ALAN O’BRYANT

• From Reidsville, North Carolina. Lives in Pegram, Tennessee (near Nashville).
• Grew up with cousins Billy and Terry Smith who also lived in Reidsville. Learned to play banjo as a teenager.
• 1974, moved to Nashville and began performing with James Monroe and the Midnight Ramblers. Also did some fill-in dates with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys.
• 1979, joined The Front Porch String Band with Claire Lynch in Birmingham, Alabama.
• 1980, after graduating from engineering school, he worked in Nashville for a cash register company.
• 1982, played guitar with The Bluegrass Band, a project band led by banjo player Butch Robins.
• 1984, formed the Nashville Bluegrass Band.
• Among his songwriting credits: “Those Memories of You” was recorded by Bill and James Monroe, Pam Tillis and “The Trio” (Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris). Also “The Other Side of Life,” which was recorded by Emmylou Harris, John Starling and others. It was sung by Vince Gill at Earl Scruggs’ memorial service.
• Trademark singing style: holds the head of the banjo up near the microphone while he sings “into” the banjo. According to O’Bryant, he originally did it to get the weight of the banjo off his diaphragm, thus giving him more vocal control. But he noticed that the “echo” effect also helped him to stay on pitch.
• 1995, received the Heritage Award from the Charlotte (NC) Folk Music Society for his role in preserving his home state’s traditional music.
• 2019, performed his last show with the Nashville Bluegrass Band. Since then he has been teaching banjo out of his home studio in Pegram, Tennessee. He also performs occasional dates with various pick-up bands in the Nashville area.