Melvin Goins

Melvin Goins

Turning 80 in a couple of weeks, Melvin Goins has been a professional bluegrass musician for 62 of those years. For Melvin, like many of that era, his interest in music was kindled around the family's radio.

"We didn't have electricity," he recalls of his childhood. "But we had an old battery radio and we had to listen to that old battery radio on Saturday night to hear the Grand Ole Opry. We would gather around the old fireplace ... the old oil lamps a-burning. Mommy would make some gingerbread and pop some popcorn."

One wonders if he dared imagine that he would one day appear on that very same Opry -- many times, in fact. Well, he has, making Nashville almost like a second home. And when he's not appearing there, he can still be seen fronting Windy Mountain at various bluegrass festivals.

December

Who is this bluegrass pioneer who turns 80 this month?

Brother acts have always had a place in bluegrass music, from the early days (Monroe Brothers, Stanley Brothers, Jim & Jesse) up to the present day (Spinney Brothers, Gibson Brothers). This bluegrass pioneer played with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers before forming a band with younger brother Ray in 1953. Then, after Ray retired from the music in the 1990s, he began fronting his own band, Windy Mountain, and continues to this day.

He first came to Nashville to record with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers as a young whippersnapper of 20. He was, by his own account, "scared to death. I'd never been in a studio in my life. Sweat was rolling down my legs ... you could have took a bath or shower in my shoes when I got done!"

Obviously, he got over his nerves. He is now a member of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame, the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame, and the IBMA Hall of Fame.

Significant December dates in bluegrass history

• 1st: Carter Stanley (1966) and Jack Cooke (2009) died
• 5th: The Traditional Grass formed (1983)
• 7th: Bobby Osborne (1931) and Jason Burleson (1967) were born
• 10th: John Duffey (1996) and Dempsey Young (2006) died
• 11th: Flatt & Scruggs recorded "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" (1949)
• 19th: Uncle Dave Macon first appeared on the Grand Ole Opry (1925)
• 25th: "Rocky Top" by the Osborne Brothers was released (1967)
• 30th: Melvin Goins (1933) and John Hartford (1937) were born