• From Millbrae, California. Lives in Nashville.
• Ickes is pronounced the same as "likes."
• First band: "Heartland" with Tony Furtado; also had a band in college called "Colusa" with Todd Phillips (named after a California gold-mining town).
• Went to UC Davis, studying to become a veterinarian. Has a BA in biology.
• Has toured with Weary Hearts, the Lynn Morris Band, Alison Krauss, others.
• 1994, joined Blue Highway.
• 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, won the IBMA award for Dobro™ Player of the Year.
• 1997, appeared in Steven Seagal movie "The Fire Down Below."
• 2005, formed a jazz trio with Andy Leftwich (mandolin and fiddle) and Dave Pomeroy (bass) called "Three Ring Circle".

KAZUHIRO INABA

• From Osaka, Japan.
• Began playing banjo at age 15, made first U.S. tour in 1982.
• 1983, won banjo contest at Galax Fiddle Convention, Virginia.
• Has recorded several albums for Red Clay Records and Hay Holler Records.
• President of Office White Oak, a promotional agency in Osaka which promotes bluegrass music in Japan.

THE INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS

• From Nashville.
• Formed in 2005 by guitarist Chris Eldridge (son of Seldom Scene banjo player Ben Eldridge).
• Original name of the group was "The Stringdusters," but they found that another band in New York was using a similar name (The String Dusters). So they added "Infamous" to their name.
• Eldridge (AKA "Critter") graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (Ohio).
• Original Members: Eldridge (guitar), Chris Pandolfi (banjo), Andy Hall (dobro), Jeremy Garrett (fiddle), Jesse Cobb (mandolin), and Travis Book (bass).
• 2006, Eldridge left to work with Chris Thile and was replaced by guitarist Andy Falco.
• 2007, won IBMA awards for Emerging Artist of the Year, Song of the Year ("Fork in the Road") and Album of the Year ("Fork in the Road").

INHERITANCE

• From Callaway, Virginia.
• Formed in 1973 by David and Lin Cannaday, Gary John, JC Radford and Robbie Wells.
• 2002, re-united to begin performing again after a several-year hiatus.
• David Cannaday (band leader) is also a corporate event planner and a dance/karaoke DJ.

IRON HORSE

• From Muscle Shoals, Alabama
• Formed in 2000.
• Members: Tony Robertson (mandolin), Ricky Rogers (bass), Anthony Richardson (banjo), Vance Henry (guitar).
• Several members had previously worked with Jake Landers and Rual Yarbrough.
• They have recorded several bluegrass tribute albums for CMH Records, including bluegrass tributes to Metallica, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne and Modest Mouse.

BO ISAAC (AND THE WHEELWRIGHTS)

• From Wheelwright (Floyd County), Kentucky.
• Began performing at the Kentucky Opry at age 5.
• Has worked with Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time, Dave Evans & Riverbend, Ernie Thacker & Route 23 and Gerald Evans & Paradise.
• 2005, recorded first CD, produced by Steve Gulley (Mountain Heart) and recorded at Tom T. Hall's studio.
• 2005, formed his own band "The Wheelwrights."

JOE ISAACS (See also THE ISAACS)

• From Big Hill, Kentucky.
• 1988, formed (with his wife Lily) The Isaacs.
• Before forming The Isaacs, Joe worked with Larry Sparks, The Stanley Brothers, Frank Wakefield and the Greenbriar Boys. He plays banjo and guitar.
• 1970, Joe's brother Delmer died in an auto accident, which led Joe and his wife Lily to devote their lives to singing Gospel music. Their first band was called The Calvary Mountain Boys. Next came Sacred Bluegrass (this group had a TV show in Hamilton, Ohio) and later the Isaacs.
• 1999, Joe left the Isaacs and has since recorded several solo projects. He and Lily divorced.
• 2003, had open heart surgery.

THE ISAACS

• From La Follete, Tennessee.
• 1988, formed by Joe Isaacs, his wife Lily and three children Ben, Becky and Sonya.
• Lily was born in Germany after WW2. Her parents were Jewish survivors of the Holocaust.
• John Bowman (formerly with Doyle Lawson and Alison Krauss) is married to Becky. Played banjo, guitar and fiddle with the group until 2006.
• 1994, Joe and Lilly Isaacs were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
• 1998, Sonya toured with Vince Gill as a vocalist. While absent from the Isaacs, Adam Steffey filled in on mandolin.
• 1998, album "Bridges" won the Dove Award for Bluegrass Album of the Year.
• 1999, Joe Isaacs left the band and has since recorded several solo projects. Joe and Lily divorced.
• 2000, Adam Steffey was a member of the Isaacs for more than a year; left to re-join Mountain Heart.
• 2001, Rickie Simpkins joined, playing fiddle. Stayed with the group for two years.
• 2001, Became regulars on the Bill Gaither Homecoming Tour.
• 2006, John Bowman retired from the group to teach at a private Christian school in LaFollette and to care for his (and Becky's) children while the group is on the road.
• 2006, Kevin Haynie (banjo/guitar) and Jesse Stockman (fiddle) joined the group.
• 2007, Sonya and Becky recorded with Dolly Parton.
• 2007, Kevin Haynie left the band and was replaced by Troy Engle (banjo/guitar).

CARL JACKSON

• From Philadelphia, Mississippi. Lives in Nashville.
• Best known for his virtuosity on the banjo. He is also a very successful vocalist, songwriter and record producer.
• First band: The Country Partners" with his father Lee Jackson, his Uncle Pete and Uncle Sock.
• 1967, began his professional musical career at age 14, playing banjo with Jim and Jesse.
• 1971, joined the Sullivan Family gospel group.
• 1972, moved to Columbus, Ohio to form The Country Store with Keith Whitley and Jimmy Gaudreau.
• 1973-1985, worked with Glen Campbell, replacing Larry McNeeley on Campbell's TV show. He was billed as "The Greatest Banjo Player in the World" in Campbell's live shows.
• 1990, won IBMA Award for Song of the Year for his composition, "Little Mountain Church House.
• 1992, won Grammy Award for his album "Spring Training", a collaboration with former Seldom Scene vocalist John Starling and Emmy Lou Harris' band, The Nash Ramblers.
• 2004, won IBMA award for Recorded Event of the Year as producer of "Livin' Lovin' Losin: the Songs of the Louvin Brothers." This album also won Carl a second Grammy Award the same year.
• As a songwriter, he has written dozens of hit songs for other artists including "Against the Grain" (Garth Brooks), "Real Ladies Man" (Vince Gill) and "Letter to Home" (Glen Campbell). His songs have sold more than 40 million records.
• He is a collector of baseball memorabilia, cars (like his 1957 Ford T-Bird given to him by Glen Campbell) and claims to be the "biggest Ole Miss Rebel fan in the world."
• 2006-2007, served as talent coordinator for the IBMA Fan Fest.-
• 2006, inducted into the Mississippi Music Hall of Fame.

RUSS AND BECKY JEFFERS

• From Nashville, TN; originally from Clinton, Tennessee.
• Met in high school and married in 1967.
• For 24 years, performed at Opryland theme park (it closed in 1998), doing more than 12,000 shows.
• Also perform at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, TN.

DEWITT "SNUFFY" JENKINS

• Born 1908 in Harris, North Carolina.
• Credited as being the first country musician to play banjo using the "three-finger" style which was later refined and popularized by Earl Scruggs.
• A humble man, he never wanted credit for inventing the style. Said he didn't know where it came from—but admits he was probably the first to play it on the radio.
• First band to have a three-finger style banjo: The Jenkins String Band.
• 1948, formed "The Hired Hands," a band name that he kept until his death in 1990.

JERUSALEM RIDGE

• From Edmonton, Alberta (Canada).
• Billed as "The Undisputed Western Canadian Champions of Bluegrass."
• 2001, released an album featuring LeRoy Mack (formerly with the Kentucky Colonels) on Dobro™.

JIM AND JESSE (AND THE VIRGINIA BOYS)

• From Coeburn, Virginia.
• Have recorded more than 50 albums for Capitol, Columbia, Epic, Kentucky, CMH, Rounder, Opryland Old Dominion, Pinecastle.
• First public appearance: 1941 in St. Paul, Virginia (an amateur talent contest).
• First influence: grandfather Charlie McReynolds, a fiddler and member of the Bull Mountain Moonshiners.
• Heavily influenced in the early days by the Delmore Brother.
• First band: the Cumberland Mountain Boys (1947-1948).
• First radio show: on WNVA in Norton, VA (1947).
• First recording: a collection of Gospel songs with their 1950 group, The Virginia Trio (which eventually became The Virginia Boys.)
• 1952, recorded for Capitol in the historic Tulane Hotel in Nashville. The Virginia Boys included Sonny James on fiddle and Curley Seckler on guitar.
• 1962, performed their first song on the Opry: "I'll Never Love Anybody But You." Jesse wrote the song as a joke (intended to be a rock and roll song) but it caught on and became a hit.
• 1964, joined the Grand Ole Opry.
• 1966-7, had their own syndicated TV show, sponsored by Martha White.
• 1966, to expand their audience, they recorded an album of Chuck Berry songs called "Berry Pickin' in the Country." It flopped.
• 1967, had their only "top 10" song on the country charts– "Diesel on My Tail."
• 1969, Jesse played mandolin on an album by The Doors.
• Close friends with the Louvin Brothers. Jesse and Charlie Louvin were in the army together during the Korean war. 1982, Jim and Jesse recorded a trio album with Charlie.
• Jesse has a trademark style of playing the mandolin which has become widely known as "McReynolds-style mandolin." It is a distinctive cross-picking style which Jesse developed while trying to make his mandolin emulate the sound of the bluegrass-style banjo.
• 1993, inducted into the IBMA's Hall of Honor.
• Have also been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame's "Walkway of Stars," the Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame, and Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Hall of Fame.
• 1996, Jesse McReynolds married Joy Tipton.
• March 29, 1997, celebrated 50 years in music with a celebration at the Grand Ole Opry House.
• September, 1997, received a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship award from First Lady Hillary Clinton at the White House.
• 1998, Jesse's grandson Luke McKnight joined the Virginia Boys.
• 2002, Jim McReynold died of cancer on New Year's Eve at the age of 75. His wife died two weeks earlier.
• 2003, Jesse re-organized the Virginia Boys with Charles Whitstein singing his brother's parts. Bobby Hicks also joined the band, playing fiddle.
• 2008, Jesse began hosting a weekly radio show from his family farm and music theatre (The Pick Inn) on WHIN, Gallatin, Tennessee.

THE JOHNSON MOUNTAIN BOYS

• From Washington, D.C.
• Formed in 1975 as a duet featuring Dudley Connell on banjo and Ron Welch on guitar. Connell eventually switched to guitar and added other musicians to form a full five-piece bluegrass band.
• There is no such place as Johnson Mountain. Connell originally named the band "The Johnson Boys" because it just sounded good, but later added "Mountain" because he discovered a folk group already had the name "The Johnson Boys".
• One of the most popular bluegrass bands of the 1980's, they performed in some of the nation's most prestigious venues: Madison Square Garden, The White House, the Lincoln Center and the Grand Ole Opry. Also toured England, Japan, and Africa.
• 1988, broke up and recorded a "final" performance released by Rounder Records as a double-album titled "The Old School House." But after doing several "reunion" shows, the group decided to re-emerge as a part-time band in 1991. By 1994, they called it quits for good.
• Connell (guitar) took a job with the Smithsonian Institution as director of the Folkways Record Collection. 1995, joined the Seldom Scene as guitarist and lead singer. Also a member of Longview.
• 1995, Eddie Stubbs (fiddle) moved to Nashville where he took a job as fiddle player with Johnny Wright and Kitty Wells, and also as a DJ and Grand Ole Opry announcer on WSM-AM. He won the CMA award for Broadcast Personality of the Year in 2002. He has also won that award twice from the IBMA (1996, 2002).
• Mandolin player David McLaughlin formed a duo with Josh Crowe and has also worked with other bands.
• Tom Adams (banjo) went on to work with the Lynn Morris Band, Blue Highway, Rhonda Vincent, Dale Ann Bradley.

BOB JOHNSON

• From Chattanooga, Tennessee
• An innovative banjo player who made two popular banjo albums in the mid-1960's: "Twelve Shades of Bluegrass" and "New Sounds in Bluegrass: Bluegrass Banjo with Strings" (MGM Records.)
• Worked briefly with Bill Monroe in 1958.
• Performed on the Grand Ole Opry with Walter Forbes and the Lonesome Travelers (a band which also included Norman Blake.)
• Retired from music in 1967.

DAVID JOHNSON

• From Purlear, North Carolina.
• A multi-instrumentalist and session musician who performs primarily gospel music.
• 1999, won award for "Studio Musician of the Year" from the Southern Gospel Music Association.

MARK JOHNSON

• From Garrison, New York. Lives in Crystal River, Florida.
• Plays clawhammer-style banjo.
• Calls his music "Clawgrass" and also named his backup group (formed in 1996) Clawgrass.
• Took up the banjo in 1971, learned from fiddler Jay Unger (composer of "Ashokan Farewell").
• Works for Florida Power Authority at its Crystal River Facility. While working there, he met Larry Rice and his brothers Tony, Ronnie and Wyatt. They recorded an album together at Tony's home.
• 1999, formed a duo with mandolinist Emory Lester.

RUSSELL JOHNSON (See NEW VINTAGE and THE GRASS CATS)

CHRIS JONES (AND THE NIGHT DRIVERS; THE CHRIS JONES COALITION)

• From Pomona, New York (near Buffalo). Lives in Franklin, Tennessee.
• During his teen years, played oboe in the school orchestra.Formed first bluegrass group at age 18 called Horse Country (in New York).
• Has been a member of The Special Consensus (1981), Weary Hearts, The Lynn Morris Band and The Vassar Clements Band. He also worked with the McCarter Sisters, a country act.
• Named his band "The Night Drivers" for the night driving bluegrass bands typically do to get from one gig to another.
• He and Ron Block (of Union Station, and a former bandmate in Weary Hearts) are married to sisters from Canada.
• Is also a DJ on Sirius Satellite Radio and is a cartoonist.
• Because he sings in a lower range, his music has been called "the low lonesome sound."
• His wife Sally also performs with her own band, the Sidewinders.
• 2000, broke his collarbone in a traffic accident in Canada.
• 2001, became announcer for Sirius Satellite Radio's bluegrass music channel.
• 2003, toured with the Chieftains and formed a new band called the Chris Jones Coalition.

CLAY JONES

• From Mocksville, North Carolina (near Winston-Salem).
• First public performance: at the Snuffy Jenkins Festival with a band called The Carolina Bluegrass Band
• 1991, moved to Japan and worked there as a musician, playing everything from jazz to bluegrass.
• 1992-1994, joined Lou Reid, Terry Baucom and Carolina as guitarist.
• 1994-1996, took a two-year hiatus from touring.
• 1995, played guitar on "Bluegrass '95" CD which won IBMA award for "Instrumental Album of the Year" in 1996.
• 1996-98, worked with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder.
• 1999, worked with the Gena Britt Band.
• 2000, worked with the Schankman Twins (now Malibu Storm).
• 2003, joined Mountain Heart.
• 2005, released solo project "Mountain Tradition."

GRANDPA JONES (Click here)

SALLY JONES (AND THE SIDEWINDERS)

• From Alberta, Canada. Lives in Franklin, Tennessee.
• After graduating from Trinity Western University in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, she married Chris Jones, who was a member of The Weary Hearts at the time. Her sister Sandra married Ron Block, who was also a member of that band.
• Has a graduate degree in English.
• First musical job: a background singer for Marie Osmond.
• 1994-1997, was a member of Petticoat Junction.
• 1997, joined Harley Allen's band.
• 2000, recorded first solo project and formed her own band.

LORRAINE JORDAN (AND CAROLINA ROAD)

• From Garner, North Carolina.
• Plays mandolin with her band Carolina Road.
• 2001, formed a talent agency with Steve Dilling (of Third Tyme Out) called Jordan/Dilling Entertainment.
• Has a restaurant in Raleigh, NC that features bluegrass music.
• This Lorraine Jordan is NOT the popular Scottish singer/songwriter of the same name.
• Is a member of the award-winning recording group "Daughters of Bluegrass."

TRESA JORDAN

• From Melrose, Florida (central Florida).
• Moved to Nashville at age 19 to pursue a career in country music, her career was put on hold when she married and had children. Seven years later, after her divorce, she re-married and resumed her singing career.
• 2006, won a Momentum Award for Country Artist of the Year from Indiehaven.com (a popular Christian music music web community).

VIC JORDAN

• From Washington, D.C., now lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
• Played banjo for Bill Monroe, Jimmy Martin, Jim and Jesse, Lester Flatt and the Nashville Grass, Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper.
• First banjo player to work full time with Lester Flatt after Lester and Earl Scruggs broke up in 1968 (1969-71).
• A Nashville session musician; has worked with Dolly Parton, Hank Williams Jr., the Oak Ridge Boys, Jerry Reed, Loretta Lynn and others.
• Played banjo on movie soundtracks for "Coal Miner's Daughter" and "Smoky and the Bandit."1990-91, had his own band, Old Hickory.
• 1992, worked in the "Hee Haw" TV show band.
• 1995, worked with Wayne Newton in Las Vegas and Branson, Missouri.
• 1996, returned to Nashville to do session work.
• His banjo instrumental "Pickaway" has been recorded by numerous artists. It was named after a small town in West Virginia. Vic was driving Lester Flatt's bus one night and Roland White spotted the "Pickaway, West Virginia" sign at three in the morning and suggested it to Vic as the name of his new banjo tune.