One of Flatt and Scuggs Foggy Mountain Boy's. Uncle to Tim Graves Father of the Dobro.

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Josh Graves
Birth name Burkett Howard Graves
Born September 27, 1927
Origin Tennessee, USA
Died September 30, 2006
Occupations Guitarist
Instruments Guitar
Associated acts Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys

Josh Graves (September 27, 1927 Tellico Plains, Monroe County, Tennessee – September 30, 2006), born Burkett Howard Graves, was an American bluegrass musician. Also known by the nicknames "Buck," and "Uncle Josh," he is credited with introducing the resonator guitar (commonly known under the trade name of Dobro) into bluegrass music shortly after joining Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys in 1955. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1977.

He joined producers Randall Franks and Alan Autry for the In the Heat of the Night cast CD “Christmas Time’s A Comin’” performing "Christmas Time's A Comin'" with the cast on the CD released on Sonlite and MGM/UA for one of the most popular Christmas releases of 1991 and 1992 with Southern retailers.

Career

1942 Joined the Pierce Brothers playing in Gatlinburg
Played with Esco Hankins and Mac Wiseman
Joined Wheeling, West Virginia's WWVA Jamboree with Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper
1955-1969 Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys
1969-1971 Lester Flatt's Nashville Grass.
1971-1974 Earl Scruggs Revue.
1974 started solo career.
1984-2006 performed and recorded with Kenny Baker and also with the Masters including Baker, Jesse McReynolds and Eddie Adcock.

Musical style

Graves originally joined the Foggy Mountain Boys as a bass player but he got together with Earl Scruggs to develop a new style of dobro-picking based on Earl's three-finger syncopated banjo style. After only one month on bass, Graves switched to the dobro and it soon became a defining feature of the bluegrass sound. Graves played fast and loud but also created extremely sensitive melodic backing to bluesy ballads and slower gospel numbers. Josh Graves is credited as being a major influence on many leading resophonic guitar players, including Jerry Douglas, Mike Auldridge, and Phil Leadbetter among them. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.