WYMT television in Hazard, KY has made the video stream from yesterday evening’s funeral services for Ralph Stanley available on YouTube.
Many lovers of Stanley’s raw version of mountain bluegrass music were tuned in last night as the services were streamed live.
Station management apologized today for a glitch that inserted advertisements into the feed early in the special broadcast. WYMT General Manager Neil Middleton issued this statement earlier today:
“We offer our sincerest apologies.
Our automated system overrode our manual operation and broke in with our regularly scheduled commercials.
We never intended to break away from the coverage and worked as quickly as possible to correct the problem.
WYMT carried the funeral as a tribute to Dr. Ralph Stanley and his family and as a service to his millions of fans who could not attend.
Again, our sincerest apologies. We certainly meant no disrespect.”
The funeral (viewable below) included heartfelt statements by close friends and family members, and beautifully emotional performances by Larry Sparks and The Marshall Family, John Rigsby, Ricky Skaggs, and Vince Gill and Patty Loveless. Not many dry eyes in the park.
It was a lovely send off to a man whose music, faith, and passion for the old time ways will remain in bluegrass for as long as it is played.
Grab your hankies…
