The scion of one of the foremost families in bluegrass, Ralph Stanley II began his career in music in the shadow of his father, the iconic banjo player and vocalist Dr. Ralph Stanley. After launching a solo career and assuming leadership of his father's group the Clinch Mountain Boys, he matured into an artist well respected in his own right. A gifted guitarist, "Two," as he is known to family and close friends, has a voice that is mellow, warmer, and deeper compared to that of his father, but his dedication to traditional bluegrass is firm, and the occasional modern touches he brings to his music still resonate with a classic sound. Ralph Stanley II made his solo debut with 1996's Clinch Mountain Echoes: Songs in the Stanley Tradition; however, it wasn't until 2000's Pretty Girls, City Lights that fans and critics first took notice. After several more strong solo releases, he stepped forward as a bandleader on 2017's Ralph Stanley II & The Clinch Mountain Boys. Born on August 20, 1978, Ralph Stanley II grew up listening to his father's music, while his mother's taste leaned to vintage bluegrass and classic country, George Jones being a particular favorite. When he was two years old, his mother spotted him holding a broom like it was a guitar and strumming away; a year later, his father taught him how to play a roll on the banjo. Despite his dad's influence, Ralph II was more interested in the guitar than the banjo, and at the age of five, he borrowed his sister's six-string and began learning to play. Before long, he was good enough to tag along with his father and the band for road dates, but Ralph II didn't commit to making a music a career until he saw videos of Keith Whitley during his tenure with the Clinch Mountain Boys in the '70s, and studied his technique as a guitarist and singer. In time, Ralph II's picking was earning positive comparisons to that of his late uncle Carter Stanley, and in 1995, he joined his father's band as lead vocalist and guitarist. Though he was busy touring and recording with Dr. Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys, Ralph II was eager to step out on his own. He brought out his first solo album in 1996, Clinch Mountain Echoes: Songs in the Stanley Tradition, which he cut in tandem with mandolinist John Rigsby, a longtime Clinch Mountain Boys sideman. Ralph II was able to show off more of his own personality on his second LP, 1999's Listen to My Hammer Ring, and really stepped forward on 2000's Pretty Girls, City Lights, where he began bringing his own songwriting into the mix. Over the next decade, Ralph II divided his time between working alongside his father and recording on his own, issuing four full-length albums between 2002 and 2012 (Stanley Blues, Carrying On, This One Is II, and Born to Be a Drifter). This period unexpectedly became one of the most successful of Dr. Ralph's career, as his a cappella version of "O Death" became a highlight of the best-selling soundtrack to the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the bluegrass hero was introduced to the mass market for the first time. Dr. Ralph's new fame also paid dividends for Ralph II; he joined his dad for the recording of the 2002 album Lost in the Lonesome Pines, a collaboration between Stanley and Jim Lauderdale, and the project earned the Clinch Mountain Boys Grammy Awards. In 2013, Stanley Senior and Junior issued a duets album, Side by Side, which proved to be one of Dr. Ralph's final recording projects; he died on June 23, 2016, after contracting skin cancer. One of his final wishes was that his son take over leadership of the Clinch Mountain Boys and keep their legacy alive, and Ralph II obliged. Released in 2017, Ralph Stanley II & the Clinch Mountain Boys was Ralph II's first album as the leader of the famous group, and he threw himself into their busy schedule of live appearances. 2019's Lord Help Me Find the Way was their follow-up, in which they interpreted a handful of classic bluegrass gospel songs. ~ Mark Deming