inc. is dedicated to preserving and promoting the legacy of Gennett Records and its parent organization, the Starr Piano Company. The Foundation is working to save this important legacy and foster worldwide appreciation for this remarkable piece of American popular music history.

For information about the Starr-Gennett Foundation, the arrangements for the day’s events (on September 6), including a concert appearance by Mike Compton and David Long, and the evening Larry Sparks concert visit the Starr-Gennett Foundation website.

Larry Sparks latest CD is the Gospel collection I Don’t Regret A Mile (Sparks Music), the first release on his own label.

Yesterday (Friday 6/13) I received a note from John Lilly, the editor of Goldenseal (the magazine of West Virginia traditional life) and multi-talented acoustic music performer, telling me about what’s on West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Mountain Stage show this coming week.

The programme schedule includes the recording of a show taped on March 16 in Beckley, West Virginia, featuring top band Blue Highway, the inimitable Larry Sparks, award-winning banjo and slide guitar player Tony Furtado, folk artist Carrie Newcomer and John Lilly, himself.

The show was shipped to 120 radio stations worldwide yesterday and will air locally in those markets during the coming week.

To find a station near you that carries the Mountain Stage programme visit the website.

Playlist details can be found elsewhere on the Mountain Stage website. The show will be available on-line for download in about two weeks time.

Footnote:

Lilly edited Mountains of Music: West Virginia Traditional Music from Goldenseal, the excellent collection of profiles of some of the state’s most colourful folk musicians from said magazine - University of Illinois Press.

Rebel Records has announced the release in early May of two new collections of music from their archives.

The first of these is The Best Of The Vetco Years from Dave Evans & River Bend (REB-7519) drawn from the LP’s-worth of material Evans recorded for the Cincinnati-based Vetco label. The first, Dave Evans and Riverbend (Vetco LP 3033)- sometimes referred to by the title of the first track on that LP and this CD, Highway 52 - was released in 1979 while the second, Call Me Long Gone (Vetco LP 3036), came during the following year.

Among the songs that Evans recorded for Vetco are Short Life Of Troubles, Barbara Allen, 90 Years - Tis Almost For Life, Dark As A Night, Is It Too Late Now?, Sweeter Than The Flowers, Whitehouse Blues, Legend Of The Johnson Boys and Little Joe, 21 songs in all. The new Dave Evans CD contains 15 of those songs, all 11 tracks from his first LP and four tracks from the second.

Rebel recently acquired the master tapes for the two albums in question from Crosscut Records, who had issued separate CD versions of both titles at one time, but only one of them (Call Me Long Gone) is still currently available. With this acquisition, Rebel Records now controls the masters to all of Dave’s recordings. The CD has been digitally re-mastered and features liner notes from bluegrass biographer and long-time friend of Dave’s, Frank Godbey and the latter’s wife, Marty.

Apropos of nothing really related to this CD, Frank Godbey shares this brief anecdote …..

“I played a couple of shows with Dave in the early 1980s… an interesting thing for a (then-) slender chap to do– ie. stand between Dave and Tommy Cordell… about like a Mini Cooper running between two 18-wheel semi-tractor-trailers on the Autobahn! Well, I exaggerate for emphasis, but they both outweighed me by 75 or 80 pounds or more. They called each other ‘Big ‘un.’ “

The second CD is Larry Sparks’ The Best Of Larry Sparks: Bound To Ride (REB-7522).

The Sparks compilation is produced by David Freeman, while the notes were written by Jon Hartley Fox. Mark Freeman, production co-ordinator at Rebel Records, says this of the new Sparks reissue: (more…)

Larry Sparks is set to release his new, all-Gospel CD, I Don’t Regret A Mile, on March 27.

After his last two critically-acclaimed projects, 40 and The Last Suit You Wear - both of which featured Larry with a great many guest studio performers - he has decided to create an album with his touring band, The Lonesome Ramblers.

“I thought it would be best to go back to my road band for this album. I did use Ronnie Stewart on two songs, but I really like to have the same sound on stage and on the recordings. That is very important to me.”

The current edition of The Lonesome Ramblers includes Michael Feagon on fiddle and harmony vocals, Jackie Kincaid on mandolin and tenor vocals, Josh McMurray on banjo, Larry D. Sparks on bass, and Larry on guitar and lead vocals.

Another change this time around regards the label. Sparks has formed his own, Sparks Music, to release I Don’t Regret A Mile.

“After the Last Suit album I was really left with no recording company. McCoury Music didn’t want another Larry Sparks album so I decided to go at it myself. I’ve recorded with different labels over the years, and was with Rebel Records for 25 years. I thought we were very good for each other, thanks to Dave Freeman.

I feel that in time I can do what any other recording company can do.”

Larry tells us that there are 10 tracks on the new album, with a mix of new songs and ones that have been part of his repertoire for years.

“I always like to record new material, and I have 6 new songs here. A couple I’ve recorded before - Jesus Walks Ahead Of Me and What Kind Of Man.

I also have some good writers - Connie Leigh, Doug Crabbe, Homer and Bruce Jackson, Marshall Warick, Greg Preece, Rusty Goodman, Buddy Cannon and Larry Shell. Ralph Stanley and I put together What Kind Of Man.”

The CD will be available soon on Larry’s web site, and will be marketed to large resellers through a national distributor. Smaller stores and wholesalers will be serviced directly though Sparks Music.

There are no audio samples up at this time, but we’ll post back when we find some. Should be a good’n!

Larry Sparks is on the cover of the September/October ‘07 issue of Bluegrass Music Profiles. The cover feature finds Larry discussing his new CD, The Last Suit You Wear, plus his road band, his personal guitar, his sister’s songwriting and his future performing and recording plans.

Also profiled in the current issue are radio host Terry Herd (Into The Blue), Curly Seckler, Bobby Osborne and songwriter Mark Brinkman. Sammy Shelor shares his Bluegrass Favorites, and Brad Davis talks guitars. The new Recording King Artist Supreme banjo is written up, and coverage of the 50th anniversary Country Gentlemen concert is included.

Find out more about this bi-monthly print publication online.

Rebel Records continues to make notable recordings from their back catalog available as download-only releases via iTunes. Two new titles have been added to their digital catalog this month.

Blue Sparks is a 1983 release from Larry Sparks with Jim Heffernan on dobro, Gene Elders on fiddle, John Masters on banjo, Terry Barnes on mandolin and Dee Sparks on bass. This one was never made available on CD, and offers Larry’s take on a couple of classic Lester Flatt songs (Come Back, Darling & Lonesome And Blue) plus a signature Sparks instrumental take on When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again.

Hear audio samples and purchase Blue Sparks for download, exclusively in iTunes.

Also available as a digital-only reissue is A Daisy A Day from Wilma Lee Cooper and the Clinch Mountain Clan, released as an LP in 1980 on Leather Records. Notable band members on this project include the late Gene Wooten on dobro and Craig Duncan on fiddle.

The songs mix bluegrass favorites like Uncle Pen and Pretty Polly with some traditional country and old time songs.

This one is also only found in iTunes.

Here are three interviews we found this past few days in local newspapers’ coverage of upcoming entertainment events.

First up is King Wilkie, whose Reid Burgess was interviewed in The Dallas Morning News on July 23. He spoke with Mario Tarradell about the band’s decision to break with their traditional bluegrass sound for a more melancholy pop approach.

“I don’t think anybody wanted to go back in the studio and make the same bluegrass record,” Mr. Burgess, 27, says by phone from Richmond, Va. “Over the course of about five years we did every arrangement of a bluegrass song that we could possibly think of. I’m not the same person I was then. It would make sense to not do the same type of songs. We were steering ourselves in that direction. We were writing songs that sounded this way. We didn’t want to do the same thing again. It was starting to sound forced.”

You can read the entire interview on the Morning News site.

The Vail Daily ran an interview with John Cowan on 7/23. John spoke with Ted Alvarez about his current CD, New Tattoo, and also about his days performing with Sam Bush, Bela Fleck and Pat Flynn as Newgrass Revival. He suggests that he is enjoying returning to that Newgrass vibe with his road band.

“This incarnation of my band is the first time since New Grass that I’ve felt we could get back to that special place and make magic happen,” he said. “For me it’s coming back to something I know really well — It’s been a coming home of sorts. We’ve had this line-up of the band for over a year now and the response from the crowds has been overwhelming.”

That full piece can also be found online.

On July 27, the Cabot Star-Herald in Cabot, AR carried an interview with Larry Sparks. The piece is primarily about the new Sparks release, The Last Suit You Wear, but touches on Larry’s long career in bluegrass along the way. At one point, writer Charles Haymes brings up how much bluegrass has changed over the years, with pop and country influences being absorbed into the sound.

However, Sparks has stood as tall as a redwood tree, remaining unchanged and loyal to the genre.

“I’m exactly where I belong,” Sparks acknowledged. “I love bluegrass music. I’ve always felt that bluegrass music needed me and I know that I’ve needed it. I think we’re a good match for each other. “

That one can be read on the Cabot Star-Herald site.

There is an online feature about the latest Larry Sparks release, The Last Suit You Wear, up at CMT.com.

Written by Edward Morris, the piece provides details about the new release, interspersed with comments from Sparks, along with a brief overview of his more than 40 year career in bluegrass music.

Sparks was just 16 and still living in his native Ohio when he began playing occasional dates with the legendary Stanley Brothers. After lead singer Carter Stanley died in 1966, Sparks took his place and held that post for the next three years. Then he quit to form his own band, the Lonesome Ramblers.

He says he learned a lot about stage presence from watching Carter Stanley work. “He was pretty good at it,” Sparks recalls, “and he always had something to say. He could always say it well and make that contact with the audience.”

Also like Stanley, Sparks is a sharp dresser on stage, invariably clad in a tailored suit and wearing a tie, his curly hair immaculately coiffed. “I think it gives the people something to look at,” he says, “[it’s] more of a show look. I’ll admit it’s more comfortable in jeans.”

He points out that his prized 1953 Martin D-28 guitar, with its artist’s palette pick guard, has become part of his image as well. “Some say my pick guard is designed like my hair,” he quips. “That’s what a lot of the old ladies tell me.”

Read the full article at CMT.com.

You can hear audio samples from The Last Suit You Wear in the iTunes Music Store.

Here are two more reflections on the passing of Ray Goins from his friends and contemporaries in the music business.

Paul Williams had this to say about his old friend.

I first met Ray Goins, when I was with The Lonesome Pine Fiddlers in 1951. Jimmy Williams had left to go and work for Mac Wiseman, and Ezra hired Ray to play the banjo. He was a good lead singer as well. We did the first recording on RCA Victor with the Fiddlers, and became and remained friends.

Ray was a real good person, sorta laid back, and easy going in those days. We had some great times together in Bluefield, WV on WHIS. I have very fond memories of a real good person.

He was ready to leave here, he had told me in the past. Now his troubles, pain, heartaches and worries are all over. He is at rest in the Paradise of God. He will be greatly missed in the Bluegrass world.

Larry Sparks also shared a few thoughts about Ray.

Ray Goins played a part in the making of bluegrass music, starting back in the early years with his banjo playing and his good tenor singing playing with his brother Melvin Goins. I remember Ray as being a very nice man - always friendly with everyone and willing to give of himself to his fans. He loved this music.

I’m glad we got to meet over the years and to sing together a few times. We were friends, and most importantly, brothers in Christ Jesus.

CMT.com is reporting that McCoury Music has signed an exclusion distribution deal with RED Distribution.

McCoury Music was formed to release the recordings of bluegrass superstar Del McCoury when he left Rounder Records in 2003. They are also set to release the new CD from Larry Sparks, The Last Suit You Wear, tomorrow (5/1), and will release an acoustic project from Merle Haggard later this year.

RED is owned by Sony/BMG, and is considered to be the dominant distributor in the US for independent labels. Formed initially to distribute the recordings of smaller, independent heavy metal labels in 1979, but have since expanded to include music from a great many popular genres.

McCoury Music seems to be their first truly bluegrass label, though they also distribute the projects from SCI Fidelity, the String Cheese Incident label that has expanded to include several other artists as well.

The RED Distribution web site is currently being redesigned, but you can find them on MYSpace in the meantime.

McCoury Music has posted audio samples for all 12 tracks on the new Larry Sparks CD, The Last Suit You Wear - along with special, pre-release Internet pricing.

The CD isn’t set for an official release until May 1, but online orders are being shipped now, and offered for only $10 plus shipping. As they said in their press release - and posted in The B:

“We couldn’t think of a better way to kick off the first non-McCoury release on the label than to share it with our friends first.”

Check out the audio clips or place your pre-order at mccourymusic.net.

McCoury Music has four tracks from the upcoming Larry Sparks CD, The Last Suit You Wear, available for online listening on their MySpace page. The CD is due for release shortly on the McCoury label, produced by Don Rigsby and Larry Sparks.

The tracks available online are The Last Suit You Wear, For Your Love, Goodbye Little Darlin’ and Casualty Of War. There is one additional track from the Sparks CD on Del’s MySpace page, Those Blue Eyes Don’t Sparkle Anymore, which features Del singing tenor with Larry.

Bluegrass legend Larry Sparks will be lending his talents to the fight against cancer later this month. Arcadia, IN youngster (he’s 11 years old) Eric Taylor was diagnosed with cancer when a tumor was found on his spine last year. Apparently it’s a rather aggressive from of cancer and has left Eric in a state of constant pain in his back and without feeling in his legs. As the doctors continue to fight the cancer, the family’s medical expenses are adding up (their second child is due in February).

To help the family offset these rising medical expenses, a charity event, including a concert, raffle, and auction, will take place from noon to 10 PM on Saturday, January 27th at Hamilton Heights Middle School in Arcadia, IN. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children, free for 6 and younger.

The concert features performances by Larry Sparks, Diamond Hill Station, Revival Ridge, Jackie Kincaid, The Rock Bottom Mining Company, The Circle City Bluegrass Band, The Bluegrass Briar Hoppers, Friends & Strings, Linda Lee with Night Train Edition including Billy G Miller formally of the “Platters.” The show will be hosted by Cary Allen Fields of The Fields of Bluegrass Radio Hour.

The charity auction will feature donated items, including Pacer’s tickets, musical equipment, CDs, gift certificates, and merchandise from area businesses. All will be auctioned off by a national auction house in traditional style, and raffle tickets will be available for purchase on selected items, as well.

An appearance by Indianapolis Colts tight end Ben Utecht is also planned during the day.
More information about the event can be found here.

Donations can be made to:

Eric Taylor Trust Fund
c/o Key Bank
100 S. Peru Street, Cicero, IN 46034
Or call: (317) 984-9150

Michael Feagan is the newest member of Larry Sparks & The Lonesome Ramblers, joining the band on fiddle. He had worked previously with Bill Monroe and David Peterson & 1946, as well as country singer and guitarist Jerry Reed.

That makes the current lineup Larry Sparks on guitar and lead vocals, Jackie Kincaid on mandolin and tenor vocals, Josh McMurray on banjo, Larry D. Sparks on bass, and Michael on fiddle and harmony vocals.

You can look for a chance to catch Larry and the band by checking their tour schedule on the band’s web site.

CMT.com is reporting that Larry Sparks’ next album will be released on the McCoury Music label. The album is being produced by Don Rigsby and a spring 2007 release is planned.

Larry has a style all his own, both with his singing and playing, and is one of my favorite singers of all time, I am very pleased to have such a renowned musician on the roster, and I’m really looking forward to this new partnership.

Larry’s last CD, the highly celebrated 40, was released on the Rebel Records label. At this time I have been unable to find any additional details on this new deal at either Del or Larry’s sites. We’ll be sure to bring you updates when we do hear more.

Larry Sparks is pleased to welcome two new members to The Lonesome Ramblers. Jackie Kincaid comes onboard playing mandolin and singing tenor, and Larry’s son, Larry D. Sparks, has taken the bass spot. In addition, Johnny Collins is the new bus driver for the band.

Jackie is a first rate Monroe-style mandolinist and a strong tenor vocalist who had worked once before with Larry.

“I received a phone call from Larry in 1979, saying he liked my tenor singing. I sang ‘I Wonder Where You Are Tonight’ over the phone, and he hired me that night.”

Now, 27 years later, after just one weekend’s tryout with the band, Sparks has put Jackie back on the payroll.

“I cannot express how proud I am to be chosen by the ‘Best In Bluegrass.’ I have never heard a bad word spoken about Larry Sparks. I learned valuable lessons from him in the seventies and he is still a True Gentleman. With his unique style, golden voice, and heartfelt singing, he has been a tremendous influence on Bluegrass from day one, and it is far from over. I will always be grateful for this opportunity and grateful to my parents, Maxine and Neil Kincaid, for supporting me and leading the way for me to experience this great opportunity.”

Audio samples from Jackie’s solo CD, Second Time Around, can be found on his web site.

Larry D. Sparks, the 39 year old son of bandleader Sparks, has performed in local and regional bands for many years but this job in the family business is his first full-time band gig.

Larry is very excited about his new band members, and the sound they get with this grouping.

“The harmony in the group is very strong now, and the blend with the new band members is really great.”

Larry D. and Jackie will take the stage as members of The Lonesome Ramblers for the first time this weekend in Valdese, NC and Norfolk, VA. Check Larry’s schedule online to find a chance to catch Larry and the new lineup in concert.