Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
DocuSign Envelope ID: EC417424-B3E6-4014-A465-9859A57DDD04 <br /> Bluegrass Experience Bio <br /> Tommy Edwards is a fixture in traditional music circles in North Carolina. He currently is the <br /> guitarist, lead vocalist and emcee for one of North Carolina's longest lived bands, The Bluegrass <br /> Experience which celebrated its forty-fifth anniversary in 2016. He was twice named World's <br /> Champion Bluegrass Guitarist at the Union Grove, NC Fiddler's Convention and has recorded (, <br /> four albums with The Experience as well as 6 solo projects, including "North Carolina: History, <br /> Mystery, Lore and More" which was reviewed most favorably in The News and Observer as well <br /> as Our State magazine which also featured him in an article about his musical journey <br /> (www.ourstate.corn/tommy-edwards). An energetic performer and songwriter he currently <br /> sings and performs on banjo, mandolin and guitar with several bands including The Leroy <br /> Savage Group, The Bluegrass Experience, Carolina Lightnin', Tommy Edwards and Friends" as <br /> well as in duos with LaNelle Davis and/or Andrew Marlin or with Jack Lawrence, the former I:< <br /> performance partner of the legendary Doc Watson. He also frequently performs solo where he <br /> features his original compositions. And each year Tommy visits the southern music classes of <br /> Dr. William Ferris where he tells the story of bluegrass music in North Carolina as well as <br /> performs with the bluegrass instruments for the class. <br /> Stan Brown is a legendary North Carolina musician. Learning banjo and guitar as a teen in <br /> Randolph County, Stan helped form the popular "New Grass" group The Wahoo Review while a <br /> student at NCSU in the 1970's. The band was popular at festivals and other music venues <br /> throughout the state and moved to Virginia to work at Busch Gardens where the group include <br /> Grammy winning resonator guitarist, Gene Wooten from Franklinton, NC. After a year or so <br /> Stan moved to Nashville,Tenn. where he had a storied career as a member of Bill Monroe's <br /> Bluegrass Boys, played bass for Grammy winner "Skeeter" Davis, and appeared for five years on <br /> The Grand Old Opry with pioneering female performer Wilma Lee Cooper and her band,The <br /> Clinch Mountain Clan. His recordings with Wilma Lee are some of her best bluegrass efforts. <br /> Tiring of the high pressure life in Nashville and the rigors of life on the road, Brown returned to <br /> North Carolina in the 1990's and began playing banjo with some old friends and their folk band <br /> Molasses Creek, based in Ocracoke.-When The Bluegrass Experience lost their longtime banjoist <br /> Don Beane to cancer, Stan performed with the group at Mr. Beane's funeral and was hired on <br /> the spot to replace him.That was over a decade ago. He has recorded two albums with the <br /> band as well as one with a band in which he and his wife play, The Outliers.This is in addition to <br /> many recordings with a host of singers and players including Grammy winner Jim <br /> Lauderdale, Wilma Lee Cooper, Tommy Edwards and many others. <br /> LaNelle Davis is almost legendary among Triangle area musicians and singers. Known for her <br /> is <br /> p ure country flavored vocals and her exp ert bass playing (she also plays guitar), she has <br /> performed and/or recorded with some of the finest traditional musicians and groups of the past <br /> 3 decades. Most notably she was a pivotal member of The Tarheel Hotshots with Margaret <br /> Martin and along with Joe Newberry,Jim Collier and Kenny Jackson was a founding member of <br /> the band Big Medicine which recorded two incredibly well regarded old time music albums. In <br /> demand as a vocal soloist and harmony singer she has graced several recent recording projects <br /> including "Tunes from a Tarheel Town", "Heartbroke and Lonesome" and "The Shelbys". She is <br />