Sam Wilson, 31 Dec. 1948-25 Feb. 2018

Thanks to Tony O'Brien for this sad news:

Just passing on the news that Sam Wilson passed away on Sun. 25th aged 69. Sam played the Athy festival with his band, the Kentucky Cardinals, in 1994. They were a great traditional bluegrass band.

Tony also sends this photo of Sam with Clem O'Brien at Athy, together with this YouTube link to a recording of Sam singing the gospel song 'How long has it been'. As well as leading his own bands, Sam (of Wolfe county, eastern Kentucky) played from time to time with Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys, as shown in other examples of his singing on YouTube.

Update 2 Mar.: A detailed obituary by Richard Thompson is now on Bluegrass Today.