Charlie Sizemore

Bluegrass singer, songwriter, and guitarist Charlie Sizemore was raised in the Magoffin County in the Appalachian region of eastern Kentucky, on Puncheon Creek. His father and grandfather were banjo players, and he understandably grew up fascinated by mountain music and bluegrass.  Sizemore’s first instrument was the fiddle, which he began playing at the age of six, and by his teens he was good enough on guitar to play with local favorite Lum Patton and to tour with the Goins Brothers Band. 

Sizemore joined Ralph Stanley's Clinch Mountain Boys at age sixteen, replacing the late Keith Whitley, a testament to his considerable ability as a vocalist. "Charlie Sizemore gave me nine- and one-half years of honest and dependable service as lead singer in the late seventies and early eighties," said Ralph Stanley. "He was one of my top lead singers that I have had through the years. Charlie knows music and knows how to make it right."

Sizemore sang with Stanley for nearly a decade and appeared on sixteen of Stanley’s albums in the 1970s, 1980s, and the 2009 album Can’t You Hear The Mountain Calling by Ralph Stanley and The Clinch Mountain Boys Featuring Charlie Sizemore.

Not only did Sizemore give his boss Ralph Stanley "honest and dependable service," but during that time, all of Sizemore's earlier experience and influences paid off and led to the creation of one of the most subtle and sophisticated styles of lead singing in bluegrass music.  His remarkable tone and understated attack underpin the notion that he is a singer's singer with exquisite taste and feeling.

Within a month of leaving the Clinch Mountain Boys, Sizemore formed his own band and enrolled in college. He graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in political science. 

In 1985, Acoustic Revival Records released Congratulations by Charlie Sizemore, followed by four on Rutabaga Records, Gravel Road (1988), Singing With the Angels (1989), Of The Honky Tonk (1989, a re-issue of Congratulations) and I've Got A Good Memory (1991). 

Sizemore continued recording, including a series of highly acclaimed bluegrass albums on Rebel Records, including Back Home (1994), In My View (1996), which he considers his most personal project, and The Story Is…The Songs of Tom T. Hall (2002), all on the Rebel Records label.  “Me and Jesus,” from The Story Is… Songs of Tom T. Hall album was nominated for a Gospel Music Association Dove Award.

Sizemore had many impressive guests on his albums throughout the years including Alison Krauss, The Oak Ridge Boys, Kathy Mattea, Tom T. Hall, and Ralph Stanley. 

Additionally, Sizemore was part of the album Stanley Gospel Tradition: Songs About Our Savior that took home the 1998 International Bluegrass Music Association Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year Award.

He attended graduate school in history at Middle Tennessee State University for a while before switching paths and moving to Nashville. 

While in Nashville, Sizemore worked as a songwriter for Paul Craft Music. Ralph Stanley, Jimmy Martin, Doyle Lawson, Dry Branch Fire Squad, and Del Reeves are among the artists who have recorded Sizemore’s original songs over the years. 

Before graduating from law school while working for a Nashville law firm, he took a sabbatical from the road in late 1998. "The problem is I was never home and when I was my nose was in a book. I wanted to see my kids grow up."  After graduating he went into private practice as an attorney in Nashville. 

As the years passed, however, he grew restless and began to tour and record again. Sizemore signed with Rounder Records in 2007 and his debut album for the imprint, Good News, was released later that same year. He had been missed during his lengthy hiatus from the previous few years while he was devoted to building his law practice and raising his family. Yet, his passion for music never waned, and he returned to the studio to collaborate with co-producer Buddy Cannon to make Good News.  

In February 2011, Rounder Records released Charlie Sizemore's Heartache Looking for A Home album.  While Sizemore didn't write any of the 14 songs on the album, there's a common thread of restlessness and yearning in the carefully chosen material that Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine called “a suburb recording. Highly recommended.” 

Charlie Sizemore, a distinctive and expressive vocal stylist in the realm of bluegrass music, is equally renowned for his literary prowess. His songwriting skills, coupled with his discerning taste in selecting lesser-known, well-crafted tunes by other writers, set him apart in the industry.

In 2012, Charlie Sizemore retired due to health reasons and still makes his home in Salyersville. Kentucky. 

In October 2024, Charlie Sizemore will be inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame to celebrate his impressive career. "I'm just a fellow from the hills who got lucky," says Charlie Sizemore.