Q & A with Ralph Stanley
By Paul Tambasco
City Editor

On Saturday night Garner Historic Auditorium will clawhammer with banjos and bluegrass as three-time Grammy-winner Ralph Stanley and his band, the Clinch Mountain Boys, take to the old school stage for the group’s only North Carolina stop this year. He has performed professionally for 62 years.

On Friday, Stanley spoke briefly by phone about what to expect in the upcoming show, his time in Garner and how he may have shaped the presidential election:

PT: You’ve been touring since October. Where are you right now?

RS:  I’m coming into Louisville, Kentucky.

PT: You are playing our Auditorium on Saturday night [8 p.m.]. How did you end up in Garner?

RS: We used to play in Garner. Not too many years ago, I don’t know how many, we use to play it straight. I always enjoyed Garner. They have that restaurant over there where you can get all kinds of old-time meats. I can’t remember what it’s called. We haven’t played there for a couple of years but I’m looking forward to coming back.

PT: You have a large library of music. What can folks expect to hear at the Nov. 15 show?

RS: I have a six-piece band. It’s old-time traditional–I call it country music; a lot of people calls it bluegrass. We feature gospel songs with instrumentals and love songs. I think we’ve got a good, clean show that’s suitable for a 3-year-old all the way up to grandma and grandpa.

PT: Did you stay up Tuesday watching the election?

RS: Yeah. I don’t know how late, but I stayed up long enough to know who had won.

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