Describing Ralph Stanley's 70 year long music career would be a lot like analyzing the rings of a fallen tree to figure out its history.
His unique way of playing banjo, dubbed by fans and scholars as "Stanley Style", is one of the most definitive sounds in bluegrass music and continues to inspire and influence musicians to this day.
Passing away in his sleep last night after a battle with skin cancer at the age of 89, not only did roots music lose a giant but American music in general lost one of it's architects.
