Try it free

“Curly” Ray Cline

Musician · 1923–1997 · Baisden, West Virginia
Best known for Fiddle Lead Vocals

Curly Ray Cline — the self-styled “Old Kentucky Fox Hunter” — was one of traditional bluegrass's most beloved fiddlers and showmen, a West Virginia miner-turned-musician whose 26 years with Ralph Stanley's Clinch Mountain Boys (1967–1993) made him inseparable from the classic post-Carter-Stanley sound. His old-time Arthur Smith-influenced fiddling, his corny on-stage humor, and his series of solo comedy-and-fiddle albums gave him an identity as distinctive as any sideman in the genre.

Assisted by AI. Spot something off? Help us fix it.
  • Born Ray Cline in Mingo County, West Virginia (often cited as Baisden). Learned basic fiddle from his father; otherwise self-taught. Heavily influenced by Fiddlin' Arthur Smith on the Grand Ole Opry.
  • Part of a large musical family; brothers Charlie Cline and Ned Cline were also professional bluegrass musicians. Cousin Ezra Cline was a leading bluegrass promoter and bassist.
  • At age 15 in 1938, formed the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers with cousin Ezra and brother Ned. The band played on radio station WHIS in Bluefield, West Virginia and became one of the most influential early bluegrass bands in the central Appalachian region, remaining on WHIS until 1952.
  • Simultaneously worked in coal mines and played with Jimmy Martin's Sunny Mountain Boys alongside brother Charlie. The Lonesome Pine Fiddlers were early launching pads for Bobby and Sonny Osborne, Paul Williams, Larry Richardson, Melvin Goins, and others.
  • Continued with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers through 1966. Joined Ralph Stanley's reconfigured Clinch Mountain Boys full-time in 1967, after Carter Stanley's death, and remained until retiring from music in 1993.
  • His fiddle became a defining feature of the classic Clinch Mountain Boys sound alongside Roy Lee Centers's lead vocals, Ricky Lee on bass (later Jack Cooke), and various guitarists. Ralph said of Curly Ray: “He plays the fiddle sort of the way I play the banjo, he plays it the way he feels it.”
  • Released a series of solo instrumental and comedy albums during his Clinch Mountain Boys tenure: Chicken Reel (Rebel, 1971), They Cut Down the Old Pine Tree, Who's Gonna Mow My Grass (1978), and others. Albums combined traditional fiddle tunes with vocal sound effects (barking hounds, braying mules) and his signature comedy one-liners.
  • Known as the Clinch Mountain Boys' resident comedian; delivered old-time comedy monologues and repartee between songs. Famous for cryptic one-liners and a bone-dry delivery that punctuated Stanley's high-lonesome performances.
  • An avid fox hunter in the Appalachian tradition (running hounds rather than shooting) and a keen political observer; known among the Clinch Mountain Boys for his encyclopedic knowledge of local and state political figures across the eastern U.S.
  • Worked as a coal miner for years before bluegrass became sustaining; carried that working-class identity through his entire musical career.
  • Retired from the Clinch Mountain Boys in 1993 due to declining health. Died in Gilbert, West Virginia on August 19, 1997, at age 74. Ralph Stanley spoke at his funeral.
  • One of the most imitated old-time bluegrass fiddlers among East Kentucky, West Virginia, and southwest Virginia musicians — a lineage that continues through Dewey Brown, James Price, and other later Clinch Mountain Boys fiddlers.

Share Playlist