steep canyon rangers

Biography

Steep Canyon Rangers formed in 2000 when a group of friends met as students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The original lineup consisted of Woody Platt on guitar and lead vocals, Graham Sharp on banjo, Charles R. Humphrey III on upright bass, Mike Guggino on mandolin, and Lizzie Hamilton on fiddle. Hailing from both the Appalachian and Piedmont regions of North Carolina, the band has long held traditional bluegrass paramount while gradually evolving their sound to incorporate elements of pop, country, folk, and folk rock. Early in their career, they performed extensively at festivals across the United States and recorded two albums of original music: Old Dreams and New Dreams and Mr. Taylor's New Home. In 2001, they won first prize at the Rockygrass Festival in Lyons, Colorado, which led to a main stage performance the following year.

The band's trajectory shifted dramatically in 2009 when actor and banjoist Steve Martin invited them to perform at a benefit concert for the Los Angeles Public Library at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. This successful performance led to an extensive collaboration that would define much of their career. In the summer of 2010, Steve Martin and Steep Canyon Rangers recorded their first collaborative album, Rare Bird Alert, at Echo Mountain Recording in Asheville, North Carolina. The album featured songs primarily composed by Martin and included guest vocal appearances by Paul McCartney and the Dixie Chicks. Following this success, Martin and the Rangers were jointly named Entertainers of the Year at the IBMA Awards ceremony in Nashville in 2011. The band signed with Rounder Records in 2011 and continued to release both collaborative albums with Martin and solo records, establishing themselves as one of the most innovative bluegrass acts of the contemporary era.

Over their esteemed career spanning more than two decades, Steep Canyon Rangers have become three-time Grammy nominees and won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album in 2013 for Nobody Knows You. They have released 14 studio albums and three collaborative albums with Steve Martin, been inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame, and performed on some of music's biggest stages including Carnegie Hall, the Royal Festival Hall in London, and the Bonnaroo Music Festival. In 2022, founding member and frontman Woody Platt departed to spend more time with family, and guitarist and vocalist Aaron Burdett joined the band. The group's current lineup recorded Morning Shift in 2023 at a mountaintop inn in Bat Cave, North Carolina, continuing their legacy of authentic storytelling and innovative bluegrass music.

Fun Facts

• The band's breakthrough came through a family connection: a family relationship put them in a position to back Steve Martin as he played his first shows as a banjo player with a new recording in 2009, and the trial runs went so well that the Rangers were invited to tour extensively with Martin.
• Steep Canyon Rangers launched their own Mountain Song Festival near their hometown of Asheville, North Carolina, and sold it out in just a couple of years, demonstrating their strong connection to their local music community.
• The band has performed at some of the world's most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall in New York, the Royal Festival Hall in London, and the Wang Center in Boston, as well as major festivals like Bonnaroo and Telluride Bluegrass Festival.
• In 2022, after 22 years as the band's frontman and founding member, Woody Platt announced his departure to spend more time with family, marking a significant transition in the band's history and leading to the recruitment of Aaron Burdett as the new guitarist and vocalist.

Members

• Mike Ashworth
• Mike Guggino
• Charles R. Humphrey III
• Steve Martin
• Woody Platt
• Nicky Sanders
• Graham Sharp

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

• Ricky Skaggs - Stylistic influence and inspiration for the band's approach to bluegrass (General musical influence on the Rangers' bluegrass foundation) [Late 1990s onwards]
• Jerry Douglas - Stylistic influence and inspiration for the band's approach to bluegrass (General musical influence on the Rangers' bluegrass foundation) [Late 1990s onwards]
• Del McCoury - Stylistic influence and inspiration for the band's approach to bluegrass (General musical influence on the Rangers' bluegrass foundation) [Late 1990s onwards]

Key Collaborators

• Steve Martin - Actor and banjoist who invited the Rangers to perform at a benefit concert in 2009, leading to extensive touring and recording collaborations (Rare Bird Alert (2010), The Long-Awaited Album (2017), multiple collaborative tours and performances) [2009-present]
• Paul McCartney - Guest vocal appearance on collaborative album (Rare Bird Alert (2010)) [2010]
• The Dixie Chicks - Guest vocal appearance on collaborative album (Rare Bird Alert (2010)) [2010]
• Edie Brickell - Toured with Steve Martin and Steep Canyon Rangers (Love Has Come for You album support tour (2013)) [2013]
• Darrell Scott - Producer who worked with the band on their 2023 album (Morning Shift (2023)) [2023]

Discography

Albums

Top Tracks

1. Honey on My Tongue (Arm in Arm)
2. The Great Remember (for Nancy) (Rare Bird Alert)
3. Call The Captain (Lovin' Pretty Women)
4. On The Water (“The Long-Awaited Album”)
5. You (Rare Bird Alert)
6. In the Next Life (Arm in Arm)
7. Rare Bird Alert (Rare Bird Alert)
8. So Familiar (“The Long-Awaited Album”)
9. Yellow-Backed Fly (Rare Bird Alert)
10. The Mountain's Gonna Sing (Deep In The Shade)

External Links

• Spotify
• Wikipedia
• MusicBrainz

Tags: #bluegrass