Once standing on stage at the Grand Ole Opry as a rising star as the lead singer for Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys, bluegrass guitarist Ernie Thacker now struggles from his wheelchair on a daily basis.

A car accident near his home in 2006 left him paralyzed from the waist down. His survival was called a medical miracle, after suffering 12 broken ribs, a broken collar bone, ruptured spleen and a crushed aorta. Since the accident, he has battled several infection setbacks and continues to rehab each day. His largest obstacle to overcome musically has been the loss of half a lung. However, he was not deterred from completing his debut record for Pinecastle Records, "Hangman," set for release in February. "I have had to learn how to sing all over," says Thacker from his Clinchco, Va. home. "What I used to do in one breath now takes two or three. It has been very hard, but I think it is getting better. It just takes time."

Thacker put the finishing touches on "Hangman" after returning home from the hospital. "We had everything done except for the mix prior to the accident. It took a couple of weeks to complete. I recorded this on my own and pitched it to different labels. I was very pleased Pinecastle picked it up. I have always looked at them as very respectful to bluegrass music, and that was exactly what I was wanting."

"We signed Ernie because he is a talented singer / songwriter / band leader," the founder of Pinecastle Records Thomas Riggs says via email. "I had held some discussions with his former label, which had gone inactive, about purchasing some of Ernie's masters."

"During those discussions, I learned that Ernie had completed an unreleased album shortly before his tragic accident. Ernie and I reached an agreement in December of 2007. Since then, we have been waiting for Ernie's health to improve so that he could tour in support of the new album."

Growing up in the bluegrass cradle state of Virginia, Thacker was surrounded by a musical family that fostered a strong desire in him. His uncle hosted many jam sessions at his home, some of which included none other than neighbor Ralph Stanley. Thacker picked up the fiddle at age nine and joined in as much as possible.

"The first song I ever learned was 'You Are My Sunshine,'" says Thacker. "My dad played harmonica, and he liked that song. I played it along with him over and over. Like 50 times. It tickled him to death that I could play it with him."

Thacker began picking up other instruments as well. One of the first was a mandolin. Stanley was familiar with Thacker from the jam session and invited him up on stage at the Appreciation Day Festival hosted in Stanley's hometown of McClure, Va. to play mandolin and sing a song. After performing a couple of times locally with Stanley at different events, he asked Thacker if he would be interested in going out on the road with him.

"It blew my mind. Here I was still wet behind the ear at age 16, and I was standing on stage with Ralph Stanley. It was a dream come true. He was like a superman to me."

After touring with Stanley for more than a year, Stanley's lead singer Sammy Atkins decided to leave the band. In need of a new lead singer and guitar player, Stanley turned to now 18-year-old Thacker. "At first I was very apprehensive. I had never played guitar much outside of my home, but I knew this was a great opportunity so I told Ralph I would do the best I could."

There were many highlights that still standout in Thacker's mind about those days with Stanley. Among the best were his moments on the stage of The Grand Ole Opry. "My first trip there, I got to sing three-piece harmony on the same mic with Ralph and Patty Loveless," he recalls. "One of my proudest moments was when Roy Acuff asked if we would play his favorite Stanley Brother's song Rank Strangers. Roy stood about a foot away from me, smiling, as I sang the song. My knees were literally shaking."

In 1994, Thacker decided it was time to try something a bit different. Along with Junior Blankenship, a former lead guitar player for Stanley, Thacker attempted to do his own thing. "Junior and I wanted to try something different in our own style. I really liked what we were able to come up with, we had a good sound, but we just could not catch enough breaks to keep our heads above water."

"Looking back on it now, I wish I would have stuck with Ralph a bit longer and learned more, but we were young and ready for a change. To be honest, I could never play the mandolin to satisfy myself when I was with Junior."

After touring with Junior for two and a half years, Thacker decided he needed a change in scenery. Giving up on music, he moved the family to Ohio and began working in a factory. He was there for close to year when he received a call from Tim Austin. Austin was preparing a Stanley Tradition record, and asked if Thacker would mind coming to Roanoke, Va. to sing a couple of songs for the record.

"That got me going again," Thacker says. "I had spent quite a bit of time improving my playing on guitar. I was trying to get to a sound I was comfortable with, more along the lines of Lonesome River Band with a driving style. After singing in Roanoke, I knew music was where I wanted to be."

Thacker again picked up the family, and moved back to Virginia. He did not have to search far for his new band. "My older brother, Matthew, is a huge part of our new sound in Route 23 (Thacker's backing band). He plays bass, while I play guitar, and it has worked out very well."

Thacker and Route 23's first release was in 2000 entitled "Backbone Job," under the Crosscut Records label. After switching labels to Doobie Shea, Thacker then released "The Chill of Lonesome" in 2002, drawing praise from bluegrass critics for its heartfelt passion.

The new record includes a couple of impressive originals, including the title cut which was written by Thacker's brother Dave, and The Ballad of Charlie Dill, penned by Bill Castle.

"My brother Dave and I had pitched 'Hangman' around for several years actually, fooling around with it until we got the sound just right. I was very proud of how that one turned out," he says. "'The Ballad of Charlie Dill' was in a package of songs Bill Castle had sent to me, and it really stood out. I thought it suited the record and theme we were going for very well."

A devout fan of Keith Whitley, Thacker also includes a tribute to his hero on the record. Keith How Many is a somewhat subtle tribute written by Melvin Burns.

"I don't normally like tribute songs, and Keith means everything to me. So, if I was going to do it, I wanted to be just right. If you notice, the song never actually mentions Keith's full name. If you are not a Keith Whitley fan, you may not know it is about him. Like in the last verse it mentions dancing with Molly, some may not know that is a song of Keith's'. I liked that about the song. I have videos of Keith when he was very young and singing lead for Ralph. His voice was unlike any other."

Thacker also attempts his own unique bluegrass takes on two traditional country hits. His version of Kristofferson's "Sunday Morning Coming Down" is a bit more upbeat than the original. "I was always drawn to that song since the controversy Cash created when he did it on TV. It is a great song."

The manic fast pickin' version of Dwight Yoakam's "This Drinkin' Will Kill Me" displays the keen musicianship of his band quite well. "I had actually met Dwight when he was a guest singer on Ralph Stanley's "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning" record. He was such a great guy, and I have always loved his music. We had fooled around with the song for a while, so I told my brother we should cover it for the record. We had a couple of other traditional country songs picked out which we could cover, but I felt these two added the most to the record."

While continuing to rehab and a trip soon to Lexington, Ky. to help improve his mobility and sores, Thacker still has his eye on the future. "I am thinking my next project will be an all gospel bluegrass record. I would love to be able to include Ralph on that, and work with him again. We are also looking forward to hitting the road this year and doing some festivals. Right now, I know we are planning to hit possibly both festivals up at the Bill Monroe Bean Blossom Music Festival in the spring and the Uncle Pen Festival in the fall. As long as I am able, we will be out there touring soon."