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Larry Stephenson began his musical career while in his early teens when he and his father, Ed Stephenson formed Larry Stephenson & The New Grass in Larry's hometown of King George, Virginia. Honing his God-given talents, he began professionally with Bill Harrell & The Virginians during January, 1979, playing mandolin and singing high lead and tenor. In June, 1983, he moved to a similar role as a member of The Bluegrass Cardinals, remaining until October, 1988, when he organized THE LARRY STEPHENSON BAND while still residing in Virginia in February 1989. Increasing opportunities for appearances on national television made it advantageous to relocate to the epicenter of the country and bluegrass music industries, prompting his move to Nashville early in 1992. From this base he continues to make guest appearances on the legendary Grand Ole Opry as well as on Nashville-based TV productions. During an illustrious career, he has performed for audiences throughout the U.S. and in Canada as well as for fans in a number of European countries. International appearances also include, U.S. State Department-sponsored concerts before dignitaries in eastern nations. As a true professional, Larry feels equally at ease on stage in environments such as these as at a bluegrass festival in California or Florida.Stephenson has also been honored by his home state when he was inducted into the Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame. The Governor pronounced June 23, 1996, Larry Stephenson Day and a ceremony in Crewe, VA was held to celebrate his induction. In February 2001 he garnered the "Contemporary Male Vocalist" award at the prestigious SPBGMA (Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America) Music Awards and to his credit has gained the award in 2004, 2005, 2006 & 2008, making him a 5x recipient. Following in May 2002, he endeavored as part of the Original Seldom Scene Reunion's that took place in 2003-2004, held across the U.S. During 2003 he found himself recording as one of the five mainstream, award winning artist, which all lived in White House on the outskirts of Nashville, TN making-up the bluegrass supergroup "WhiteHouse" gaining them an IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) "Recorded Event of the Year" nomination. 2004 brought much success as the Clinch Mountain Mystery project was recognized as one of the Sweet 16 Off Music Row albums in the Tennessean Newspaper in Nashville, TN. It also stayed on the bluegrass charts for one solid year, which is almost unheard of, debuting at #18 and staying in the top 5 for seven months hitting #1 in Dec. 2004. And they followed it up by clinching SPBGMA’s "Song of the Year" in Feb. 2005 for the title track. Sept. 5, 2006 brought the release of his CD entitled "Life Stories" which included his band and guest, Missy Raines, Shad Cobb, Rob Ickes & Jim VanCleve. The album discusses some of life’s strategies/tragedies, of today’s world and those of yester-year. And, 2006 also brought an IBMA award for "Album of the Year" for his part in the Musicians Against Childhood Cancer project benefiting St. Jude Children’s Hospital. In 2008 after claiming his 5th SPBGMA Vocalist
title, Stephenson was found receiving IBMA’s "Recorded Event of the
Year" award for participating on Everett Lilly’s CD. And the "Banjo
Player of the Year" title coming home to LSB during Kristin
Benson’s tenure. LSB has been nominated for Gospel Album of the Year
in the Independent Music Awards, just a few months after the
long awaited 4th gospel CD released, "Thankful",
where to his acclaim, Stephenson has done it again with band-mates,
along with guests Sonya Issacs’ & Missy Raines. The band’s overall
quality and sound is yet again above and beyond anything the band has
ever produced. |
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ACE PRODUCTIONS PO Box 428 Portland TN 37148 (615) 325-3340 |
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