Troublesome Hollow
TROUBLESOME HOLLOW From Hickory Tree (near Bristol), Tennessee. A comedy/bluegrass band formed by banjo player Tim White. This band specialized in songs about possums. In 1993 they released an entire album of possum songs and include in their
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Rice, Larry
LARRY RICE Born in Danville, Virginia. Grew up in California. A mandolin player, vocalist and songwriter. The oldest of the Rice Brothers (Tony, Ronnie and Wyatt). Late 60's, played in a Southern California band called Aunt Dinah's Quilti
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King, James
JAMES KING From Cana, Virginia. Lives in Amelia, Virginia at the foot of Fancy Gap Mountain. Started playing rock music at age 12. Was a big fan of Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Steppenwolf. Then at age 15, someone turned him
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Harrell, Michael Reno
MICHAEL RENO HARRELL From East Tennessee (lives in North Carolina) A successful songwriter: has had songs recorded by Doug Stone, Perfect Stranger, others. Founding member of the Charlotte Americana Showcase. He is also a well-known s
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Jeff and Vida
JEFF AND VIDA From Nashville (by way of New York City and New Orleans). 1997, Jeff Burke (mandolin) and Vida Wakeman (guitar) met in New York City. 1999, after attending MerleFest (and getting hooked on the music) they moved to New Orleans.
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Jeffers, Russ and Becky
RUSS AND BECKY JEFFERS From Nashville, TN; originally from Clinton, Tennessee. Met in high school and married in 1967. For 24 years, performed at Opryland theme park (it closed in 1998), doing more than 12,000 shows. Also perform at Dollywo
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Dreadful Snakes, The
THE DREADFUL SNAKES From Nashville. A studio band featuring Bela Fleck (banjo), Jerry Douglas (Dobro™), Blaine Sprouse (fiddle), Roland White (mandolin), Pat Enright (guitar) and Mark Hembree (bass). 1983, they recorded one album Snakes Al
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Flannery, Tim
TIM FLANNERY From San Diego, California. (Was born in Athens, Kentucky.) A professional baseball player and coach (San Diego Padres 1979-1989 as an infielder, 1992-2002 as third-base coach). Went to two World Series and one All-Star Game. For s
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Swift Creek
SWIFT CREEK From Raleigh, North Carolina. Formed in 2010 by Kevin Brown (guitar, lead vocals), Casey Elder (mandolin), Dennis Hoyle (bass), Ashley Kovacs (fiddle) and Ann Searcy (vocals). 2015, Kovacs left the band and was replaced by Step
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Young, Vern
VERN YOUNG From Lamar, Missouri. Originally from Rochester, New York. Began performing at age 12. Returned to performing in 1989 after a 15-year “sabbatical.” Sang lead with Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys in 1949 on one short tour
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Engle, Troy
TROY ENGLE (AND SOUTHERN SKIES) From Glen Rock, Pennsylvania He is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has worked as a sideman with Patty Loveless, Buddy Jewell, The Isaacs, Larry Sparks, Mark Newton, Leon Russell and others. He has co-written several songs with Tom T. and Dixie Hall. He composed instrumental tracks heard on TV Shows like […]Read More »Darou, Chad
CHAD DAROU From Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. An elite Dobro™ (resonator guitar) player, but he plays all the bluegrass instruments. 1982, at age 12 performed at the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee. 1987, at age 17 began performing with Bill Keith and Frank Wakefield. Since then he has worked as a sideman with Del Reeves, Bill […]Read More »Wicentowski, Jerry
JERRY WICENTOWSKI From Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Grew up in New York City. A singer, guitarist and orthodox Jew, his group Lucky Break performs bluegrass interpretations of Hebrew liturgical music, along with traditional bluegrass and folk songs. His name is pronouned “Wiz-entowski.” He is a certified financial planner. 1998, released first album “Lucky Break” (Wizgrass) featuring Byron […]Read More »Welty, Gregg
GREGG WELTY From Raleigh, North Carolina. Grew up in Western New York; lives in Pittsburgh, PA. He is a banjo player, son of Eric Welty, 1993 Bluegrass Banjo National Champion. He has won more state banjo championships than any other banjo player. 2013-2014, played banjo with Gold Heart. 2014-2015, worked with The Allegheny Drifters. 2015, […]Read More »High Fidelity
HIGH FIDELITY From Nashville, Tennessee. Formed in 2014 by Jeremy Stephens (banjo/guitar), Corrina Rose Logston (fiddle), Kurt Stephenson (banjo), Vickie Vaughn (bass) and Daniel Amick (mandolin/guitar/banjo). The dictionary definition of the term High Fidelity is “the reproduction of an effect (such as sound or an image) that is very faithful to the original.” The phrase was […]Read More »Find an artist
This web site contains short profiles of the best known bluegrass artists and bands. Click on the A to Z listing above and scroll to the artist you are looking for.
Access the Bluegrass Calendar
In the navigation at the top of the website, choose a month and then scroll through the days.
Programming Suggestions
Need some music for holidays and other special occasions? Look to the right, I where you’ll find the occasion and some song suggestions to meet your programming needs.
Some Background
I’m Wayne Rice, a bluegrass radio programmer from San Diego, California. I began compiling this material in 1988 for DJ’s like myself who want to at least sound knowledgeable about bluegrass music on the air. Originally I published Bluegrass Bios® in a three-ring binder and sold it to DJ’s around the country … but now it’s here on the web and it’s free! Use it for your show prep, or just enjoy learning more about the amazing artists who play and sing bluegrass music. If you find errors or wish to make a suggestion, please contact me. Thanks!