ASH BREEZE

• From Moore County, North Carolina.
• Formerly known as The Smith Family Band, featuring dad Allen Smith (bass) and his four kids: Nellie (vocals and fiddle), Corey (guitar), Eli (mandolin) and Luke (banjo).
• The band members were classically-trained as children but gravitated to bluegrass.
• Their name comes from a sailing term referring to the ability to row a sailboat when there’s no wind (oars are typically made of ash.) “Sailing by ash breeze” is a major theme (overcoming struggle) in the book Carry on Mr Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham, a Smith family favorite.
• 2014, released Ash Breeze album (Mountain Fever).
• 2015, released The Road’s Not Easy album (Mountain Fever).