Biography
When one thinks of crosspicking, the two names that come to mind are George Shuffler and James Alan Shelton. For James being the lead guitar player for Ralph Stanley crosspicking is what he does for a living.
James was born and raised near Gate City, Virginia in a little community called Yuma. He learned to play the guitar from Bordie Porter, his Granddad on his mother's side. Bordie taught James to play the guitar when James was 12 years old. Bordie didn't own a guitar but played the harmonica and could pick out melodies. So James learned to play melodies before he learned rhythm. His first guitar was a 3/4 size Fender that his Dad bought him. James recalls " I worked out that $89.95 in my Dad's tobacco patch the next summer." James used to watch various television shows starring, Porter Wagoner, Flatt & Scruggs, the Stoneman Family, the Wilburn Brothers and a variety showed called Good Old Nashville Music. It was the music and musicians that he saw on TV that motivated him. He first saw Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys play in 1973 with Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys in Gate City, Virginia, from that point on he was hooked.
About a year after he started playing the guitar he began learning the banjo. He joined the Bluegrass Travelers when he was 15 years old as a banjo player. He played with the Bluegrass Travelers for about a year and a half, cutting an album with them. He then joined the Larkin Brothers for two years, where he continued on the banjo. He then joined a group called Flint Hill, where he played guitar and dobro for four years. After about seven years in bluegrass, James took a job playing electric guitar in a country band.
In 1985 James came back to bluegrass, joining a group called Blue Ridge. He played with them for three years on mandolin and banjo. When he left Blue Ridge, he held several other jobs; he was a house painter, a music store owner, as well as working in several music stores, and started a factory job in 1991. In November of 1991, James approached Ralph Stanley at a show gave him his card, and told Ralph if he ever needed a guitar player, he would like to be considered for the job. That night Ralph called James up to the stage to play a couple of numbers with the band. Ralph must have liked what he heard because in 1992 Ralph called James to fill in for Junior Blankenship who took a few weeks off.
In 1993, James and some of his picking buddies decided to form a band together. The band members were James on mandolin, Audrey Ratliff on bass, Frank Wing on banjo, and Tim Stafford on guitar. The band was gearing up to broaden their horizons when in February of 1994, James got the call from Ralph Stanley. He told James that Junior Blankenship and Ernie Thacker were thinking of leaving to start their own band and wanted to know if James was still available? James quickly said yes, and Ralph told him he might be calling him back. A few days later on a Tuesday night Ralph called again and offered him the job. James got on the bus that week and headed out for Minnesota with the band.
It's been 10 years and 6 solo projects, one with George Shuffler that got nominated by IBMA as recorded event of the year in 2000, since that call came. Ralph is still going strong and James will continue to keep playing with Ralph as long as Ralph is performing.