For Immediate Release: January 10, 2003
Press Contact: Cash Edwards, 512/447-0544, or Janet Braun, Conference Manager, 301/588-8185

Folk Alliance Presents Lifetime Achievement Awards to Ralph Stanley, Reverand Gary Davis and Sing Out! Magazine

(Washington, D.C.) The Folk Alliance will present Lifetime Achievement Awards at the International Folk Alliance Conference, at the Renaissance Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, February 6-8, 2003. This year they honor Dr. Ralph Stanley, reigning elder statesman of pure "Mountain Music," the Reverand Gary Davis, influential blues and Gospel guitarist, and Sing Out!, a magazine which for more than fifty years has chronicled the traditional and contemporary folk world.

Thursday, February 6 - Ralph Stanley was born in 1927. His voice has a stark emotional urgency rooted in the culture of remote Appalachia. His terse, forlorn tenor singing and distinctive banjo picking is the heartbeat of his band, The Clinch Mountain Boys.

As "The Stanley Brothers," Ralph, with his brother Carter, were major stars in country music, constantly touring and making radio appearances and innumerable recordings for Columbia and other labels. After his brother’s death, Ralph continued to define a unique and distinctive bluegrass sound. Ralph is particularly respected for his innovations in pioneering a cappella quartet arrangements in bluegrass gospel. He has written many songs that have become standards. His a cappella rendition of "O Death" for the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? saw new mainstream audiences flocking to hear this master of bluegrass music.

A member of the Grand Ole Opry, Ralph has received many awards, including two Grammys and a Country Music Association award, and was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Bluegrass Hall of Honor. He received an honorary doctorate from Tennessee's Lincoln Memorial University. Stanley is also a recipient of Library of Congress’ "Living Legend" medal and the first recipient of the National Endowment for the Humanities "Traditional American Music Award." A comprehensive study of his work and career was written by John Wright: Traveling the High Way Home: Ralph Stanley and the World of Traditional Bluegrass Music (University of Illinois Press, 1993). Ralph is also a Shriner and a member of the Primitive Baptist Universalist Church.

Ralph’s music is so authentic that its raw power moves and inspires performers from all musical genres. Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Vince Gill, Jerry Garcia, Ricky Skaggs and Patty Loveless all credit him as a major inspiration.

Ralph Stanley continues to live in and draw strength from the remote mountainous region of southwestern Virginia. (more info: www.thepressoffice.com/stanley)

Friday, February 7 - Reverand Gary Davis was a vital link to the legendary old-time blues players of the '20s and '30s, and remains among the very greatest blues guitarists and singers of all time. Born in 1896, Davis was blind almost from birth. As a black man in early 20th century America, his life was not blessed with abundant opportunity. Fortunately, he displayed an early talent for the guitar and by his teens was supporting himself by playing on the streets of various cities in North and South Carolina, along with other superb blues guitarists like Blind Boy Fuller and Willie Walker. Davis continued performing; switching to spiritual material after being ordained as a minister in 1933.

Davis moved to New York City about 1940. For more than 20 years, he was a familiar sight on the sidewalks of Harlem, playing and singing gospel songs, his voice roughened by years of singing on the noisy streets. Gradually he developed a reputation among the city's white folk cognoscenti, and eventually became a regular performer at New York folk events, appearing in more than one "hootenanny" at Carnegie Hall.

From the late '50s on, he was recorded by a number of companies and his awe-inspiring guitar skills became widely known; though he refused to record any secular songs until the very end of his career. A steady stream of young guitarists flocked to the Reverend's home for lessons, among them Dave Van Ronk and Stefan Grossman as well as rock luminaries such as the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir and Jorma Kaukonen of the Jefferson Airplane. Some songs of the Reverend's, such as "Candy Man" and "Death Don't Have No Mercy" became classics. The Grateful Dead and other rock groups recorded the latter song and Peter, Paul & Mary had a minor pop hit with Davis' "Samson & Delilah." Davis played for innumerable audiences in North America and Europe, and on his death in 1972, was mourned by musicians and lovers of music everywhere. (www.revgarydavis.com)

Saturday, February 8 - In May of 1950, Sing Out! magazine arose out of the ashes of Peoples' Songs. Drawing its name from the lyrics of Pete Seeger and Lee Hays' famous "Hammer Song," the magazine reflected its founders' social commitment, and their love of singing both to effect change and to share the pure enjoyment of song.

Since its founding, Sing Out! has grown from a 16-page black-and-white pamphlet to a quarterly journal that fills its 200+ pages each issue with articles, news, reviews, instruction, commentary and, of course, songs! Since the ‘80s Sing Out! has been one component of a larger not-for-profit organization devoted to preserving the cultural diversity and heritage of all traditional folk music.

Today, Sing Out! has a circulation approaching 15,000. Its mail-order book division, Legacy Books, is a significant source of out-of-print and hard-to-find folk music titles, and Sing Out! Publications publishes a wide range of folk song collections, including the phenomenal Rise up Singing, which has sold more than 750,000 copies worldwide. Sing Out! also houses a multimedia collection of folk music and folk revival books, audio and video recordings, photos, periodicals, clippings and correspondence from the 1940s to the present.

With a newly renovated permanent home in Bethlehem, Penn., Sing Out! is continuing to grow. "As long as traditional styles of folk music are preserved and new styles created, Sing Out! will be there, earning its exclamation point." Utne Reader (www.singout.org)

Each recipient will receive an original colored wood-block print, commissioned by the Folk Alliance for the Lifetime Achievement Award by artist Paul Ritscher. The awards are given to individuals or organizations that have achieved definitive leadership in their fields, have contributed to the advancement of folk music and/or dance and who have inspired us through their presence. Each year two performers, one living and one deceased, and a person or institution involved in the business or academic side of the folk world are honored.

"I believe what we’re doing here is creating our common cultural genealogy. We are naming our elders, and we are saying who we are." John McCutcheon

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