Bluegrass Bios

Frye, Travis (and Blue Mountain)

TRAVIS FRYE AND BLUE MOUNTAIN From Mt Airy, North Carolina. Band includes Travis Frye (guitar), Hunter Motts (banjo), Henry Mabe (fiddle), Tim Frye (mandolin) and Renee Martin (bass). Frye is DJ on WPAQ radio in Mt. Airy. 2014, released Liv

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Stanley, Ralph II

RALPH STANLEY II From McClure, Virginia. Son of Ralph Stanley, who in 1995 began performing full-time in his father’s band, playing guitar and singing lead at the age of 16. 1996, recorded an album of duets “in the Stanley Tradition” with

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Kane’s River

KANE’S RIVER From Belgrade, Montana. Formed in 1995 as “Deep River” by John Lowell and Nancy Padilla, formerly with Wheel Hoss. Lowell also worked with the Wyoming band Loose Ties. 1998, added Jerry Nettuno (formerly with Highstrung). Former

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Mackey, Bobby

BOBBY MACKEY From Wilder, Kentucky (near Cincinnati). Since 1978, has owned a night club called “Bobby Mackey’s” where he performs and hosts other country acts. Cincinnatti’s classic country radio station (WAOL) broadcasts live music from there

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Fink, Cathy (and Marcy Marxer)

CATHY FINK (AND MARCY MARXER) A folk-singing duo from the Washington DC area. Specialize in folk music for children. Have been performing together since 1987. Cathy is from Montreal, but moved to Takoma Park, Maryland in 1979. Plays banjo a

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Lamb, Barbara

BARBARA LAMB From Seattle, Washington. Played fiddle with the “cowgirl” band, Ranch Romance. Was Mark O’Connor’s first fiddle teacher. He was only eleven years old at the time. Early seventies: performed with a Seattle-based bluegrass band

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Mountain Faith

MOUNTAIN FAITH (SUMMER AND BRAY) From Sylva, North Carolina. A family bluegrass-gospel band featuring Summer McMahan (fiddle & lead vocals), Brayden McMahan (banjo), and their dad Sam McMahan (bass). Other band members: Luke Dotson (guitar)

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Legere, Ray

RAY LEGERE From Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada. Has won numerous awards at the Eastern Canadian Bluegrass Music Awards, including Mandolin, Fiddle, and Guitar Player of the Year. Holds the distinction of being the only mandolin player to work w

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Roberts, Chris

CHRIS ROBERTS From Montana. He has also lived in New York City. He is a singer/songwriter now living in Nashville. He has appeared in several Broadway plays and musical productions, including The Civil War with Larry Gatlin, who became a f

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Morrison, Harold

HAROLD MORRISON From High Lonesome, Missouri, near Springfield. One of a long line of country performers to combine banjo virtuosity and country humor. He was also a versatile session musician who played banjo, guitar, pedal steel and Dobro&#

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Find an Artist

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

Use the Search Band or Artist function located at the top of the sidebar on the right to find an artist by name.
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

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Shelton, Eddie

EDDIE SHELTON From Temple, Texas. 1955 to 1963, played banjo...

Day, Steve

STEVE DAY From Caneyville, Kentucky. Lives in Bowling Green, KY....

Bluegrass Intentions, The

THE BLUEGRASS INTENTIONS From Northern California. Formed in 2001 as...

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!