A Life of Sorrow

Telling the story of Carter Stanley, a long-deceased mountain musician who was in on the ground floor of the development of bluegrass music. He traveled with his brother Ralph, as the Stanley Brothers, for twenty years. He died in 1966 at the youthful age of 41 after years of alcohol abuse. Plagued by a host of inner daemons, he used that angst to produce a catalog of original material that stands today as a cornerstone of the music.

For the program, I take on the persona of Carter Stanley and tell his life story, as he might have wanted it told were he here to do so. The show is mostly story telling but portions of ten of his songs (performed by me with guitar accompaniment) are woven throughout. There is 70 minutes of performance material. With an intermission and a Q & A at the end.