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Thursday & Friday, February 8 & 9
Ralph Stanley &
The Clinch Mountain Boys
w/The MacRae Brothers (Thursday 2/8) [SOLD OUT!]
w/Keystone Crossing (Friday 2/9) [SOLD OUT!]
(see "Advance Tickets" below for SRO admission info)
Freight & Salvage Coffee House
8 pm (doors 7 pm)
$19.50 advance, $20.50 door
General admission. All ages welcome.

This year the historic Freight & Salvage Coffee House in Berkeley joins forces with the San Francisco Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival, presenting two shows by Dr. Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys.

"Most hard core bluegrass fans consider the Stanley Brothers as one of a holy trinity that includes Bill Monroe's band and Flatt and Scruggs. Everything since stems from those three distinct styles."
-- Tim O'Brien

From the 1940s through the 1960s Ralph Stanley performed with his brother Carter as The Stanley Brothers. The Stanley Brothers' "mountain music", while influenced by the music of Bill Monroe, drew also from the old-time and gospel music of their youth. Their songs, harmonies and arrangements grew in time to become an essential part of what defined bluegrass.

Years after the untimely death of his brother, Ralph emerged as a band leader on his own, fronting The Clinch Mountain Boys. He expanded his band's repertoire to include more old-time and clawhammer banjo tunes, songs that his mother had taught him to play. He was the first recipient (in 1985) of The National Endowment for the Humanities Traditional American Music Award, and he received an honorary doctorate from Lincoln Memorial University. Many people believe that after more than 50 years in bluegrass his voice is more powerful than ever -- this year he was featured on the soundtrack of the Coen' Brothers film O Brother Where Art Thou?, singing a haunting a capella rendition of the old-time ballad "O Death".

On Thursday, February 8 the show will be opened by the old-time country "brother duet" sound of The MacRae Brothers. Marin's resident country duet, Keystone Crossing (Larry Carlin & Claudia Hampe) opens the show on Friday, February 9. Both duos play and sing songs from the pre-bluegrass era of classic brother country acts -- the Monroe Brothers, the Delmore Brothers, the Louvin Brothers, and more. Keystone Crossing expands its repertoire to include songs by contemporary country duos: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum, and Jones & Leva.

PLUS! The San Francisco Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival is proud to present screenings of The Ralph Stanley Story, a new documentary by Appalshop Films, as part of the Festival's "Appalachian Music and Culture On Film" series. Screenings will be held at the Fine Arts Cinema in Berkeley on Wednesday night, with a special screening held on Friday before the concert.

Advance Tickets
Advance tickets for both nights have sold out! A (very) limited amount of standing room only admissions will be sold on site. There's still The Ralph Stanley Story, screening in Berkeley. And there are other Festival events on Thursday and Friday.

Getting There
The Freight & Salvage is located at 1111 Addison Street, near the intersection of Addison and San Pablo, in Berkeley. Click for directions.

About the Freight & Salvage
For more than 30 years, the non-profit Freight & Salvage has been presenting acoustic, eclectic, and international music to the Bay Area community. It has been a particular haven for fans of bluegrass & old-time music, offering a venue for touring performers that has weathered a multitude of changing trends in music club programming. With its new capital campaign, the Freight has successfully secured a new building in Berkeley's new Downtown Arts District, near Shattuck Avenue, convenient to the UC campus and the Berkeley BART station. The new facility, which will double the Freight's seating capacity to 400, is scheduled to open in 2004.

next event >

Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys
> Ralph Stanley profile at country.com
> Ralph Stanley profile at Cybergrass (www.banjo.com)
> Traveling the High Way Home: Ralph Stanley and the World of Traditional Bluegrass Music, a book by John Wright

The MacRae Brothers
> Official site

Keystone Crossing
> Official site

CD

CD | Cass

Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys: 1971-1973
(4 disc box set)