CARL STORY

• From Lenoir, North Carolina.
• Formed the first version of his band “The Ramblin’ Mountaineers” in 1934.
• Rose to prominence on radio station WHKY in Hickory, North Carolina.
• Was a disk jockey in Greer, South Carolina.
• 1942, worked for a year with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, playing fiddle. Left to join the Navy in 1943. After the war, he resumed playing with his own band.
• 1947, made first commercial recordings.
• 1957, his band became a full-blown bluegrass band with the Brewster Brothers providing the instrumentation.
• Called “The Father of Bluegrass Gospel Music.”
• Recorded more than 65 gospel albums, most of them on Starday Records.
• 1958, his “Gospel Quartet Favorites” (Mercury Records) was the first bluegrass gospel album.
• Specialized in a hard-core mountain style of bluegrass gospel singing.
• Died in 1995. Was still performing until his death at age 78.
• After Story’s death, mandolin player Danny Arms reorganized the band as Carl Story’s Rambling Mountaineers.
• 2007, was inducted into the IBMA’s Hall of Fame.

RECOMMENDED ALBUMS:

• A Life In Rural Music, Bluegrass, Gospel, And Mountain Music 1942-1959 (Bear Family) A 4-CD box set of Story’s most popular recordings.
• Bluegrass Gospel Collection (CMH, 2004)