Bluegrass fiddler and legendary Ohio Valley radio personality Paul ‘Moon’ Mullins passed away on August 3. He had been in a nursing home for about a month. He was 71 years old.

Mullins was diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy in 2007, a neurological disease often misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s Disease. He was cared for at his home in Franklin Township until 6 weeks ago when admitted to Hillspring Nursing facility in Springboro, Ohio, where he passed away on Sunday evening.

Born September 24, 1936 in Frenchburg, Menifee County, Kentucky, Mullins was an exceptional fiddler, learning to play the instrument while in the army in which he served from 1955 through to 1958. He played with some of the elite from the first generation of bluegrass bands, notably the Stanley Brothers, with whom he worked from September 1958 through to January 1959. Stage fright got the better of him.

In 1962 he joined The Bluegrass Playboys and wrote and recorded one of his best contributions to the bluegrass genre, namely the song, Katy Daly, which has been a bluegrass standard for 40 years.

For several years beginning in 1967, Mullins assisted the late Bill Monroe, serving as the Master of Ceremonies for the Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festivals in Brown County, Indiana. For over 10 years, Bean Blossom was the biggest bluegrass event of its kind in the country. In addition to his role as a Master of Ceremonies at bluegrass events, he also personally promoted dozens of other area festivals and concerts.

In 1974 he helped to form The Boys From Indiana and he remained with the band until 1979. The group recorded seven LPs for King Bluegrass during that time. A recent Rebel collection, ‘Good Time Blues’, features Mullins on a 14-song retrospective look at this very talented and entertaining band.

Mullins formed The Traditional Grass in 1983, (more…)

Bluegrass fiddler and legendary Ohio Valley radio personality Paul “Moon” Mullins will accept a well-deserved honor at this Saturday’s Cityfolk Festival in Dayton, OH. On June 30, he will receive the 2007 Ohio Heritage Fellowship Award for Performing Arts, given by the Ohio Arts Council for exemplary Ohio artists and musicians.

The award is described in this way by the OAC:

These Fellowships are awarded to an individual or group whose achievements have had a positive impact on the excellence, vitality and public appreciation of folk and traditional arts in Ohio.

Nominated individuals or groups should have a history of continuing artistic accomplishments and be actively participating in their art form as performers, teachers or both. Criteria in this category include authenticity, artistic excellence and significance within the tradition of the performing art form.

Paul was the fiddler with The Stanley Brothers from 1958 to 1960, and wrote the song Katy Daly, one of Ralph Stanley’s most enduring  numbers. He was a founding member of The Boys From Indiana in the 1970s, and The Traditional Grass in the 1980s - along his son Joe.

He began his broadcasting career in the early 1960s, and The Moon Mullins Show was a popular program on WPFB for many years. He joined his son at WBZI in Xenia, OH when Joe decided to give up his career as a bluegrass performer and purchase the station in 1995, and remained there for the next ten years until his retirement.

In 2000, The IBMA voted him Broadcaster of the Year, and bestowed their Distinguished Achievement Award as well.

Congratulations to Paul “Moon” Mullins for the Ohio Arts Council recognition, and thanks for the many years of service to bluegrass music!

More details about Paul’s lengthy career in the business can be found on WBZI MyClassicCountry.com.