Josh Graves
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 1997.
Also recorded as Buck Graves · Uncle Josh Graves
Josh Graves
- Name
- Josh Graves
- Birth Name
- Burkett Howard Graves
- Born
- 27 September 1927
- Died
- 30 September 2006
- Occupation
- Musician
- Nationality
- United States
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
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 1997.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Josh Graves. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
not yet certified
- Identity
- unresolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
wikidata · Q6288916 · wikipedia · Josh Graves
In this article
Biography
Biography
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.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Josh Graves • Birth Name — Burkett Howard Graves • Born — 27 September 1927 • Origin — Tennessee, USA • Died — 30 September 2006 • Instrument — Resophonic guitar, bass • Occupation — Musician
Career
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
Musical style
Graves originally joined the Foggy Mountain Boys as a bass player but collaborated with bandmate Earl Scruggs to develop a new style of dobro-picking based on Scruggs' three-finger syncopated banjo style. Graves switched to the dobro; his way of playing helped propel the instrument into becoming one of the defining features of the bluegrass sound. Graves adoption of hammer-ons and pull-offs to combine open strings and fretted notes in rapid scalar passages elevated the Dobro to the level of holding its own with the fiddle and banjo. 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.
Albums
Albums
• Title — Label — Year • Bluegrass Hits Just Joshing — Cotton Town Jubilee — 1964 • Uncle Josh And His Dobro — Cotton Town Jubilee — 1965 • Something Different — Puritan — 1972 • Bucktime — Puritan — 1974 • Alone At Last — Epic — 1974 • Josh Graves With Bobby Smith — Vetco — 1976 • Sweet Sunny South — CMH — 1976 • Sing Bluegrass Vol. 2 With Josh Graves — Vetco — 1976 • Meetin' At The Crossroads — Music City Workshop — 1977 • Same Old Blues — CMH — 1977 • Smokin' Bluegrass — CMH — 1978 • Bluegrass Specials:We're Gonna Have A Ball — Cowboy Carl — 1979 • First Breath Of Spring — Koala — 1979 • Sing Away The Pain — CMH — 1979 • King Of The Cobra — CMH — 1980 • Playing It Simple — Vetco — 1980 • Living Legends:Dobro And Fiddle Instrumentals — Old Homestead — 1983 • Something Old, Something New — Atteiram — 1984 • Flying South:Fiddle And Dobro Bluegrass Instrumentals — Ridge Runner — 1986 • Tennessee-Kentucky Favorites — Montana Country — 1987 • Dad The Dobro Man — CMH — 1987 • The Real Josh:Super Sidemen Vol. 1 — Amber — 1988 • The Puritan Sessions — Rebel — 1989 • Plays Country Classics — Legend — 1993 • Sings Country Classics — Legend — 1994 • Church In The Wildwood — Legend — 1995 • Live In Port Huron, Michigan — Legend — 1995 • The Graves Situation — Legend — 1996 • King Of The Dobro:A Musical Documentary — CMH — 1996 • Josh Graves Dobro — Rebel — 1998 • Overdue — Foster Creek — 1998 • Sultan Of Slide — OMS — 2000 • World Famous Dobro — Starday — 2002 • Memories Of Foggy Mountain — OMS — 2002 • Just Joshin' — Red Clay — 2005
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1927
Josh Graves born.
2006
Josh Graves died.
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 30 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,438 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Josh FarroPerson
- Josh FreesePerson
- Josh GabrielPerson
- Josh GadPerson
- Josh GrobanPerson
- Josh HadenPerson
- Josh HommePerson
- Josh KelleyPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Josh Graves?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.