Red June

Red June

RED JUNE (See also Zoe and Cloyd) From Asheville, North Carolina. Formed in 2008 by Will Straughan (Dobro™ and guitar), Natalya Zoe Weinstein (fiddle), and John Cloyd Miller (mandolin and guitar). Miller and Weinstein were

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Spears, Ron

Spears, Ron

RON SPEARS From West Valley City, Utah. 1970’s, played in a band called “Obadiah’s Organic Bluegrass Band.” 1976-1993, played rock and country music. 1990, had a band called Bluegrass Conspiracy. 1995, formed Within Tradition, which

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Sewell, Keith

Sewell, Keith

KEITH SEWELL From Duncanville, Texas. Began playing fiddle at age 3. Also plays banjo and mandolin, but is best known as a guitarist and songwriter. Early years, played with his grandfather’s band, “The Shady Grove Ramblers” (Texas). Moved

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Surrett, Tim

Surrett, Tim

TIM SURRETT From Canton, North Carolina. 1992, joined the Kingsmen, an award-winning gospel group from Asheville, NC. Sang lead and played bass. 1992, recorded a solo project called “Gospel Music Salutes its Mountain Heritage” (with Karen Pec

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Perkins, Larry

Perkins, Larry

LARRY PERKINS Originally from Grant County, Indiana. Lived for many years in Nashville (rented a house from Earl Scruggs). Currently lives in North Carolina. A Nashville session musician (guitar and banjo); performed regularly with The Sidemen.

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Jewell, Ebby and the Bluegrass Kinsmen

Jewell, Ebby and the Bluegrass Kinsmen

EBBY JEWELL AND THE BLUEGRASS KINSMEN From Rosedale, Virginia. Formed in 1971 by brothers Shelby and Ebby Jewell and distant cousins Ervin Mullins, James Cole and Claude Mitchell. Since they were related, they called themselves the Bluegrass

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Morris, Leon

Morris, Leon

LEON MORRIS From the Washington DC area (Rockville, MD); originally from Canada. Began performing in 1947. Plays all the bluegrass instruments and sings traditional bluegrass. 1960’s, worked and recorded with Buzz Busby, Frank Wakefield, Bill

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Tyminski, Dan

Tyminski, Dan

DAN TYMINSKI From Rutland, Vermont. Lives in Ferrum, Virginia and Nashville. First band: played banjo with Green Mountain Bluegrass. Older brother Stan played mandolin. 1988, joined the Lonesome River Band. Originally hired to play banjo,

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Wernick, Peter

Wernick, Peter

PETER WERNICK From New York City. Lives in Niwot, Colorado. Known as “Dr. Banjo” because of a best-selling banjo instruction book he authored (over 200,000 copies sold). Has an earned doctorate from Columbia University in sociology.

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Summer Wages

Summer Wages

SUMMER WAGES From North Carolina. A band that was together from 1983-1988. Original band included Craig Smith (banjo), Barry Berrier (guitar), Rick Allred (mandolin), Garland Carter (bass) and Kenneth Berrier (Dobro™). Jim Mills (ba

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Find an Artist

This web site contains short profiles of the best-known bluegrass artists and bands.

  1. Use the Search Band or Artist function located at the top of the sidebar on the right to find an artist by name.
  2. Or, utilize the Artist List drop-down below the search function in the right sidebar to search by the first letter of their last name if an individual – or – the first letter of a band name.

Check Out These Artists

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

A great big howdy to ya, 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 DJs 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!

Indigo Roots

INDIGO ROOTS From Nashville. A family band (siblings) featuring Bethany...

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Ezra

EZRA From Oberlin, Ohio. Founded by multi-instrumentalist Jesse Jones (guitar/piano)....

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Gangstagrass

GANGSTAGRASS From Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 2006 by record-producer...

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