Melvin Goins, 1933-2016

We learn with great regret from Bluegrass Today that another pioneer of bluegrass has passed on. Melvin Glen Goins, born in Bramwell, WV, on 30 Dec. 1933, has died while on tour in Canada. His banjo-playing brother Ray Elwood Goins, just over two years younger, died in 2007.

The brothers were inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame in 2009 as members of the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers in the 1950s and 1960s; their careers in music were much longer, lasting in Melvin's case right up to his death. More details, and a performance video of the Goins brothers, are on the Bluegrass Today post.

Update 23 Oct.: A long and rewarding article by Richard Thompson on Melvin's life has now appeared on Bluegrass Today.