John Herald
John Herald (September 6, 1939 – July 18, 2005) was an American folk and bluegrass songwriter, solo and studio musician and one-time member of The Greenbriar Boys trio. Biography Herald was born in Manhattan in 1939, to an Armenian born poet father Leon Srabian Herald. It was through him that Herald was first exposed to live performances by blues and folk legends Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie. While at a summer camp in 1954, Herald was inspired by a performance by Pete Seeger. During his Manumit School days, he became a regular listener of Don Larkin's bluegrass radio show, and began attending open guitar jams with the likes of Bob Dylan and Rory Block. In 1958, Herald formed The Greenbriar Boys, along with Bob Yellin (banjo) and Paul Prestopino (mandolin). The following year, Eric Weissberg (mandolin and fiddle), replaced Prestopino, and Weissberg was soon replaced by Ralph Rinzler (mandolin) to form their most successful combination. Herald was lead guitarist and vocalist. The trio often played the Greenwich Village scene, but were notable enough to be the first Northern group to win the likes of the Union Grove Fiddler's Convention competition, where Yellin also took top honors for banjo. Shortly after