Another Larry

The Larry Stephenson Band (l. to r.: Larry Stephenson, Kenny
Ingram, Danny Stewart, Kevin Richardson)

A member of Virginia's Country Music Hall of Fame, Larry Richardson has won SPGMA's Male Vocalist of the Year award five times during his nearly 40 years in the business. He also had a no. 1 hit ("Clinch Mountain Mystery") during his days with Pinecastle Records.

A few years ago, the Larry Stephenson Band's 20th Anniversary collection won IBMA's Recorded Event of the Year. Just one look at the stellar supporting cast is enough to explain why it won: Sonny Osborne, Dale Ann Bradley, Marty Stuart, Ricky Skaggs, Connie Smith, Del McCoury, and Dudley Connell.

Larry and the band have also appeared on the Grand Ole Opry many times and on the RFD television network.

October

Who is this high-singing mandolin player and his band?

Hailing from Virginia, the leader (pictured at far left) of this foursome cut his musical teeth in the Washington, D.C., area with the likes of Cliff Waldron and Leon Morris. Later, he played mandolin and sang tenor with the Bluegrass Cardinals and Bill Harrell and the Virginians.

In 1989 he formed his own band and, three years later, relocated to Nashville, and has been headquartered there ever since.

After releasing 18 albums on Pinecastle Records during an 18-year-stint with the label, the group recently signed with the Nashville-based Compass Records.

Significant October dates in bluegrass history

• 2nd: Earl Scruggs was involved in a serious auto accident (1955)
• 7th: Bill Monroe recorded "Mule Skinner Blues" (1940)
• 10th: Sammy Shelor, longtime banjoist for the Lonesome River Band, was born (1962)
• 15th: Bill Monroe recorded "Uncle Pen" (1950)
• 16th: Don Reno died (1984)
• 22nd: First Rounder Records LP released (1970) and Maybelle Carter died (1978)
• 23rd: Merle Watson, Doc's guitar-playing son, died in a farming accident (1985)
• 27th: Joe Mullins, formerly of the Traditional Grass, now a Radio Rambler, was born (1965)