So I want you to just imagine for a second that you are 75 years old. And you’ve been grounding away, like truly grinding in your chosen profession for more than half a century. You’ve seen the absolute highest highs, the most brutal lows. And then out of nowhere, you get called into an audition for this massive Hollywood project.

So by 1946, Ralph and Carter decide to strike out on their own. They form the Clinch Mountain Boys. And this is where we really see the sociological shift happening in America.

• We’re tracing that whole journey today right from a tiny rural Virginia hollow all the way to global stardom
• What’s fascinating here, if you look closely at his timeline, his story is really just this master class in the scarcity principle
• Ralph is about 15 or 16, and his mom buys him his first banjo
• How does that actually translate into a viable commercial career