Junior Blankenship
Musician · Haysi, Virginia
Best known for
Guitar
Junior Blankenship is a Southwest Virginia flatpicking guitarist whose long association with Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys — spanning two formal tenures and a fill-in return decades later — has made him a steady voice of the deep-traditional Stanley sound.
- Flatpicker from Haysi in Dickenson County, Southwest Virginia — the heart of Stanley country.
- Started in his father's band, the Rocky Mountain Boys, in early 1974 as a teenager.
- Joined Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys in 1977; first appeared on record on Curly Ray Cline's "Who's Gonna Mow My Grass" LP, recorded January 5, 1978.
- Initial Clinch Mountain Boys tenure ran through April/May 1990; rejoined in autumn 1991 and stayed until early March 1994.
- Returned to help Stanley's band again in 2014 during James Alan Shelton's illness.
- Co-led a band with fellow Stanley alum Ernie Thacker after leaving in 1994, recording the album "Old Virginia."
- Currently leads The Junior Blankenship Band, based out of Haysi, Virginia.
-
Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain BoysPlayed on recordings with Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys
-
Ralph Stanley and FriendsPlayed on recordings with Ralph Stanley and Friends
-
Nathan Stanley and the Clinch Mountain BoysPlayed on recordings with Nathan Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys
-
Ralph Stanley IIPlayed on recording with Ralph Stanley II