Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Like mainstream country music, it largely developed out of old-time string music, though in contrast, bluegrass is traditionally played exclusively on acoustic instruments and also has roots in traditional English, Scottish, and Irish ballads and dance tunes as well as in blues and jazz. Bluegrass was further developed by musicians who played with Monroe, including 5-string banjo player Earl Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt. Monroe characterized the genre as, "Scottish bagpipes and ole-time fiddlin'. It's a part of Methodist, Holiness and Baptist traditions. It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound."
The Dillards are an American bluegrass and country rock band from Salem, Missouri. The band is best known for introducing bluegrass music into the popular mainstream with their appearance as "The Darlings" on The Andy Griffith Show.
Anthony Cattell Trischka is an American five-string banjo player. Sandra Brennan wrote of him in 2021: "One of the most influential modern banjoists, both in several forms of bluegrass music and occasionally in jazz and avant-garde, Tony Trischka has inspired a whole generation of progressive bluegrass musicians."
The Biscuit Burners are a bluegrass and Americana band from Weaverville, North Carolina ; they are on hiatus as of 2009.
James Bryan Sutton is an American musician. Primarily known as a flatpicking acoustic guitar player, Sutton also plays mandolin, banjo, ukulele, and electric guitar. He also sings and writes songs.
Nothin' Fancy is a bluegrass band based in Buena Vista, Virginia and was formed in September 1994. Its "parent band" East Coast Bluegrass Band was formed Summer 1985 to compete in the East Coast Bluegrass Championship in Crimora, Virginia.
Russell Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out is an American bluegrass band formed in 1991 in Cumming, Georgia. Consisting of Russell Moore, Keith McKinnon, Nathan Aldridge, Wayne Benson and Dustin Pyrtle, the band has released thirteen albums and two greatest hits collections since 1991. A regular on bluegrass radio, their works have earned them many individual and group IBMA and SPBGMA award nominations including the prestigious IBMA Vocal Group of the Year award which they have won numerous times.
Rare Bird Alert is a 2011 bluegrass album by Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, featuring guest appearances by Paul McCartney and The Chicks. This is Martin's second consecutive musical album, and comprises 13 songs. His first all-music album was 2009's The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo. Rare Bird Alert was first released on March 15, 2011. The album was nominated for a Grammy on November 30, 2011. "King Tut" is a new bluegrass arrangement of a song that was a Billboard top 20 hit for Martin in 1978.
Nobody Knows You is a studio album by Steep Canyon Rangers released in 2012 through Rounder Records. In January 2013, the record won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album, which was presented to Steep Canyon Rangers as artists and co-producers of the album alongside Gary Paczosa. The album peaked at #2 on Billboard's Top Bluegrass Albums chart.
Love Has Come for You is a 2013 bluegrass music CD featuring a collaboration of 13 original songs composed by Steve Martin (music) and Edie Brickell. The album cover art is a painting entitled "After Dinner Drinks" (2008) by Martin Mull; the original work is in Steve Martin's personal art collection.
Nicky Sanders is a Grammy Award-winning, American fiddle player specializing in Bluegrass music. He is best known for his work with the band Steep Canyon Rangers along with banjo player and comedian Steve Martin. Raised in San Francisco, he began studying classical violin aged five. At 17, he became concertmaster of the Young People's Symphony Orchestra in Berkeley, California. Later he would graduate Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts earning a BA in Music with a major in performance (violin). Other studies while at Berklee included 20th-century classical music composition and Film Scoring.
Orthophonic Joy: The 1927 Bristol Sessions Revisited is a double-CD produced by Grammy Award-winner Carl Jackson, a Bluegrass and country music artist, as a benefit for the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, Tennessee. The project was conceived by executive producer Rusty Morrell, a Bristol native who was well acquainted with the story of the historic 1927 Bristol Sessions and imagined a modern tribute to the sessions that have been dubbed the "big bang" of country music. The project includes 37 tracks - 18 songs and 19 spoken word tracks that provide context. WSM disc jockey and country music historian Eddie Stubbs narrates the project, and a who's who of country artists recorded the new versions of the old classics. Jackson recorded the album between 2013 and 2015. It was released by Sony Legacy Recordings on May 12, 2015.
The International Bluegrass Music Awards is an award show for bluegrass music presented by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). Awards are voted based on professional membership in the IBMA.
Ron Stewart is an American multi-instrumentalist in the bluegrass tradition. He plays fiddle, guitar, banjo, and mandolin, and has won the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) award for Fiddle Player of the Year in 2000 and Banjo Player of the Year in 2011.
David L. Parmley is a bluegrass vocalist, guitarist, and award-winning bandleader. He is best known for being a co-founder of both the Bluegrass Cardinals and Continental Divide.
Radio is the ninth solo album by Steep Canyon Rangers, their eleventh overall. It was released on August 28, 2015. The album peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Bluegrass Albums chart on 18 September 2015 and spent a total of 41 weeks on that chart. The title song was nominated for Song of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2016.
Alfred Francis Platt III, known as Woody Platt, is a Grammy Award-winning, American guitar player and vocalist specializing in bluegrass music. He is best known for his work with the band Steep Canyon Rangers along with banjo player and comedian Steve Martin.
Arm in Arm is the 13th studio album by American bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers. It was released on October 16, 2020 through Yep Roc Records. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Bluegrass Albums chart, and spent 16 consecutive weeks on the chart. Arm in Arm also reached No. 4 on the Americana/Folk Albums chart, No. 10 on the Current Country Albums chart, and No. 24 on the Record Label Independent Albums chart.
Be Still Moses is the 12th studio album by American bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers. The North Carolina label, Yep Roc Records, released the album digitally on March 6, 2020, then on CD and LP on April 10, 2020. The album was made in collaboration with the Asheville Symphony. The album's title track, "Be Still Moses," features the Philadelphia R&B/Soul group Boyz II Men. Be Still Moses reached #1 on Billboard's Bluegrass Chart, #2 on the Classical Crossover Chart, and #8 on the Americana/Folk Chart.
North Carolina Songbook is the 11th album from American bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers. The album was released on Yep Roc Records on November 29, 2019, for Record Store Day/Black Friday. The digital and wide releases for North Carolina Songbook came on April 10, 2020. album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Bluegrass Albums Chart. It also reached #9 on the Americana/Folk Albums chart, #22 on the Current Country Albums chart, #29 on the Record Label Independent Albums chart, and #119 on the Top Current Albums chart. North Carolina Songbook was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album in March 2021.
