James King

James King secured his reputation as an elite bluegrass singer through the release of his 1993 solo project These Old Pictures. Nevertheless, this represented merely the most recent development in a musical journey that had originated fourteen years earlier.

As a standout performer within Ralph Stanley's Clinch Mountain Boys during the 1980s, King—having been brought up in Carroll County, Virginia—developed an early appreciation for bluegrass music. His father, Jim King, performed as tenor vocalist and guitarist for the Country Cousins on Roanoke television alongside Don Reno and Red Smiley; additionally, alongside his uncle Joe Edd King, he collaborated in the 1960s with the late Ted Lundy from the Southern Mountain Boys.

Following his service in the Marines, King initiated his professional music path in 1979. He made his first appearance on record via the 1985 album Stanley Brothers Classics with Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys and Introducing James King. Three years afterward came his follow-up recording, Reunion with Ralph Stanley Featuring George Shuffler and James King.

King's initial solo effort, a self-titled album from 1985, preceded It's a Cold Cold World, which came out in 1989 and was later reissued in 1996 under the title Webco Classics, Volume Two. Although these releases highlighted his exceptionally clear lead vocals, they lacked the superior instrumental support found in his subsequent productions.

Upon inking a deal with Rounder Records, King's trajectory accelerated dramatically. These Old Pictures, incorporating contributions from Johnson Mountain Boys personnel Dudley Cornell, Tom Adams, and David McLaughlin, along with Marshall Wilborn and Tim Smith from the Lynn Morris Band and former Nashville Bluegrass Band mandolinist Mike Compton, earned Bluegrass Unlimited's Breakthrough Album of the Year designation and resulted in King's 1995 nomination for Emerging Artist of the Year from the International Bluegrass Music Association. Numerous of these same musicians appeared on his fourth solo album, Lonesome and Then Some.

In 1997, King united with Cornell, Wilborn, Glen Duncan, Joe Mullins, and Don Rigsby to establish the bluegrass supergroup Longview. The following year saw the arrival of his solo album Bed by the Window.