Roscoe Holcomb

Roscoe Holcomb (born Roscoe Halcomb; September 5, 1912 – February 1, 1981) was an American singer, banjo player, and guitarist from Daisy, Kentucky. A prominent figure in Appalachian folk music, Holcomb was the inspiration for the term "high, lonesome sound", coined by folklorist and friend John Cohen in 1959. It was meant to describe the singing style and vocal timbre of Holcomb. The "high lonesome sound" term is now used to describe bluegrass singing, although Holcomb was not, strictly speaking, a bluegrass performer.