BLUEGRASS ICON STANLEY TAKES VIRGINIA SOUND ON ROAD WITH CLINCH MOUNTAIN BOYS.

Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer

Ralph Stanley's voice sounds as forlorn and ancient as the Virginia mountains where he was born and still lives.

Among the greatest of all folk, bluegrass and country singers and banjo pickers, he's been performing for more than 50 years. His high, mournful vocals have inspired generations of artists.

``The lord gives everybody a talent, and I give him credit for what I got,'' says Stanley, who turns 79 on Feb. 25. ``It all came from him.''

With his older brother, Carter, Stanley formed the Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys in their native southwestern Virginia in 1946. For the next 20 years, until Carter died, the gospel-driven ensemble became one of the most celebrated bluegrass groups in the world, rivaling in popularity such titans as Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs.

``We had a station wagon,'' Stanley said of the years crisscrossing the country, playing jamborees, concert halls, colleges and folk clubs. ``We're playing for bigger audiences now and we make longer trips, and financially, we can afford a bus.''

Tonight, that well-appointed tour bus pulls into town for a date at UCLA's Royce Hall. The dream night of bluegrass with Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys includes sets from fiddler Laurie Lewis, founder of the acclaimed Grant Street Band, with mandolinist Tom Rozum and the Guest House Band. Stanley can be expected to play a few tunes from his forthcoming album, ``A Distant Land to Roam,'' a tribute to the Carter Family due in April.

``Ralph plays two styles of banjo extremely well - the very traditional style, played with three fingers, often with metal finger picks, and the old-time mountain style, played with two fingers,'' explains Frank Javorsek, who teaches and repairs stringed instruments at the Blue Ridge Pickin' Parlor in Granada Hills. ``His playing is very intuitive, and his style of singing has its roots in the gospel music of the rural South. It's very, very moving.''

Stanley has accumulated a raft of well-deserved honors, including a Living Legend award from the Library of Congress. He was the first recipient of the Traditional American Music Award from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and one of his proudest achievements is the honorary doctorate in music Lincoln Memorial University conferred on him in 1976 (call him Dr. Stanley).

In 2002, he won the male country vocal Grammy for his chillingly plaintive ``O Death,'' the pivotal track on the ``O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' soundtrack (which swept the Grammys that year, giving Stanley a second trophy for his part in what was named album of the year). Stanley is also the central figure in the D.A. Pennebaker/Chris Hegedus documentary ``Down From the Mountain.''

Stanley, who underwent heart bypass surgery last summer, says he couldn't have imagined such longevity.

``I never thought of a career like this,'' he said. `` 'O Brother' is responsible for a lot of it. They put this old-time mountain music out there where it could be heard on TV and radio. I give that soundtrack the credit for the rediscovery. I was 70 years old before I won my first Grammy. It tickled me to bits.''

It was after Carter's death that Stanley shifted from hard-driving bluegrass to an older, sadder, less adorned style. As a bandleader, he also nourished young and promising talents like Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, Larry Sparks and Charlie Sizemore, all of whom eventually graduated to distinguished solo careers.

``I like good pickers,'' he said of the players who've come through his band over the decades. ``Guitar picking means a lot to me, and I'm proud to say that all through the years I've kept good musicians. That's very important to me.''

Fred Shuster, [phone]

fred.shuster(at)dailynews.com

RALPH STANLEY & THE CLINCH MOUNTAIN BOYS

Where: Royce Hall, UCLA campus, Westwood.

When: 8 tonight.

Tickets: $25 to $45. Call [phone]; uclalive.org.

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no caption (Ralph Stanley)