Ralph Stanley Album

We shot Ralph Stanley for his new album, "A Mother's Prayer," in the New Hope Meeting House at Snow Camp, North Carolina.
(Rebel Records; release date April 19, 2011.) Sue Meyer designed the album.

Ralph is 84 now, and would rather sit than stand if he has a choice, so the pews in the meeting house were a good place to start.

Ralph and the Clinch Mountain Boys. L to R: Nathan Stanley, Dewey Brown, James Alan Shelton, Ralph Stanley, Steve Sparkman, Jimmy Cameron.

Ralph and his grandson Nathan in a pew. Nathan's father, Ralph Stanley Jr., produced the album and plays on some tracks, but he had another gig on the day of the shoot.

Ralph with Mark and Dave Freeman of Rebel Records. Ralph Stanley has been recording with Rebel Records for forty years.

Ralph in the doorway of the meeting house, looking like a minister.

Dave Freeman, Deni, and Ralph Stanley in the doorway of the meeting house.

Ralph Stanley's voice is still amazing, although a bit more textured with age than it used to be. Colin Escott, who wrote the liner notes, said Ralph sings a capella "as if he were the sole surviving member of an unseen congregation."

Ralph and the Clinch Mountain Boys outside the Quaker meeting house, part of a small complex of historic buildings owned by James Wilson. The Snow Camp area has a Quaker connection dating back to Colonial times.

Nathan Stanley and Jimmy Cameron jockeying for position.

Ralph and Nathan Stanley.

"Colored Schoolhouse" on the Snow Camp site. The building was donated to James Wilson's historic complex.

Interior of the colored schoolhouse, which was in service until the late 1920s.

Cover shot original