DANNY PAISLEY (AND THE SOUTHERN GRASS)

• From Landenburg, Pennsylvania—about fifty miles southwest of Philadelphia.
• Danny’s father Bob Paisley formed the Southern Grass in 1979. Prior to that he played with Ted Lundy in a band called Bob Paisley, Ted Lundy and the Southern Mountain Boys. Lundy passed away in 1980. The band became Bob Paisley and the Southern Mountain Boys.
• After Bob Paisley’s death in 2004, Danny took over leadership of the band. The new Southern Grass includes Bob and T.J. Lundy (sons of Ted Lundy) and Dan’s brother Michael.
• In their words, they play “unadorned, intense traditional bluegrass. There is no hybrid or genre-bending music here.”
• 2008, released The Room Over Mine album (Rounder).
• 2009, won the IBMA award for Song of the Year (for “Don’t Throw Mama’s Flowers Away” written by Chris Stuart)
• 2013, released Road Into Town album (Patuxent).
• 2015, released “Weary River” album (Patuxent). Band lineup: Danny Paisley (vocals and guitar), Mark Delaney (banjo), T.J. Lundy (fiddle), Eric Troutman (vocals and bass), and son Ryan Paisley (mandolin), just 15 years old.
• 2019, released That’s Why I’m Lonesome album (Patuxent).
• 2020, won the IBMA Award for Male Vocalist of the Year (his second; he also won in 2016).
• 2021, released Bluegrass Troubador album (Pinecastle).

JOSHUA PALMER

• From Owls Hollow, Alabama.
• Plays mandolin with an Alabama group called Valley Road. He previously worked with a gospel group called Canaan’s Crossing.
• 2015, released solo project Metacognition (Patuxent Records).

RICK PARDUE

• From State Road, North Carolina.
• 1975, played banjo in a North Carolina band called the Sugarloaf Ramblers.
• Left the music scene in the mid-80’s and took up flying airplanes.
• 1990-1995, had a band called Point Blank.
• 1995, formed Long and Pardue band with guitar player Tommy Long. Pardue plays banjo.
• 1998, formed Rambler’s Choice.
• 2000, joined Carolina Road.
• 2002, toured with Butch Robins and Bobby Hicks
• Besides songwriting and playing music, he is a real estate broker and buys/repairs/sells Subarus.
• 2011, recorded an album of original songs with Timmy Massey Ghost of Noah Hayes (no label).
• 2012, won an IBMA Award for a song he co-wrote with Tim Massey, “A Far Cry from Lester and Earl” as recorded by Junior Sisk and Ramblers Choice.

JEFF PARKER

• From Renfro Valley, Kentucky.
• Began playing guitar at age six. Age 12, began performing with his family band Sounds of Gospel at the Renfro Valley Barn Dance.
• First professional gig: playing mandolin with Larry Sparks at Renfro Valley.
• 1980, formed his first band called Train 45.
• 1986-1994, worked full time as a musician at Renfro Valley. He was in the staff band and performed with The Parker Brothers.
• 1995, formed Wilderness Trail with his brother Mike.
• 2001, joined the Lonesome River Band, playing mandolin.
• 2004, released first solo project Two Roads to Travel (Lonesome Day).
• 2006, left the Lonesome River Band and joined Dale Ann Bradley’s band.
• 2007, joined Dailey & Vincent, playing mandolin and singing harmony vocals.
• 2012, released second solo project Go Parker (Lonesome Day).
• 2013, released “It’s Christmas Time” album (Lonesome Day).
• 2015, released “Jeff Parker & Company” album (Lonesome Day).
• 2018, announced his decision to leave Dailey & Vincent and begin performing with his own band Jeff Parker & Company.
• 2019, formed a new act with guitarist/singer Colin Ray called Jeff Parker and Colin Ray.
• 2020, joined Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers; Jeff Parker and Colin Ray disbanded.
• 2022, left Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers to resume performing under his own name.

DAVID PARMLEY (AND CARDINAL TRADITION)

• From Nashville (White House, Tennessee), but grew up in Los Angeles, California.
• 1974, began playing bluegrass professionally at age 17 with his father Don in the Bluegrass Cardinals. David sang lead and played guitar.
• 1989, released first solo project I Know a Good Thing (Sugar Hill).
• 1993, left the Cardinals and moved to Nashville to pursue a solo career in country music.
• 1993, released Southern Heritage album (Rebel).
• 1994, formed Continental Divide (AKA David Parmley, Scott Vestal and Continental Divide) with Scott Vestal (banjo), Rickie Simpkins (fiddle), Jimmy Bowen (mandolin), Mike Anglin (bass) and Randy Kohrs (Dobro™).
• 1995, released David Parmley, Scott Vestal & Continental Divide album (Pinecastle).
• 1995, Continental Divide won the IBMA Award for Emerging Artist of the Year.
• 1996, released On the Divide album (Pinecastle).
• 1998, Vestal departed and the band name was changed to Continental Divide, then David Parmley and Continental Divide.
• 1999, released “There’ll Always Be a Rocking Chair” album (Pinecastle).
• 2001, released What We Leave Behind album (Pinecastle).
• 2002, released Pathway of Time album (Pinecastle).
• 2002, Randy Graham (formerly with Bluegrass Cardinals, Doyle Lawson, BlueRidge) joined the band.
• 2002, his tour bus was destroyed by fire when it collided with a gas tank on the highway.
• 2002, formed a part-time band called White House (all members of this band were from White House, Tennessee).
• 2005, released “Long Time Coming” album (CMH).
• 2006, released Best of David Parmley & Continental Divide album (Pinecastle).
• 2007, released “Church House Hymns” album (Pinecastle).
• 2008, released Three Silver Dollars album (Pinecastle).
• 2008, took a hiatus from performing because of health problems.
• 2010, returned to performing with his band Continental Divide.
• 2012, retired from music. Began driving and maintaining tour buses for various artists (such as Rascal Flatts.)
• 2015, began performing and touring again with his new band Cardinal Tradition.
• 2019, retired from music again. Several of his band members formed a new band called Fast Track: Ron Spears (bass), Dale Perry (banjo) and Steve Day (fiddle). Joining them: Jesse Brock (mandolin) and Duane Sparks (guitar).
• 2022, formed a new band with Larry Stephenson and Randy Graham called the Bluegrass Cardinals Tribute Band.

DON PARMLEY

• From Monticello, Kentucky. Also lived in California and Virginia.
• Began playing banjo at age 12. After learning the Scruggs style, he performed with several groups including Carl Story and Hylo Brown.
• 1956, after his discharge from the Army (Korean war), he married and moved to Los Angeles, California.
• 1963, worked with the Golden State Boys in Los Angeles with Vern and Rex Gosdin. The group was also called the Blue Diamond Boys and later, the Hillmen (with Chris Hillman on mandolin).
• 1963, released “5 String Banjo with 12 String Guitar” album (Crescendo) with backing musicians Billy Strange, LeRoy McNees, Chris Hillman, Vern Gosdin, Rex Gosdin (bass) and Hal Blaine (drums).
• 1964-1973, played banjo for the TV Series The Beverly Hillbillies.
• 1974, formed The Bluegrass Cardinals with his 15-year-old son David (guitar), Randy Graham (mandolin) and Bill Bryson (bass). This group performed together in various configurations for 23 years.
• 1997, retired from music.
• 2016, passed away at age 83.

DOLLY PARTON

• From Locust Ridge, Tennessee.
• Began her singing career at age 11. Moved to Nashville in 1964 after graduating from high school.
• Was introduced to bluegrass music by the Brewster Brothers, Willie and Bud.
• 1967-1974, worked with Porter Wagoner. Had 14 top ten hits as a duo. Won two CMA awards for Vocal Duo of the Year (1970, 1971).
• 1969, joined the Grand Ole Opry
• 1987, recorded “Trio” album with Linda Rondstadt and Emmylou Harris.
• Has starred in several movies, including Steel Magnolias, 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
• Owns her own record label and TV production company as well as the Dollywood Theme Park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
• Notable hits: “Two Doors Down”, “I Will Always Love You”, “Coat of Many Colors”, “Jolene”, “Islands in the Stream” (with Kenny Rogers).
• 1975, 1976, won CMA award for Female Vocalist of the Year.
• 1977, ACM award for Entertainer of the Year.
• 1978, CMA award for Entertainer of the Year.
• 1999, Inducted into the County Music Hall of Fame.
• 2000, released her first all-bluegrass album The Grass Is Blue (Sugar Hill).
• 2000, she appeared on the IBMA Awards Show where she accepted the award for Album of the Year (for The Grass Is Blue).
• 2001, won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album (for The Grass Is Blue).
• 2001, released second bluegrass album Little Sparrow (Sugar Hill).
• 2002, won the Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for “Shine” from the album Little Sparrow.
• 2002, released her third bluegrass album Halos & Horns (Sugar Hill).
• 2004, received the Living Legend Award from the Library of Congress on April 14. Also hosted the CMA awards show.
• 2004-2006, her touring band was the Grascals.
• 2005, was presented with the National Medal for the Arts by President George W. Bush (November 10).
• 2014, released her fourth bluegrass album Blue Smoke album (Sony).

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.)
• 1990, group was disbanded as a full-time group.
• 1992, re-formed with Steptoe, Hill, Teri Chism, Wayne Lanham, Ed Barney.
• 2009, Steptoe died.
• There is also a pop-punk band with the same name.

PATHWAY

• From Mt. Airy, North Carolina.
• Formed in 2007 by three brothers: Mitchell (bass), Mark (banjo), and Scott (fiddle) Freeman. Also in the band: Mark’s son Justin (guitar), Jake Long (mandolin) and Casey Byrd (Dobro™).
• Mitchell and Mark worked in the late 1970’s with Barry and Kenneth Barrier in a band called Interstate Exchange. They retired from music in the 80’s and returned to form Pathway after their children were grown.
• 2009, released first album Somewhere Tonight (no label).

HERB PEDERSEN

• From Berkeley, California. Moved to Los Angeles (San Fernando Valley) in the 1960’s.
• Began career in Bay Area playing in a band called The Pine Valley Boys with David Nelson (who later played with the New Riders of the Purple Sage) and Butch Waller (of High Country).
• Early-sixties, worked briefly with Lester Flatt, filling in for Earl Scruggs who was recuperating from a hip operation.
• Mid-sixties, joined the Northern California based group Vern and Ray (Vern Williams and Ray Park).
• 1968, took Doug Dillard’s place in The Dillards. While with The Dillards, recorded two landmark albums Wheatstraw Suite and Copperfields (Elektra Records).
• 1972, left the Dillards and formed The Country Gazette with Byron Berline, but did not stay with the band. He was replaced by Alan Munde.
• 1972-1985, worked full-time as a session musician, songwriter, vocalist and producer in Los Angeles. During this time, he produced the highly-acclaimed “Trio” album for Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt. He also worked on John Denver and the Muppets A Christmas Together album and many others in addition to recording several solo albums of his own.
• 1984, released solo project Lonesome Feeling (Sugar Hill).
• 1985, formed The Desert Rose Band with Chris Hillman (broke up in 1993).
• Sang on the soundtrack to the movie “City Slickers” starring Billy Crystal.
• 1994, formed a Los Angeles bluegrass band called The Laurel Canyon Ramblers.
• 1998, 2000, recorded and performed with Tony Rice, Larry Rice and Chris Hillman as Out Of The Woodwork (Rounder) and as Rice, Rice, Hillman & Pedersen (Rounder). They recorded a third album titled Running Wild (Rounder).
• 2002, formed a duo with Chris Hillman (Byrds, Desert Rose Band). They have recorded and toured as Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen.
• 2009, formed a local (San Fernando Valley) bluegrass band called Loafer’s Glory with Tom Sauber, Pat Sauber and Bill Bryson.
• Currently performs with Loafer’s Glory, Hillman and Pedersen, the Desert Rose Band and the John Jorgensen Bluegrass Band.

PENN CENTRAL

• From Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
• Formed in 1981 by Mark Rickert (guitar) and Steve Huber (banjo). Other members of the band included Todd Clewell (bass), Wally Hughes (Dobro™ and fiddle). On their recordings, they were joined by special guests Phil Rosenthal (mandolin) and Mike Auldridge (Dobro™) of the Seldom Scene.
• 1984, released “Play One More” album (Baldwin).
• 1991, released “Bluefire” album (Platinum).

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.
• Formerly a member of the Nashville Grass and Lonesome Standard Time.
• Heroes: Uncle Dave Macon and Earl Scruggs.
• Was a close friend of Scruggs. Helped him regain his strength following hip surgery by working out with him on a regular basis.
• 1993, released A Touch of the Past album (Pinecastle).
• 1996, joined John Hartford’s String Band.
• 1998, released “Glad Reunion Day” album (RME).
• 2008, released “Three Fingers and a Clawhammer” album with LeRoy Troy and Terry Eldridge (no label).

BILLY PERRY

• From Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
• A banjo player who is a member of an Oklahoma band called Mountain Smoke. Vince Gill was also in this band in the early 1970’s.
• 1976, released a solo album “Billy Perry’s Bluegrass Jam” (King Bluegrass).
• 1977, released “More Bluegrass Jam” album (King Bluegrass).
• Day job: he is a partner in his father’s home design business in Oklahoma City.

DAVID PETERSON (AND 1946)

• From Nashville, Tennessee. Originally from Easton, Massachusetts.
• A historian of bluegrass and country music and has performed with several bluegrass bands in Massachusetts, Texas, and Tennessee.
• Formerly performed with a gospel group called Zion Mountain Bluegrass and the Andy Owens Project.
• 1990, got a degree in pastoral ministry from Southwestern Assembly of God University. Served as a minister of music at a church in Mansfield, Massachusetts.
• He has also worked as a fish delivery truck driver, a telemarketer, and a landscaper.
• 1996, released solo project Jesus Use Me (no label).
• 1998, formed his band “1946.”
• Band name comes from the year the original bluegrass band (Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys with Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Chubby Wise and Cedric Rainwater) first recorded. They wear vintage 1940’s attire when performing.
• 2001, released first album David Peterson & 1946 (no label).
• 2001, became first band to be officially sponsored by the Gibson Company in Nashville.
• 2003, toured with Brooks and Dunn.
• 2009, released In the Mountaintops to Roam album (no label).
• 2009, released Howling Blue Winds album (no label).
• 2009, released Comin’ On Strong album (no label).
• 2019, after several years of busking, Peterson reorganized his band with Lincoln Hensley (banjo), Josh Gooding (mandolin) and Mike Bub (bass).

PETTICOAT JUNCTION

• From Nashville, Tennessee.
• An all-female band formed in 1988 by Andrea Campbell (Roberts) who had previously worked with Wendy Smith and Blue Velvet, a Detroit-based band.
• Other members of the band: Robin Roller (banjo), Gail Rudisill (fiddle) and Gena Britt (bass).
• The group recorded three albums for Pinecastle Records.
• Several members of Petticoat Junction, past and present, attended South Plains College in Levelland, Texas—at the time, the only college offering a degree in bluegrass music.
• 1998, the group disbanded and bandleader Roberts joined Special Consensus. She later formed a talent agency in Nashville.

LEWIS PHILLIPS

• From Lincolnton, Georgia.
• Son of Earl and Janis Phillips (Janis was a member of the gospel singing group, The Lewis Family,).
• 1972, at age two began touring with the Lewis Family.
• At age six, played banjo on a Carol Burnett CBS-TV special.
• 2001, released a solo album Empty Fields (Daywind).
• 2010, after the Lewis Family disbanded, he began performing in a new band called The Lewis Tradition with his mother Janis Lewis Phillips, his cousin Travis Lewis, son of the late Wallace Lewis, and Travis’ oldest son, Jameson.

TODD PHILLIPS

• From the San Francisco Bay area (born in San Jose). Now lives in Nashville.
• One of the top bass players in bluegrass music. He has been playing since age 11.
• 1975, was an original member (with Tony Rice) of the David Grisman Quintet.
• 1980, was an original member of the Tony Rice Unit.
• Has also worked with The Good Old Persons, Laurie Lewis, Psychograss and The Bluegrass Album Band.
• 1996, produced the Grammy winning album “True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe,” which also won the 1997 IBMA award for Album of the Year and Recorded Event of the Year.
• Is also a luthier, photographer and a graphic artist.
• 1998, joined New Grange with Darol Anger, Mike Marshall, Tim O’Brien and Alison Brown. Also worked with Laurie Lewis and her Bluegrass Pals.
• 2000, formed a trio with Matt Flinner and David Grier (Phillips, Grier and Flinner).
• 2008, moved to Nashville. Toured for two years with Joan Baez. Also worked with Psychograss, Russ Barenberg, the Bluegrass Album Band, others.
• 2014, joined the Claire Lynch Band.

PHOENIX

• From Charlottesville, Virginia.
• Formed in 2000.
• Members: David Coffey (guitar), Eddie King (mandolin), Randy Driskill (banjo), Jim Green (bass).
• 2001, released “Rising from the Ashes” album.
• 2002, released “Blue Ridge Frame of Mind” album.
• 2003, released “A Place Called Home” album.
• 2005, released “His Amazing Love” album.
• 2006, released “Tailor Made” album.
• 2010, disbanded. Coffey formed a gospel group called David Coffey and Gospel Blend. He is also a pastor.

CORY PIATT

• From Winston-Salem, NC. Currently lives in Nashville.
• Began playing the mandolin at age 7 performing at contests and festivals with his family group, The Piatt Family.
• 2009, joined the Texas-based gospel group Appointed.
• 2011, joined the Kenny and Amanda Smith band.
• 2012, released first solo project Daydreams (Patuxent).
• 2014, joined Mountain Faith.

NOAM PIKELNY

• From Champaign, Illinois.
• A banjo player who was inspired as a teen by Bela Fleck.
• 2002, played in a college jam band called Waffle Hoss, also worked with Czech guitarist Slavek Hanslik,
• 2003, joined Leftover Salmon.
• 2004, joined the John Cowan Band.
• 2004, released first solo project In the Maze (Compass).
• 2006, joined The Punch Brothers.
• 2010, won the first annual Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass ($50,000). This was not a competition but a surprise award given by Martin and selected by a panel of judges including Earl Scruggs, Pete Wernick, Tony Trischka, Anne Stringfield, Alison Brown, Neil V. Rosenberg, Béla Fleck and Martin himself.
• 2011, released Beat The Devil and Carry A Rail album (Compass).
• 2013, released Noam Pikelny Plays Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe album (Compass) featuring Pikelny’s arrangements for banjo of fiddle tunes recorded on the landmark album Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe.
• 2013, delivered keynote address at the IBMA World of Bluegrass in Raleigh, NC.
• 2014, won IBMA Awards for Banjo Player of the Year and Instrumental Album of the Year for Noam Pikelny Plays Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe).
• 2016, toured as a solo artist (during time off with the Punch Brothers).
• 2017, won his second IBMA Award for Banjo Player of the Year (also won in 2014).

PINE MOUNTAIN RAILROAD

• From Knoxville, Tennessee.
• Formed in 1998 by guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Jimbo Whaley and banjo player Kipper Stitt. Other band members have included Bill McBee, Clint Damon, Roscoe Morgan, Michael Fagan, Matt DeSpain, Matthew Flake, Eli Johnson, Mark Cable, Elmer Burchett, Jerry Butler, Jerry Cole, Dale Perry, Dale Thomas and Danny Barnes.
• 2001, signed a sponsorship deal making them the official bluegrass band of Odom’s Tennessee Pride Country Sausage. They were heard weekly on the Grand Ole Opry singing the product’s theme song.
• Performed regularly at Dollywood and other venues around Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Tennessee, working for the department of tourism there.
• 2003, released Old Radio album (CMH Records).
• 2006, mandolinist Cody Shuler purchased the band name and changed it to Cody Shuler and Pine Mountain Railroad.
• 2008, released Pickin’, Praisin’ & Singin’ album (Rural Rhythm Records.)
• 2010, released “Cody Shuler and Pine Mountain Railroad” (Steeltown Records.)
• 2012, released Heartache & Hope album (no label)
• 2015, Shuler released solo project Cody Shuler (Rural Rhythm).
• 2015, former members Jerry Butler and Kipper Stitt formed their own band called Kip and Jerry’s Rocky Road.

THE PINNACLE BOYS

• From Knoxville, Tennessee.
• A band featuring Bud Brewster (guitar), Larry Mathis (banjo), Jim Smith (mandolin), Randall Collins (fiddle), Jerry Moore (fiddle) and Ray Rose (bass).
• Brewster and his brother Willie previously worked together as The Brewster Brothers. They toured for ten years with Carl Story. Brewster also played banjo with Story’s Rambling Mountaineers for several years.
• 1974, released “Take a Look and Listen” album (Atteiram).
• 1075, released “The Pinnacle Boys” album (Rounder).
• 1975, released “The Award-winning Pinnacle Boys” album (Atteiram).
• 1977, released “I See A Bridge” album (Atteiram).
• 1978, released “West Bound and Down” album (CMH).
• 1980, released “High Lonesome Bluegrass” album (CMH).
• 1997, Brewster, Mathis and Smith reunited to form a new group called The Knoxville Bluegrass Band.

PLAYING ON THE PLANET

• From Ducktown, Tennessee.
• Formed in 2003 under the name Ducktown Station.
• Their music is described as “Cosmic Rockin’ Boogie Grass.”
• Their original music has been featured on NBC Sports, PBS “Roadtrip Nation” , FOX Sports, Versus Television, and several movie soundtracks.
• Members include Lisa Jacobi (fiddle, mandolin, flat-pick guitar, bass), Pete Dasher (resonator guitar), JRod (Jarrod) Payne (banjo, guitar) and Denny Mixon (bass, guitar).
• 2005, released first album “Tennessee Twister” produced by Harry Stinson.
• 2006 changed their band name to Steel String Session.
• 2009 released their second album “Ocoee Road” produced by Harry Stinson.
• 2012 at the suggestion of Sam Bush, changed band name to Playing On The Planet.
• 2014, released third album “Bangor Bound“produced by Lisa Jacobi and Ben Surratt.

FRANK POINDEXTER

• From Monroe, North Carolina.
• A Dobro™ player, uncle to the Rice Brothers (Tony, Larry, Wyatt and Ron.)
• Has toured and recorded with the Larry Rice Band.
• Has also toured and recorded with Dickie Betts of the Allman Brothers Band.
• Inventor of the “Dex Belt”– a belt for musicians with a leather buckle to prevent scratching of instruments.
• 2011, joined Deeper Shade of Blue.
• 2024, announced his retirement from his musical career.

THOMAS PORTER

• From Phoenix, Arizona
• Plays guitar and mandolin.
• A man of many talents, he is also a licensed massage therapist, a web designer, graphic artist, illustrator, videographer and gardener/farmer.
• 2002, joined Just-N-Time, a Phoenix bluegrass band.
• 2005, joined the Copper River Band
• His song “Teddy Bear Revival” was recorded by Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver.
• 2009, recorded solo project (self-titled) featuring guests Ron Block, Charlie Cushman, Sierra Hill, Adam Steffey, others.
• 2011, released “116 Trolley Days” album.

THE KEVIN PRATER BAND

• From Belcher, Kentucky.
• Formed in 2009 by Kevin Prater (mandolin) and Tom Timberlake (banjo).
• Prater formerly worked with the James King Band, Melvin Goins and Windy Mountain, and Redwing.
• Other band members: Danny Stiltner (bass), Clyde Marshall (guitar) and Albon Clevenger (fiddle).
• 2017, released All I Ever Wanted album (Patuxent).

BILL PRICE

• From Monroe, North Carolina. He owned a farm and studio there called “Bluegrass Hill.”
• Began musical career in 1954.
• Recorded two albums for RCA, produced by Chet Atkins. He and his band “The Country Pardners” were the first bluegrass artists to record in what was then called “high fidelity.”
• Was a member of Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys in the 1950’s. Also worked with Jimmy Martin’s Sunny Mountain Boys.
• 1960’s, made several guest appearances on the Grand Ole Opry with his wife Betty. Bill Monroe saw Price’s show in 1965 and when he saw that Price had added electric guitars and drums to his band, Monroe stopped speaking to him. It took almost 25 years (1989) to reconcile. In 1991, they performed together once again.
• Due to personal tragedy (his wife and two children died) he left the music business for several years.
• 1984, remarried and resumed his musical career.
• Died in September of 2000.

JAMES PRICE

• From Uneeda, West Virginia. Lives in Parkersburg, WV.
• Began pro career as fiddler with the Goins Brothers Band.
• 1994, released “The Old Mountaineer” album on Hay Holler Records.
• 1995-2003, was a member of Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys.
• 1998, released “Southern Flavor” album on Freeland Records.
• 2003, released “Fiddlin’ the Old Time Way” on Rebel Records.
• After leaving Stanley’s band, he formed a bluegrass band called James Price and Kentucky Reign and a country band called James Price and Native Country.
• 2022, died at the age of 57.

MARC PRUETT

• From Haywood County, North Carolina.
• 1972-74, worked with James Monroe.
• Worked at a music store in Asheville, NC teaching banjo for many years, working dates with Jimmy Martin, The Whites, Billy Edd Wheeler, many others.
• 1980, formed the Marc Pruett Band and released first self-titled album
• 1982, released “Streamlined Cannonball” album.
• 1982, released Center Stage album (Marandee).
• 1997, played banjo on Ricky Skaggs’ Grammy-winning “Bluegrass Rules” album.
• 1998-1999, played with Rock Springs Reunion, a gospel group. Released one self-titled album for Mountain Home Records.
• 2007, was a founding member of Balsam Range.
• 2010, was awarded an honorary doctorate from Western Carolina University for his accomplishments as a musician.
• 2021, fell from the stage at a Balsam Range show, breaking his wrist, arm and elbow. After a few weeks of recovery he was back performing again.

THE PUNCH BROTHERS

• From Nashville, relocated to New York City in 2008.
• Formed in 2007 by mandolinist Chris Thile (formerly of Nickel Creek), enlisting the musicians from his solo project “How to Grow a Woman from the Ground.”
• Original members: Thile, Chris Eldredge (guitar), Noam Pikelny (banjo), Greg Garrison, (bass) and Gabe Witcher (fiddle).
• Band name comes from a Mark Twain description of a sign in a subway station instructing conductors to: “Punch brothers! Punch with care! Punch in the presence of the passenjare.” (Conductors punched subway tickets at the beginning of the ride.)
• 2008, released first album Punch (Nonesuch).
• 2008, bassist Greg Garrison left the band; replaced by Paul Kowert (formerly with the Mike Marshall Trio).
• 2010, toured with Steve Martin.
• 2010, recorded with Dierks Bentley on his Up on the Ridge album (Capitol).
• 2010, released Antifogmatic album (Nonesuch).
• 2010, appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
• 2011, toured with Paul Simon.
• 2012, released Who’s Feeling Young Now? album (Nonesuch).
• 2012, released Ahoy! album (Nonesuch).
• 2015, released The Phosphorescent Blues album (Nonesuch).
• 2018, released All Ashore album (Nonesuch).
• 2019, won the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album for All Ashore (Nonesuch).
• 2023, Gabe Witcher (fiddle) left the band and was replaced by Brittany Haas.

PSYCHOGRASS

• A project band featuring Darol Anger (fiddle), David Grier (guitar), Mike Marshall (mandolin), Todd Phillips (bass), and Tony Trischka (banjo).
• 1993, released Psychograss album (Windham Hill).
• 1996, released Like Minds album (Sugar Hill).
• 2005, released Now Hear This album (Adventure Music).

DALE PYATT

• From Viburnern, Missouri (in the Ozarks). Grew up in Columbia, Missouri.
• A singer/songwriter who co-wrote the song “Life Goes On,” from the award-winning album Life Goes On by “Musicians Against Childhood Cancer.”
• Wrote “Run Secretariat Run” which was performed at the 2011 Secretariat Festival in Louisville.
• 2013, released project of his original songs Dale Pyatt & The Chickengrease Band (no label).
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