East Coast Bluegrass Band, The

THE EAST COAST BLUEGRASS BAND

  • From Virginia.
  • Formed in 1985 to compete in the East Coast Bluegrass Band Championship in Crimora, Virginia. After winning the contest, they just kept the name.
  • Members: Buster Sexton (banjo), Mike Andes (mandolin), Frankie Hawkins (guitar) , Darin Lawrence (guitar), Bill Ledbetter (bass), and Mitchell Davis (fiddle). Buster’s son Chris Sexton replaced Davis in 1997.
  • 1986, won the Virginia Folk Music Society State Bluegrass Band Championship.
  • 1998, released “Life’s Highways” album on Copper Creek Records.
  • 2000, the group broke up. Andes and Davis (now playing banjo) continued to play with the group Nothin’ Fancy, which had formed in 1994.