Virginia traditional bluegrass perennials Big Country Bluegrass have announced the addition of Daniel Martin to the band on banjo.
Daniel has been picking the banjo since he was a young teen, sitting with his Earl Scruggs and Don Reno records, figuring out the banjo playing by ear. He says that whenever he got stuck, his dad, also a fine banjo man, would help him out. But before long, the younger Martin could pull any of those links off the records on his own.
After college, Daniel spent four years touring with Tony Holt and the Wildwood Valley Boys, and has been part of numerous groups near his home near Charlotte in Belmont, NC.
In Big Country Bluegrass Daniel joins founders Tommy and Teresa Sells, who have led the band since 1987. Tommy is on mandolin and Teresa on guitar, along with Eddie Gill on guitar and vocals, Tim Laughlin on mandolin and fiddle, and Tony King on bass.
Over the past few years BCBG has recorded several popular bluegrass songs, including The Boys in Hats & Ties, I’m Putting on My Leaving Shoes, and Country Boy, Banjo and Flat Top Guitar.
They will be working soon on a new album for Rebel Records, expected sometime next year. Keep an ear out for that.
