JAMES ALAN SHELTON

• From Gate City, Virginia. Made his home in Church Hill, Tennessee.
• Played guitar with such bands as the Bluegrass Travelers, the Larkin Brothers, the Southern Grass and Flint Hill before joining Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys in 1994. He also served as the band’s road manager.
• He emulated the guitar style of his musical hero George Shuffler (lead guitarist with the Stanley Brothers).
• 1996, released Blue in the Blue Ridge album (Freeland).
• 1998, released Clinch Mountain Guitar album (Freeland).
• 1999, released Standing Room Only album (Freeland).
• 2002, released Songs for Greta album (Rebel).
• 2004, released Half Moon Bay album (Rebel).
• 2007, released Walking Down the Line album (Sheltone).
• 2010, released Where I’m Bound album (Sheltone).
• When not on the road, he made hand-tooled, customised leather instrument straps, for guitar, banjo, and mandolin.
• 2014, died of cancer at the age of 53.