Fescue
FESCUE From Marian (Smyth County), Virginia. Formed in 1980 by "Fat Albert" Blackburn (plays bass). Fescue is a very resilient type of grass. Hence the name. Other band members: Mike Goodman (banjo), Garnet Lester (guitar), Raymond Campbell
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Baucom, Terry
TERRY BAUCOM From Monroe, North Carolina. Started playing banjo at age ten with his father's group The Rocky River Boys. Took up the fiddle at age 14. He is known as "The Duke of Drive," a reference to his ability to "drive" a song with hi
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Bluegrass Patriots, The
THE BLUEGRASS PATRIOTS From Fort Collins, Colorado. Formed in 1980 by banjo player Ken Seaman with Glenn Zankey (guitar), Dan Rogers (bass), Dan Mitchell (fiddle) and Willie McDonald (mandolin). Achieved national acclaim with their 1991 reco
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Wakefield, Frank
FRANK WAKEFIELD From Emory Gap, Tennessee, near Knoxville. Lives in Upstate New York. Full name: Franklin Delano Roosevelt Wakefield. Known for his technical virtuosity on the mandolin. Influenced David Grisman and many other mandolin play
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Wright, Norman and Kevin Church
NORMAN WRIGHT AND KEVIN CHURCH From Virginia. 1991, both left The Country Gentlemen to form their own band. Wright has also worked with The Bluegrass Cardinals and Bill Harrell and the Virginians. Church plays banjo, and is the son of banjo
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Hillman, Chris
CHRIS HILLMAN From La Jolla (San Diego) California. Lives in the Los Angeles area. Early-sixties, played mandolin in the San Diego-based bluegrass group, The Scottsville Squirrel Barkers. Also included banjo player Kenny Wertz, an original me
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Hayseed Dixie
HAYSEED DIXIE From "Deer Lick Holler" (Nashville, Tennessee). Formed by Barley Scotch and Enus and Talcum, the Younger Brothers -- Dale and Don Wayne Reno in real life. 2001, recorded a bluegrass album of AC/DC songs. Original name of the g
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Herald, John
JOHN HERALD (See also THE GREENBRIAR BOYS) From New York City. Lived in Woodstock, New York. 1958-1966, was founder and lead singer of The Greenbriar Boys. Given name: John Whittier Sirabian. He is Armenian. His father was a poet in Greenwich
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Patent Pending
PATENT PENDING From the Washington, DC area. Formed in 1979 by Eldred Hill, Jim Steptoe, Rusty Williams, Leigh Taylor. 1980, began playing Wednesday nights at the Birchmere in Alexandria, VA (the Seldom Scene played there on Thursdays.) 199
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Laur, Katie
KATIE LAUR Native of Paris, Tennessee. Lives in Cincinnatti, Ohio. 1975, formed The Katie Laur Band. She was one of the first female lead singers to front her own bluegrass band. 1975, released "Good Time Girl" album (Vetco). 1977, released
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Lowell, John
JOHN LOWELL From Bozeman, Montana. He is a singer/songwriter who has been a member of numerous bands: Medicine Wheel, Wheel Hoss, Deep River, Kane’s River, Loose Ties, the Growling Old Men (with Ben Winship), the John Lowell Band (a European touring group), Two Bit Franks and the Lone Mountain Trio. He worked as a purchasing […]Read More »Mandolin Orange
MANDOLIN ORANGE From Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Formed in 2009 by Andrew Marlin (mandolin, guitar, banjo) and Emily Frantz (fiddle, guitar). 2010, released Quiet Little Room album (no label). 2011, released Haste Make / Hard Hearted Stranger album (no label) 2013, released This Side of Jordan album (Yep Roc). 2015, released Such Jubilee album (Yep […]Read More »LakeSide
LAKESIDE From Madisonville, Tennessee. Began as a family band in 1995 called The Gospel Bluegrass Boys. In 2007, after some band member changes, the name of the group was changed to LakeSide. Members in 2019 include: Greg Blankenship (mandolin), Lucas Blankenship (percussion), Jackie Cummings (bass), John Robert Freels (banjo), Walt Williamson (guitar). 2019, released Moving […]Read More »Che Apalache
CHE APALACHE From Buenos Aires, Argentina Band members are from Argentina, Mexico and the USA. They call their music “latin-grass.” Formed in 2013 by North Carolinian multi-instrumentalist Joe Troop who emigrated to Argentina in 2010. He taught bluegrass and old time music there and formed the band with Pau Barjau (banjo/from Mexico), Franco Martino (guitar/from […]Read More »Meadow Mountain
MEADOW MOUNTAIN From Denver, Colorado. Formed in 2015 by Summers Baker (guitar), Jack Dunlevie (mandolin), Ian Parker (fiddle), George Guthrie (banjo) and Wilson Luallen (bass). 2017, won the Rockygrass Band Contest. They have given a TED Talk on the history of bluegrass. They worked on a cruise ship as the house band. 2018, Sam Armstrong-Zickenfoos […]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!