The Doctor is retiring

The BIB doesn't as a rule carry news of events outside Ireland, but this concerns bluegrass people all over the world. Dr Ralph Stanley, the epitome of hard-core mountain music in bluegrass style, is to retire -  which he is certainly entitled to consider, after a professional career comprising twenty years (1946-66) with his brother Carter and a further forty-seven since then.

The retirement will not take immediate effect, as it will be marked by a farewell tour under the title 'Man of Constant Sorrow tour: the Dr’s farewell', which will begin this coming October and continue to the end of 2014. In the course of the tour, Dr Ralph will make over eighty appearances backed by the Clinch Mountain Boys and supported by other bluegrass and country artists.

Read the full story (as it stands at present) in this press release from Morris Public Relations.