Ralph Stanley II, This One Is Two Too Good

Posted by Webb on 09/25/2008
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Ralph Stanley II released This One Is Two this week, and the new release almost has too many star writers, musicians and vocalists to mention.
 
With Grammy nominations for his last two albums and a Grammy award for his contributions to the album Lost In The Lonesome Pines, Stanley boasts one of the most moving and dramatic voices in Country Music, an instrument he polished and perfected during his 14 years as lead singer for Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys.
 
This One Is Two (a reference to Stanley’s nickname) showcases 11 emotionally probing songs by the best writers in the business, among them, Lyle Lovett, Townes Van Zandt, Fred Eaglesmith, Tom T. and Dixie Hall and Elton John. Stanley co-wrote two of the songs: “Honky Tonk Way” and “Lord Help Me Find A Way,” a cry from the heart he composed when he was suddenly forced to stand in for his famous father.
 
This One Is Two features background vocals by former Shenandoah lead singer Marty Raybon, Grammy-winning Jim Lauderdale, Darrin Vincent (of Dailey & Vincent), Dale Anne Bradley and Steve Gulley. The musicians are Tim Crouch (fiddle, guitar), Cody Kilby (guitar), Randy Kohrs (dobro), Harold Nixon (bass), Adam Steffey (mandolin) and Ron Stewart (banjo).
 
This One Is Two is Stanley’s fifth solo album. It is preceded by Carrying On (2004), Stanley Blues (2002, a Grammy nominee for best bluegrass album), Pretty Girls, City Lights (2000) and Listen To My Hammer Ring (1999).