The Doomed Genius of Scotty Stoneman

Scotty Stoneman. Bluegrass fiddler. Doomed genius.

His sister, Roni, captured him best in her autobiography, Pressing On, but even precious insights by a beloved sister find Scotty Stoneman maddeningly elusive, his unfathomable intensity only briefly glimpsed.

This portrait will tell you about the music, but it seems that no one – not even Scotty Stoneman himself – could have told you about the man.

Despite what people may say about the romance of it all, Scotty Stoneman’s death was senseless and tragic. He spent his final days drinking aftershave on the streets of L.A.

To end up like that, after making … this.

All you can do is shake your head, and hope it never happens while you stand and watch.

This is Scotty Stoneman and The Kentucky Colonels with “Listen To the Mockingbird”.

Gabrielle Gray, outgoing director of the International Bluegrass Music Museum put this book together. If the bios that the museum has posted online are any indication, this book should be both entertaining and invaluable to bluegrass historians and fans alike.

It helps that the biographers all have justly-deserved reputations as experts in bluegrass music. Fred Bartenstein, for example, started the respected bluegrass magazine, “Muleskinner News”, back in the 70s. Prior to that, he worked for bluegrass promoter, Carlton Haney. It is Bartenstein who contributes the  gossipy but fact-filled commentary track to the 1972 film that documents Haney’s festival at Camp Springs, “Bluegrass: Country Soul”.

Gary Reid, who wrote about half of the book’s bios, is less well known, but an influential bluegrass figure nonetheless. He is perhaps the reigning expert on the life and work of Carter and Ralph Stanley. He has written award-winning liner notes for several compilations of their work, as well as the work of Ralph Stanley. He as also stars in a one-man play, “A Life Of Sorrow: The Life and Times Of Carter Stanley”.
Personally, I can’t wait to have this book on my shelf.