Two Decades Ago Today, We Said Goodbye to the Hall of Fame Multi-Instrumentalist Who Transformed Bluegrass Forever

On this day (September 30) in 2006, Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame musician Josh Graves died in Nashville just three days after his 79th birthday.

A longtime member of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs’ Foggy Mountain Boys band, Graves is responsible for the resonator guitar’s prominent role in modern-day bluegrass music. Frequently called the “Dobro”, the instrument bears a striking resemblance to a regular guitar — except for its metal resonator plate behind the strings. The musician uses a metal bar on the instrument’s neck to make the notes.

Today, we’re taking a trip through Josh Graves’ life and career on the 20th anniversary of his passing.

About “Uncle” Josh Graves

Born Burkett Howard Graves on September 27, 1927, in Tellico Plains, Tennessee, the bluegrass pioneer would adopt the “Uncle Josh” Graves persona while working as an announcer for Knoxville radio station WROL during his teenage years.

Inspired by artists like Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family, he developed an interest in the Dobro after hearing Cliff Carlisle’s work on Rodgers’ landmark RCA sessions.

“I didn’t know who it was, I didn’t know what it was, but I loved that sound,” Graves said in a 2005 interview.

He played with artists like the Pierce Brothers, Esco Hankins and Mac Wiseman before joining the Wheeling Jamboree in Wheeling, West Virginia, with Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper.

Popularizing the Dobro

In 1949, Josh Graves met Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. The duo had recently parted ways with the “Father of Bluegrass” himself, Bill Monroe. Now, they were looking to distinguish their sound from Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys.

Initially, Flatt & Scruggs hired Graves as a bassist and as a comedian in the role of “Uncle Josh.”. However, he soon switched to the Dobro full time.

With Scruggs’ encouragement, the younger man adapted his three-finger banjo technique for the resonator guitar. And with that, the Dobro became central to the bluegrass sound along with the fiddle, guitar, mandolin, bass, and banjo. Soon, other bands began incorporating the instrument into their music.

The Foggy Mountain Boys

Josh Graves remained with the Foggy Mountain Boys until Flatt & Scruggs split in 1969. He played Dobro on hits including “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” and “The Ballad of Jed Clampett”.

Graves cultivated an entire musical vocabulary for the Dobro, incorporating the picking style he learned from Scruggs.

“Scruggs was the best teacher that’s ever been or ever will be,” Graves said in 1994. “He was like a football coach. They said we looked like the Notre Dame football team. Scruggs was the quarterback, and I was the running back. I knew exactly where to go, because he told me where to go. He’d hand the ball off to me and I’d go through that hole. If you didn’t get out of there, you got stepped on.”

Graves continued his work with both Flatt and Scruggs individually after the duo’s breakup. He also played on albums by other artists including Steve Young and Kris Kristofferson.

[RELATED: On This Day in 1962, Flatt & Scruggs Recorded the Theme Song That Introduced Countless Viewers to Bluegrass—and Became a History-Making No. 1 Hit]

Despite losing both legs to circulatory problems, Graves continued playing until his death.

Featured image courtesy of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum