The 2013 West Virginia Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony is scheduled for November 16, 2023 at Charleston’s Culture Center Theater. This fifth class of inductees contains three artists beloved by bluegrass fans: The Goins Brothers, and Tim O’Brien.
Melvin Goins has been involved in the music since the mid-1950s when he joined the legendary Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, an outfit that helped launch the careers of other bluegrass notables like Paul Williams, Bobby Osborne, Charlie Cline, and Curly Ray Cline. He worked for a time afterwards with The Stanley Brothers, but made his largest mark with his younger brother Ray as The Goins Brothers over 35 years. When a heart attack took Ray off the road in ’94, Melvin continued on as Melvin Goins & Windy Mountain, a show he fronts to this day.
Goins was born in 1933 on Sinai Mountain, close to the coal mining town of Goodwill in Mercer County, He was recognized by the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame in 2011 for his contributions as a resident of the Commonwealth, and now his home state gets the chance to stake their own claim to this iconic performer.
The Hall of Fame induction includes both Melvin and Ray Goins.
Tim O’Brien was born in Wheeling in 1954, the same year that Goins joined up with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers. By the mid-1970s, he was headed west to Colorado where he hit the national scene with Hot Rize in 1978. They had a stellar run for the next 12 years, after which Tim embarked on a solo career as a singer and songwriter.
Living now in Nashville, O’Brien continues to record in a variety of venues, and is currently touring in support of his latest album with Darrell Scott, Memories and Moments.
Other 2013 inductees include Peter Marshall, Wayne Moss, Ada “Bricktop” Smith, Eleanor Steber, and The Swan Silvertones.
West Virginia Public Broadcasting will offer the induction ceremony live on radio starting at 7:30 p.m. (ET) on the 16th.
Further details can be found online.
