Country Current

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COUNTRY CURRENT (U.S. NAVY BAND)

  • Based in Annapolis, Maryland.
  • Formed in 1973 by banjo player Bill Emerson. He remained with the group until 1993.
  • The bluegrass/country music unit of the U.S. Navy Band. They have been called “the musical equivalent to the Navy’s Blue Angels.” All of the personnel are active duty military.
  • They have performed at the Grand Ole Opry, for Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and overseas in Stockholm, Nova Scotia and Beijing.
  • 1987-2008, featured guitarist/lead singer Wayne Taylor.
  • 1996-2016, banjo player Keith Arneson was a member of this band.
  • 2001, Taylor and Arneson recorded a bluegrass album called “Appaloosa.”
  • 2003-2008, Frank Solivan played mandolin and fiddle with this band.
  • 2008, Taylor retired from the band and was replaced by guitarist/vocalist Kenny Ray Horton. Taylor now fronts his own band Appaloosa.
  • 2016, banjo player Keith Arneson retired and was replaced by the band’s first female member Haley Stiltner.
  • 2022, lineup includes Sally Sandker (guitar/vocals), Caleb Cox (guitar/vocals), Haley Stiltner (banjo) and Patrick McAvinue (fiddle/mandolin). Sandker is Rhonda Vincent’s daughter, Cox formerly worked with Nothin’ Fancy and McAvinue with Dailey & Vincent.

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