Lonesome Larry

Larry Sparks

I saw Larry Sparks perform with his Lonesome Ramblers a few times during the 1990s, and they're still going strong. By the looks of it, the guitar he's holding could easily have been with him all the while -- even when the Lonesome Ramblers recorded one of their first albums, Rambling Bluegrass, in Nashville.

"Nashville," he says, is "an exciting place. When [I] think of Nashville, I think of the Grand Ole Opry and the people that's been there for years."

Larry is one of those peeps who's been there a tol'ably long time, and, before that, he was there -- like so many others -- in spirit, as a young boy sprawled in front of the "big stand-up floor radio."

"We used to listen to WSM every weekend," he recalls.

Earlier this year, he was inducted into the George D. Hay Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville.

September

Who is this "lonesome rambler"?

He has been picking professionally now for nearly half a century, with 50 recorded projects to his name and numerous awards under his belt, including Best Male Vocalist and Album of the Year.

He began the year of my birth -- 1964 -- with the Stanley Brothers, playing lead guitar. He stayed on with Ralph following Carter's death until 1969 when he formed his own band, the Lonesome Ramblers. He has toured extensively, including in Canada and Japan, and appeared on TV programs such as Austin City Limits as well as at the Grand Ole Opry.

He first came to Nashville in 1969 with Ralph Stanley to record the now-legendary album Hills of Home. And like many of today's bluegrass heavyweights, he appears regularly at the Station Inn (where he is pictured above just prior to a performance).

Significant September dates in bluegrass history

• 3rd: The first bluegrass festival took place in Fincastle, Va. (1965)
• 9th: The father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe, died (1996)
• 13th: Bill Monroe was born (1911)
• 16th: Bill Monroe records "Blue Moon of Kentucky" for Columbia Records (1946)
• 21st: Shawn Lane, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist for Blue Highway, was born (1971)
• 24th: Flatt & Scruggs record "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" (1962)
• 27th: Charlie Monroe, Bill's older brother, died (1975)
• 30th: The Stanley Brothers record "How Mountain Girls Can Love" (1958)