We just received a note from James Alan Shelton, lead guitarist and road manager for Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys. He reports that the band has a new banjo player, their second since Steve Sparkman left the group last month.
Mitchell Van Dyke of Grundy, VA is the new banjo player for Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys. He joins the band following the departure of 16 year veteran Steve Sparkman, who left the band in November to pursue a career in law enforcement. Mitchell is well versed in Stanley style of banjo and has performed with a number of local and regional groups over the past several years.
Dr. Stanley and the rest of the CMB’s welcome Mitchell into the band and he will be touring permanently with the group as the Clinch Mountain Boys begin the New Year at the Jekyll Island, GA Convention Center on New Years’s Day January 1, 2011. Then it’s on to Bill’s Music Shop in West Columbia, SC the following day for an afternoon show at 2:30 pm on Sunday January 2nd.
