You can hear it, if you listen carefully. It’s subtle, but you can hear it.

The change in John Starling’s voice, over the past four decades, is unmistakable. It has new shades of tenderness and vulnerability. There’s a little less volume, but the emotional power in his delivery is more potent than ever.

“When I go back and hear the early stuff, it’s good, but it’s not there yet,” muses John’s old friend and bandmate, resophonic guitar master Mike Auldridge. “Then he came into a period when he was one of the best singers that ever lived. He became, to me, like a national treasure.”

For a time, John Starling was the lead vocalist for the Seldom Scene, one of the most influential bands in progressive bluegrass music. The roster of singers who have been spellbound by John’s voice, whose careers have been enriched by his musical sensibilities, includes Claire Lynch, Emmylou Harris, Carl Jackson and Linda Ronstadt.

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