John Simmons to The Bluegrass Brothers

John SimmonsThe Bluegrass Brothers of southwest Virginia have announced John Simmons as their new guitarist.

John is a familiar face in bluegrass circles from his work with Country Fried Grass, a successful regional group he headed for 2006-2013. He will also sing lead and harmony vocals with the Brothers, and share his songwriting skills with the band.

He joins founder Victor Dowdy on bass, his son Donald Dowdy on mandolin, Jamie Sparks on banjo, and Chris Hart on reso-guitar. Simmons is filling the spot vacated when Victor’s older son, Steven, left to launch a new project with Travers Chandler.

Victor says that his new guitarist is a perfect fit, and that they are heading into the studio in the next few weeks to get started on their next album.

The Bluegrass Brothers at the 2016 February Palatka Bluegrass Festival - photo © Bill Warren“I have known John for several years and have always admired his talent for his playing and singing. John brings a lot of new material that he has wrote through the years and his personality on and off stage is a plus for any band. I am very exited to announce that we are getting ready to hit the studio for our new project for this spring.”

The Bluegrass Brothers are hoping to have the new album available by sometime in May.

Their web site is currently down for revision, but they should be back up soon at www.bluegrassbrothers.com.

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About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.