Biography
The Goins Brothers stand among bluegrass's foundational acts, and the sound of that heritage reached Slovakia when an announcer introduced the duo's appearance there after five decades of shared stages. Their path had taken them far from the festival circuits of Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina, yet the music they helped spread had already traveled globally since its earliest days, with the Goins family present from nearly the beginning. Raised on the family farm outside Bramwell, West Virginia, Melvin and Ray labored in the fields while counting the moments until the midday break. The pause itself and the meal that accompanied it mattered less than the chance to hear the battery-powered radio, a privilege their father granted only grudgingly because, as Melvin recalled, "he always wanted to make sure the battery was charged up so he could listen to the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday night." The brothers instead favored Farm and Fun Time, broadcast by WCYB in Bristol, Tennessee, which showcased the Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs, Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys, Don Reno, Red Smiley, and Curly King & the Tennessee Hilltoppers. Both siblings later performed with several of those ensembles, forgoing steady income yet occasionally skipping supper simply because the broadcasts held greater appeal.
Melvin sustained that commitment across fifty years, persisting even after Ray stepped away. His initial prominent engagement came with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, a group instrumental in bridging old-time music and bluegrass; the brothers both belonged to the band during the 1960s. Melvin next joined Ralph Stanley, earning recognition among the key figures who shaped Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys, alongside George Shuffler, Larry Sparks, Charlie Sizemore, the late fiddler Curly Ray Cline, and the late songwriter and singer Keith Whitley. The brothers subsequently led their own ensemble, commonly known as the Goins Brothers Band, which later became Melvin Goins & Windy Mountain.
Melvin maintained a steady presence on the circuit and eventually received formal acknowledgment, named an Appalachian Treasure by Morehead State University in 2000 and inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame the same year. The former honor brought a handcrafted rocking chair that its recipient showed little immediate inclination to occupy. Health concerns ended Ray's touring, yet Melvin continued a schedule of roughly two hundred annual performances into the new millennium, also appearing at area elementary schools. He regularly performed with rhythm and lead guitarist John McNeely, banjoist Dale Vanderpool, mandolinist John Rigsby, and bassist Jason Hale. The unit's name, Windy Mountain, derives from a signature Lonesome Pine Fiddlers number. Hay Holler has issued several of their recordings, among them the haunting "Death Came Creepin' in My Room" and the rustic "Mouse Tracks in the Bacon Grease." The same label offers the full-length video 50 Years of Mountain Music and Bluegrass, documenting a 1997 set at the Olive Hill Bluegrass Festival in Kentucky together with an extended interview in which Melvin recounts how he and Ray first entered the music. His relaxed on-air manner has likewise served his long-running role as a disc jockey; the weekly Bluegrass Hour on station KISI marked its fifteenth year some time ago.
Melvin sustained that commitment across fifty years, persisting even after Ray stepped away. His initial prominent engagement came with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, a group instrumental in bridging old-time music and bluegrass; the brothers both belonged to the band during the 1960s. Melvin next joined Ralph Stanley, earning recognition among the key figures who shaped Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys, alongside George Shuffler, Larry Sparks, Charlie Sizemore, the late fiddler Curly Ray Cline, and the late songwriter and singer Keith Whitley. The brothers subsequently led their own ensemble, commonly known as the Goins Brothers Band, which later became Melvin Goins & Windy Mountain.
Melvin maintained a steady presence on the circuit and eventually received formal acknowledgment, named an Appalachian Treasure by Morehead State University in 2000 and inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame the same year. The former honor brought a handcrafted rocking chair that its recipient showed little immediate inclination to occupy. Health concerns ended Ray's touring, yet Melvin continued a schedule of roughly two hundred annual performances into the new millennium, also appearing at area elementary schools. He regularly performed with rhythm and lead guitarist John McNeely, banjoist Dale Vanderpool, mandolinist John Rigsby, and bassist Jason Hale. The unit's name, Windy Mountain, derives from a signature Lonesome Pine Fiddlers number. Hay Holler has issued several of their recordings, among them the haunting "Death Came Creepin' in My Room" and the rustic "Mouse Tracks in the Bacon Grease." The same label offers the full-length video 50 Years of Mountain Music and Bluegrass, documenting a 1997 set at the Olive Hill Bluegrass Festival in Kentucky together with an extended interview in which Melvin recounts how he and Ray first entered the music. His relaxed on-air manner has likewise served his long-running role as a disc jockey; the weekly Bluegrass Hour on station KISI marked its fifteenth year some time ago.
Albums