Ralph Mayo
Musician · 1930–1992 · Kingsport, Tennessee
Best known for
Fiddle
Ralph Mayo was a Tennessee fiddler best known on records as "The Tennessee Fiddler," a sideman whose smoky, Grayson-influenced tone backed the Stanley Brothers, Carl Story, Jim & Jesse, and the Sauceman Brothers across the postwar bluegrass scene.
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- Born in Kingsport, Tennessee on January 4, 1930.
- Led his own group on WCYB Bristol's "Farm and Fun Time" in the early-to-mid 1950s.
- Recorded with the Stanley Brothers at King Records sessions in the late 1950s, often switching between fiddle and lead guitar.
- Sideman credits with Carl Story, Jim & Jesse McReynolds, and the Sauceman Brothers spanning the 1950s and 1960s.
- Sang harmony as well as playing lead, and was admired for the dark, vocal-friendly fiddle tone he carried into a chorus.
- Was scheduled to take part in a planned 1981 Clinch Mountain Boys reunion recording with George Shuffler and Larry Sparks.
- Died in Tennessee on September 20, 1992.
