John Starling
Contemporary Bluegrass
John Starling was the founding lead vocalist and guitarist of the Seldom Scene, the Washington, D.C.-area progressive bluegrass band whose 1970s Bethesda residency made it one of the most influential acts in the genre's urban-folk-revival era. He sustained a parallel career as an Army surgeon and ENT physician, and lent his voice to a long list of Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris recordings.
- Born John Lewis Starling on March 26, 1940 in Durham, North Carolina; raised in Lexington, Virginia.
- Earned a BA from Davidson College in 1962 and a medical degree from the University of Virginia in 1967; served as a U.S. Army surgeon during the Vietnam War, then trained as an otolaryngologist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
- Co-founded the Seldom Scene in Bethesda, Maryland in 1971 with Mike Auldridge (Dobro), Ben Eldridge (banjo), John Duffey (mandolin), and Tom Gray (bass); the band's Friday-night residency at the Red Fox Inn ran from January 1972 through September 1977.
- Left the band in 1977 to focus on medicine; returned briefly in 1992–1994 to record Like We Used to Be (Sugar Hill, 1994).
- Released the solo records Long Time Gone (Sugar Hill, 1980) and Waitin' on a Southern Train (Sugar Hill, 1982); fronted John Starling and Carolina Star for Slidin' Home (2007), with Auldridge, Tom Gray, Jimmy Gaudreau, and Rickie Simpkins.
- Sang harmony on Linda Ronstadt's Heart Like a Wheel (1974) and Feels Like Home (1995), Emmylou Harris's Elite Hotel (1975), and the Parton/Ronstadt/Harris Trio album (1987), where he served as musical consultant.
- Won the 1992 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album for Spring Training with Carl Jackson and the Nash Ramblers.
- Inducted with the Seldom Scene's other founding members into the IBMA Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2014; died of congestive heart failure on May 2, 2019 at age 79.
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Alan O'BryantPlayed on recording with John Starling
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Blaine SprousePlayed on recording with John Starling
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Claire LynchPlayed on recording with John Starling
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John StarlingPlayed on recording with John Starling
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Kyle TullisPlayed on recording with John Starling
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Mike AuldridgePlayed on recording with John Starling
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Sam BushPlayed on recording with John Starling