CENTERS, ROY LEE (1944-1974)

Heavily influenced by the Stanley Brothers’ sound, Roy Lee Centers (he went by his middle name in the Lee Brothers) could sing almost like Carter and play banjo in Ralph’s style. Originally from Kentucky, he came to Dayton and played in the East Side bars with Fred Spencer and Junior and Liz McIntyre as the Easterners. He and Spencer recorded on Jalyn with Jack Lynch as Jack Lynch and the Lee Brothers, in addition to backing up other bluegrass artists on Jalyn. He realized a dream in 1970 when Ralph Stanley hired him as his lead singer, but the dream was cut short by Roy Lee’s murder four years later in Jackson, Kentucky.