Ralph Gresham Lam, a talented Singer-Songwriter, is seasoned player, with a powerful voice. He performs genres of music which cross Rock, Blues, Bluegrass, Folk, Alternative, etc.
Being a multi-instrumentalist, he was influenced early on by his parents, who were also musicians (who in turn were influenced by their parents, grandparents, and several more generations of musicians), he started playing guitar at the age of 8 (3 if you count the Roy Rogers guitar…). Started singing around age 17. His early influences were largely folk and Blue Grass. Growing up the 60’s afforded many opportunities to enjoy pop music as well. After several garage and college bands, his first real success came with a Wilmington based band “Shallant”. Later he acquired serious blues chops performing up and down the Shenandoah Valley with “The Night Shades”. Later, also in the Shenandoah Valley, he played many honky-tonks with a country band – “The Good time Outlaws”, all while honing his bluegrass, and folk skills. He met his wife; highly experienced musician and vocalist, Rué Wingo (Lam) in Harrisonburg, VA..”Extender” was their first project together. They later moved to Washington DC and renamed themselves “Le Choix” after connecting with east coast band promoter. In 1985 they moved to Wilmington, Delaware and continued to perform and record. Was offered record contracts with Virgin Records and Manhattan Records in 1987, but chose not to take advantage of those at that time. Ralph continues to perform fast picking and tight harmonies with his bluegrass band, “White Clay Tributary”, while playing solo performances of a variety of Americana music. Ralph was granted a 2020 Fellowship for Folk Art; Music by the Delaware Division of Arts. This recognition has fueled his efforts to engage more live solo performances as well as writing more music. A CD is to be released 2020. Stand by for details on that! The Delaware Division of Arts published their awards here https://arts.delaware.gov/iafrecipients/.
Ralph looks forward to playing, signing and writing on a daily bases. Look for him playing at your local venue which has quality music. Ralph’s media page is as follows https://www.reverbnation.com/ralphgreshamlam
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The Presbytery of Philadelphia for their initial $9,000 grant in 2015 to help build the coffeehouse ministry. And their follow-on $5000 grant in 2016 and their follow-on $4000 grant for 2017.