Stanley and Boys Atone for a II-Rate First Half

Anticipation was high for Ralph Stanley’s concert Tuesday night in Orange, the legendary banjo picker’s first local appearance in nearly five years. Plus, his latest release--the Grammy-nominated “Clinch Mountain Country”--is No. 1 on the bluegrass charts.

So why was Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys’ performance--at least the first half--so frustrating? Too much wasted time.

Rather than drawing from the revered canon of the brothers Ralph and Carter Stanley--much of the show’s first hour spotlighted the comparatively lackluster solo material of the Clinch Mountain Boys, especially 20-year-old singer-rhythm guitarist Ralph Stanley II.

Songs such as “Listen to My Hammer Ring,” the title track from his new solo debut, lacked the kind of compelling edge that draws a listener in.

What was wanted was the unadorned mountain music that tugged at heartstrings, the kind of sound the brothers made before Carter’s death in 1966, ones that explored the gamut of human experiences--sorrow and joy, love and longing, sin and salvation--in haunting songs that still resonate deeply today.

Even worse was the cornball shtick that failed to tickle the funny bone. Really, fellas, such routines--like the one where fiddler James Price impersonates Johnny Cash and then sings his “Folsom Prison Blues”--are better suited to karaoke bars.

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Fortunately, redemption followed the intermission.

The acoustic-powered sextet--also featuring lead guitarist James Shelton, banjoist Steve Sparkman and longtime stand-up bassist Jack Cooke--simply smoked in a pair of spirited numbers, especially the all-instrumental “The Clinch Mountain Back-Step.”

A series of stirring spirituals followed, highlighted by an a cappella version of “Glory Land,” the perennial crowd-favorite “Rank Stranger” and “The White Dove,” a gripping tale mourning the death of two parents, which was recorded by the Stanley Brothers in 1947.

The 71-year-old Stanley, whose distinctive tenor rings as true as ever, ended the program at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church with a pair of songs fittingly rooted in family. He introduced the penultimate “Shout Little Lulie” as “my first ‘claw hammer’ tune,” a more powerful striking technique he learned from his mother.

Then he dedicated the bittersweet “Hills of Home” to his brother Carter, who was surely smiling from on high after hearing such a heartwarming tribute.

Nice recovery, boys.

* Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys play Feb. 20 at McCabe’s Guitar Shop, 3101 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. $18.50. (310) 828-4403.