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About this video
James King is the best at the heart-wrenching ballad. He is also prone to cry on
stage. From Everett's Music Barn.
About the artist
James King was born Sept. 9, 1958, in Martinsville, Va., and grew up in Carroll
County -- one of the most fertile breeding grounds for bluegrass and old-time
musicians. James' father, Jim, and his uncle, Joe Edd, were both musicians of
note.
As James entered his teens, he began to take the music seriously too,
particularly the music of his fellow Virginians, the Stanley Brothers. One of
James' closest mentors was Ted Lundy, whose raw and heartfelt brand of
bluegrass exerted a particularly strong influence on his music.
Following a stint in the Marine Corps, King relocated to Wilmington, Del., where
he started a band with Lundy's sons, T.J. and Bobby. The Lundys introduced
King to legendary bluegrass deejay Ray Davis, who paired King with Ralph
Stanley for two mid-'80s releases, Stanley Brothers Classics and Reunion (also
with George Shuffler), on his Wango label.
In 1988, King released his first record under his own name, James King Sings
Cold, Cold World. In the 1990s, Dudley Connell of the Johnson Mountain Boys
brought King to the attention of Rounder's Ken Irwin. Irwin brought together
Connell and a band of bluegrass all-stars to back up King on 1994's These Old
Pictures and 1995's Lonesome and Then Some.