Harmony Twins - EP on Country Gospel Singing

Harmony Twins
[Virl & Virlin Stalnaker]

Country Gospel Singing

20521 - I'm On My Way To Glory / Life's Railway To Heaven
20522 - Are You Washed In The Blood / Jesus Saviour Pilot Me

"Our Goal is not money, but salvation to the lost at any cost"
Every First Sat. - 7:30 PM - Everyone Welcome - Free Admission
City Hall, Strongsville, Ohio

1967

This record is from Strongsville OH produced by local bluegrass gospel DJ Bill Floyd--The Twins were originally from West Virginia--vocally they sound just like the Everly Brothers--their twin guitar sound is like that of the Delmore Brothers--if you close your eyes and listen, the recordings sound like the Delmore's late 40s King sides [source: eBay, rockined, Cleveland, Ohio]

" I'm On My Way To Glory" was also released in 1963 on a Bryte Records single and in 1964 on their LP on Country Gospel Singing.

From Stein Hospice News (Summer 2010) :

Twin boys Virl and Virlin Stalnaker made a pact when they were growing up in West Virginia: We’ll stay together until the end.

Through World War II, marriages, a musical career and retirement, the twins have kept their word. Now both men are patients with Stein Hospice. At the Ohio Veterans Home, where the twins share a room, Virl pushes Virlin around in his wheelchair and helps feed him. The men used to dress alike – jeans, flannel shirt and leather vest – but these days Virlin is more comfortable wearing loose fitting clothes.

The two have only been separated from each other on a few occasions, the longest being a month when Virl moved to Ohio for a job in the early 1950s. As soon as he got his driver’s license, Virl returned to West Virginia to pick up Virlin. The twins enlisted in the U.S. Navy on the same day and served on the same ship.

After they got out of the service, they started their musical career. They became the Harmony Twins and played country music on the radio and performed with some of the stars of the day such as the Everly Brothers and Brenda Lee. Later they turned to gospel music. Both men married within a few years of each other and lived in New Philadelphia, around the block from each other. Virlin’s son died in infancy and the couple never had any more children. Virl had four children. Virl’s daughter Beverly Grant said it was like having two dads. “We didn’t consider one without the other,” she said.

After both men were widowed they moved in together. Virlin had a stroke and went to a nursing home, and Virl moved to the assisted living wing. But at night Virl would take a pillow and blanket and head to Virlin’s room to sleep on the floor next to his brother. The family knew that arrangement couldn’t last so they looked for a new home where the twins could be in the same room. Virl and Virlin moved to the Ohio Veterans Home in September 2008 and became Stein patients in May.

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