Melvin Goins (December 30, 1933 - July 29, 2016) was an American bluegrass guitarist and singer, among the first generation of bluegrass stars.
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Melvin was born on Sinai Mountain near the coal mining community of Goodwill, West Virginia and attended both Bramwell Grade School and High School in the 1940 - 1950 era. Even as a child he was known for his musical talents. As they were growing up, Melvin and his younger brother Ray Goins (January 3,1936 – July 2, 2007) fell in love with the sounds they heard from the radio shows broadcast out of Bristol, VA, where they heard The Stanley Brothers and Flatt & Scruggs.
They could also pick up the radio signal from Bluefield where the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers were working.Before long both Goins boys were studying up on how to play the music. Though Melvin started with a fascination for the banjo, he abandoned it for the guitar once Ray began to to pick up the roll style himself. The beginnings of The Goins Brothers was laid listening to those old radio shows, and getting to see some of these artists in person.
They
performed as teenagers around home, and got to play their first show on the
radio in 1951. But their early success was sidelined when Ray took the banjo
job with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers a year later when he was only 16. When the
band moved on to Detroit, Ray stayed home and he and Melvin worked as The
Shenandoah Playboys, until the Fiddlers came calling again a few years later
asking both boys to join their band. The Goins Brothers resettled in Kentucky.
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| The Goins Brothers with Bill Monroe |
Melvin later worked with The Stanley Brothers, helping Ralph out during the times that Carter was too ill to perform, and following his death in 1966. He stayed on with Ralph until ’69. The Goins Brothers reformed when Melvin left Ralph Stanley. They recorded more than 30 albums during their time together, and played just about everywhere bluegrass was performed around the world. It was during this time that television helped the brothers reach an even wider audience, and their Saturday program ran of many years.
In the ’70s and ’80s, Melvin got into event promotion, putting on bluegrass festivals in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. Their more youthful brother Conley Goins later on became their bass participant and sometimes, Melvin’s wife, Willa and her three sisters, billed because the Woodettes, sang tranquility gospel numbers together. The Brothers performed and recorded together until 1994 when Ray stopped touring due to heart problems. Melvin changed the band’s name to Melvin Goins and Windy Mountain,working a heavy schedule each year.
This entailed some 200 concert dates a year with his band, also performing at elementary schools throughout his area. Melvin Goins works regularly with players such as rhythm and lead guitarist John McNeely, banjoist Dale Vanderpool, mandolinist John Rigsby, and bassist Jason Hale. The band's name, Windy Mountain, comes from a signature song of the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers.
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| Windy Mountain |
The new Goins group has recorded for Hay Holler, including several classic sides such as the eerie "Death Came Creepin' in My Room" and the unappetizing "Mouse Tracks in the Bacon Grease." Available from the same label, a full-length video entitled 50 Years of Mountain Music and Bluegrass consists of a set by the band at the 1997 Olive Hill Bluegrass Festival in Kentucky interspersed with an extended interview with Melvin, describing how he and Ray got into the music.
A member of the Board of Directors of MSU's Kentucky Center for Traditional Music, Melvin performed at the first Appalachian Celebration. He received the Appalachian Treasure Award during the 2001 Appalachian Celebration, and later was inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame. In February 2004 a section of US 23, the "Country Music Highway", was named in his honour.
Fans, friends, and fellow musicians will remember Melvin for his good humor and hard-working attitude. He never wanted to stop playing music, and it seems like he was at it until his final breath. He is the very definition of a bluegrass legend, and a true pioneer in bluegrass music..
(Edited from Bluegrass Today, AllMusic, Musicianbio.org & Bramwell High School)