Musicians:

The following is a partial list of musicians that I enjoy working with. Please feel free to read the short bios listed here and visit their personal sites for more information/sound clips of their work.

Smith Curry

Pedal Steel, Dobro, Acoustic and Electric Guitar, Mandolin, Banjo

       The last twenty years of Smith Curry's life have given him an extremely diverse list of accomplishments: he has toured with acts ranging from uber-star Kid Rock to British synth/pop stars Erasure; he is a session player whose credits include the CMA, ASCAP and ACM songs of the year; and a sideman that has worked with over 40 major-label Country artists such as Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift, and Randy Travis. Smith's television exposure in the last several years has been voluminous, including the Nashville Star house band in 2005, The Tonight Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, the ACM awards, CMT's Prime Time Country and Most Wanted Live, the Grand Ole Opry, CNN's Showbiz Today, The CMA Awards, CMT's Outlaws special with Kid Rock, and GAC specials with Taylor Swift and Sherrie Austin. Smith appeared in the 2010 Gwyneth Paltrow film “Country Strong” as well as the 1995 “Dottie West Story”. He has played major-label master sessions for legendary producers like Paul Worley, James Stroud, Don Cook, Blake Chancey, Kyle Lehning, Chuck Howard, and Ron Chancey, and can be heard on hit singles like Randy Travis's #1 "Three Wooden Crosses", Jason Aldean's #1 hit "Why", and Billy Currington's #1 “Good Directions”. His compositional talents can be heard alongside Jerry Douglas's and Ricky Skaggs's in the score for the HBO movie "The Grave", and on his upcoming solo record “American Idle”.

Find out more at www.smithcurry.com

Matt Combs

Fiddle, Violin, Mandolin, Guitar, Old Time Banjo, String Arrangements

Matt Combs is a Grammy nominated versatile performer, instrumentalist, writer, producer, and teacher who has been living and working in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1997. Primarily known for his fiddling, Matt has worked with some of the best names in country, bluegrass, and old-time music—including John Hartford, Jerry Douglas, Patty Loveless, Suzy Bogguss, Maura O'Connell, John Oates, Mike Snider, Ray Price, Kevin Costner, Charlie Daniels, Jimmy Martin, Marty Stuart, Uncle Josh Graves, Kenny Baker, The Indigo Girls, Norman and Nancy Blake, and Doc Watson. He has also performed with The Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band, The Nashville Bluegrass Band, The Nashville Chamber Orchestra, and the Nashville Opera. In addition, he has played on the Grand Ole Opry over 200 times, has appeared on Throwdown with Bobby Flay on the Food Network, on documentaries on PBS, on CMT and GAC, and most recently on The Marty Stuart Show on RFD-TV.

The Treetop Sailors

Rock and R&B Full band or individual members

Treetop Sailors were born in Boston, MA in the fall of ’08 by guitarist Jonathan "Jelly" Ellington (Asheville, NC), bassist Nick Casillo (Portland, CT), and drummer Chris "C Fade" Fadely (Atlanta, GA). During their time attending music school, they had high hopes of putting a group together. Jelly met Vocalist/Pianist/Songwriter Jacob Mecham (Idaho Falls, Idaho), and at the time Jelly and Jacob were next-door neighbors in Boston. It wasn’t long till Ellington was introduced to the pure, soulful, and bluesy tone in Mecham’s voice. Jelly soon asked Mecham to be the voice for the Sailors. Jelly and Jacob soon began jamming acoustically at Mecham’s place and began forging ideas for songs that can now be heard on the Sailors debut self-titled album. Jelly soon introduced C Fade to Mecham, and soon they all began writing original material together.

Find out more at: www.treetopsailors.com

Dr. Kevin Kehrberg

Upright and Electric Bass - ANY style

Kevin Kehrberg teaches courses and ensembles in American music and world music. He is the director of the Warren Wilson College Gamelan Ensemble as well as the College Chorale, and he also teaches private lessons in double bass, electric bass and guitar. He received a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Kentucky with a dissertation on Albert E. Brumley, the most influential American gospel song composer of the twentieth century. His research interests include American vernacular sacred music, bluegrass and old-time music, jazz, and music traditions of East and Southeast Asia. His publications include articles for The Bulletin for the Society of American Music, Moonshiner Bluegrass Journal, and forthcoming articles in the Grove Dictionary of American Music (2d ed.) and the Encyclopedia of American Music and Culture (ABC-CLIO). As a professional bassist in both jazz and traditional music, Dr. Kehrberg has toured the United States, Canada, and Japan, and his recordings and appearances include Jean Ritchie, Curly Seckler, Lee Sexton, Art Stamper, Slide Hampton, Roger Humphries, the Kentucky Jazz Repertory Orchestra, David Long, Rayna Gellert, the Red State Ramblers, Chris Sharp, and the Wildwood Valley Boys. He also studies and performs music from other cultures, particularly those of Indonesia, China, and Thailand. He especially enjoys working at Warren Wilson College, which he finds to be a perfect environment for his mix of musical interests.

George Buckner

Banjo and Guitar

George Buckner is a Grammy nominated banjo player who is quite well known in the banjo community. The following bio is in George's own words:

I grew up playing the banjo. I drug my father's banjo around the house as a small child and my mother would put it in the crib with me when he was gone to work hoping I would break it. She always took it away when it was time for him to come home though. When I was around 10 years old I started a group with some friends of mine called "The Tarheel Bluegrass Boys". We played regionally for about 10 years. Since then I've helped start and picked in various bands including, among others; "The Asheville Travelers" and "The Tipton Hill Boys" (with friends Chris Sharp and Kevin Sluder). Check out the "Tipton Hill Boys' Red Clay Record project called "Lucky" on this site. After the "Tipton Hill" recording I was the banjo player on the "Chris Sharp and David Long 'One Hand On The Radio'" recording. Last year I was the banjo player on a Curly Seckler project that was nominated for "Recorded Event of the Year" by the IBMA.

Find out more about George Buckner