Rual Holt Yarbrough (January 13, 1930 – September 21, 2010) was an American five-string banjo player who worked with some of the most famous bluegrass musicians.

Biography

Yarbrough was born in Bonnertown, Tennessee. He grew up listening to

Bill Monroe William Smith "Bill" Monroe (; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre take ...

on the radio and eventually learned to play the banjo. In the mid-1950s he joined the Alabamians. He formed the Dixie Gentlemen in 1956 together with Jake Landers and Herschel Sizemore. In the beginning they called themselves the Country Gentlemen but when they found out that another group already had that name, they quickly changed theirs to the Dixie Gentlemen. They later recorded with fiddler Tommy Jackson. The group disbanded in 1966 and Yarbrough found work with Jimmy Martin's Sunny Mountain Boys. He continued working with

Flatt & Scruggs Flatt and Scruggs were an American bluegrass duo. Singer and guitarist Lester Flatt and banjo player Earl Scruggs, both of whom had been members of Bill Monroe's band, the Bluegrass Boys, from 1945 to 1948, formed the duo in 1948. Flatt and Sc ...

and the Foggy Mountain Boys,

Jim & Jesse Jim & Jesse were an American bluegrass music duo composed of brothers Jim McReynolds (February 13, 1927 – December 31, 2002) and Jesse McReynolds (born July 9, 1929). The two were born and raised in Carfax, a community near Coeburn, Virginia, ...

and the Virginia Boys and Bobby Smith and the Boys From Shiloh. When Yarbrough was performing in Columbus, Ohio with the Boys From Shiloh, he met Monroe who offered him a job with the Bluegrass Boys since his banjo player Vic Jordan had just left. Yarbrough was hired and made his first recordings with Monroe two days later, on March 26, 1969. Between 1969 and 1970 he made 21 recordings with Monroe. Yarbrough also recorded a number of solo albums, and also founded the group, The Dixiemen. Among these records with The Dixiemen was "The Old Oak Tree," in 1974, on

Old Homestead Records Old Homestead Records was a record label based in Michigan specializing in preserving and reissuing recordings of traditional country and bluegrass artists. History John W. Morris launched Old Homestead Record company in 1971 to release new and ...

in Brighton, Michigan, of which about 500 copies were pressed and few survived, though the recordings have been preserved in digital form. Yarbrough also opened Rual's Music Service in Muscle Shoals, Alabama where he became well known for his ability to repair and build stringed instruments. Due his shop's proximity to FAME Studios, Yarbrough would serve as a session performer for many of the acts who performed at the studio during the 1960s and 1970s. He also performed as session player in Nashville, and was featured on records by the likes of

Hank Williams Jr Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of southern rock, blues, and country. He is the son of ...

, Mac Davis, and

The Pointer Sisters The Pointer Sisters are an American pop and R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, bl ...

. Rual Yarbrough died from complications from pulmonary fibrosis in Florence, Alabama on September 21, 2010.

Legacy

Yarbrough was honored as an Alabama Music Achiever by the

Alabama Music Hall of Fame The Alabama Music Hall of Fame, first conceived by the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Muscle Shoals Music Association in the early 1980s, was created by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame Board, which then saw to its Phase One construction of a facility ...

both as a solo artist. and as a member of the Dixie Gentlemen. In 2011, Yarbrough was inducted into the Alabama Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.Russ Corey, "State Bluegrass Hall of Fame inducts Sizemore, Yarbrough", The TimesDaily, March 18, 2011. http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20110318/NEWS/110319784/1011/NEWS?Title=State-Bluegrass-Hall-of-Fame-inducts-Sizemore-Yarbrough-

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yarbrough, Rual 1930 births 2010 deaths American banjoists Musicians from Tennessee