Melvin Goins
Best known for
Guitar
Melvin Goins was a West Virginia-born guitarist, vocalist, and bandleader whose Lonesome Pine Fiddlers tenure, three years in the Stanley Brothers' Clinch Mountain Boys, and decades-long Goins Brothers run with brother Ray placed him at the heart of postwar Appalachian bluegrass.
- Born December 30, 1933 near the coal town of Goodwill in Mercer County, West Virginia.
- Joined the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers in 1951 with brother Ray; the band was a major early bluegrass act.
- Played bass and performed comedy as "Big Wilbur" with the Stanley Brothers from January 1966 for roughly three years.
- Re-formed the Goins Brothers Band with brother Ray in May 1969; the duo recorded more than 30 albums over a near-30-year run.
- First bluegrass musician featured on the cover of Smithsonian Magazine in 1993.
- Inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2009 as a member of the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers.
- Kentucky Music Hall of Fame inductee in 2011 (alongside late brother Ray); West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
- Continued performing as Melvin Goins and Windy Mountain until his death on July 29, 2016, while traveling to a Canadian festival.
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The Lonesome Pine FiddlersPlayed on recordings with The Lonesome Pine Fiddlers
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Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain BoysPlayed on recordings with Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys
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Melvin GoinsPlayed on recordings with Melvin Goins
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America's Bluegrass BandPlayed on recording with America's Bluegrass Band
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Curley LambertPlayed on recording with Curley Lambert
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Hylo Brown and the Lonesome Pine FiddlersPlayed on recording with Hylo Brown and the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers
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The Goins BrothersPlayed on recording with The Goins Brothers