Eli Johnston, banjo player and vocalist with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, and his wife, Keasley, have welcomed their second child into the world.
Boone Wilder Johnston was born on September 5 at 11:30 p.m. at Leconte Medical Center in Sevierville, TN. He made his entrance weighing in at 8 lbs 9 oz, stretching out to 21” long.
Eli was out with Quicksilver playing the Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival, but made it to the hospital this morning before 9:00 a.m. to meet his son. He tells us that mom and baby are doing well, and looking forward to getting back home where big brother, Huxley, is waiting.
Congratulations to Keasley and Eli, and a big Bluegrass Today welcome to little Boone.
Eli Johnston with Quicksilver at SamJam 2018 – photo by Jennifer Buckler
Merle Monroe has announced that Eli Johnston has joined their touring band on bass and harmony vocals.
Eli’s is a familiar face in the bluegrass world from his recent five year stint with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. He appeared on for albums with Doyle from 2013-2018, singing and playing bass, and also contributed a couple of original song which they recorded. Before joining Quicksilver he has worked with Monroeville and Nothin’ Fancy, and spent several years beforehand performing at the Tennessee Shindig show in Pigeon Forge, TN.
When his son, Huxley, was born in March of last year, Eli decided it was time to spend a little more time at home, and gave up his spot touring with Doyle. But he is ready to play some grass again, and as Merle Monroe doesn’t work as aggressive a schedule as was the norm with Quicksilver, he can manage to do both.
Co-band leaders Tim Raybon and Daniel Grindstaff were quick to roll out the welcome mat.
“We are proud to have Eli Johnston join the Merle Monroe Band. Eli is a great singer, songwriter and bass player. Eli is beloved by the bluegrass and Gospel world, and we are honored for him to be a featured part of our stage shows.”
And Johnston doesn’t need much rehearsing to get started, as he was the bass played on the band’s debut, self-titled album earlier this year.
He says he is proud to join up with such a strong outfit.
“What an honor it is to be a part of the Merle Monroe team! I am truly looking forward to their powerhouse singing and picking. It’s also going to be great to see all of my friends and music fans again!”
You can follow Merle Monroe and see their tour dates online.
As we move into the official holiday season, we also enter the end of the bluegrass touring season. Though many acts will continue to perform through the month of December right up to New Years, many others begin to slow down heading in Christmas. And so this is often a time when we learn about band members taking their leave.
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver is making a switch between this month and next. A pair of veterans are stepping aside, with new members coming aboard. As always, Doyle’s band sound will change, but surely one of the great marvels of the bluegrass business is his ability to shed sidemen and come back with a new group showing every bit of spit and polish seen in his great bands past.
Eli Johnston on bass and Dustin Pyrtle on guitar, both prominent lead vocalists with Quicksilver, have left the group. They each have young children at home, and want to stay closer to family by hopping off the tour bus for a time.
Coming into the group are Jerry Cole on bass, and Jake Vanover on guitar. Until recently, Jerry had been playing bass with IIIrd Tyme Out, where he also handled tenor vocals, and Jake had been expecting to serve in Jeff Parker’s new outfit, but is coming with Doyle instead.
If history can be our guide, Lawson is fiendishly rehearsing his new lineup this week in preparation for their first show this weekend, when Doyle and the guys will hold their annual Christmas show at the Cameo Theater in Bristol, VA. The 7:00 p.m. concert on December 1 will be your initial look at the reformed group. Details can be found online.
You can expect the same traditional bluegrass and Gospel sound from Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, new faces on stage notwithstanding.
Eli Johnston, bass player and vocalist with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, and his wife, Keasley, are celebrating the birth of their first child.
Huxley Thomas Johnston was born last night at 11:28 p.m., dropping in just in time to land on Eli’s birthday. Henceforth, father and son will share a birthday. He was born at the Dolly Parton birthing center at Leconte hospital in Sevierville, TN, weighing in at 8 lbs even, and stretching out to 20.5” long.
Everyone is doing well and they should be able to take him home soon. Eli says that Huxley’s birth was transformational for him, adding that, “I’ve never felt a love like this.”
Many congratulations to Eli and Keasley, and a great big Bluegrass Today welcome to Huxley!
I think we all enjoy buying toys for Christmas, even if we don’t have small children of our own. We can all recall the excitement of finding a new toy under the tree as children, and the fun of watching our children and grandchildren discover that same joy on Christmas Day.
Of course, there are always some children whose families don’t have the means to purchase gifts, and some children who are separated from loved ones at Christmas. There are Good Samaritan organizations who collect toys for such young folks almost anyplace you look, often the local fire, police, or service organizations. We found a couple going on this month with a specifically bluegrass flavor for people in southwest Virginia and central Tennessee.
There is one scheduled for this Saturday (December 12) in Galax, VA at Creek Bottoms Brews, sponsored by Camp B Chord, an outfit that will be familiar to anyone who attends the city’s Old Fiddlers Convention each summer. They can always be found there playing driving bluegrass into the wee hours of the mornings, in the key of B, don’t you know.
Music will be provided by a band of young bluegrass all-stars: Keith McKinnon from IIIrd Tyme Out, his brother Kevin, Jason Davis and Jamie Harper from Junior Sisk & Rambler’s Choice, and Eli Johnson and Stephen Burwell from Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver.
There will be no charge to attend the show, other than a new toy which will be donated to the Brenner Children’s Hospital in Winston-Salem, NC.
You can count on hearing some great music, and having a fun time with some of our top young grassers.
In addition, Bluegrass Underground and Cumberland Caverns are collecting toys for donation to the Toys for Tots Drive for the Warren County Rescue Squad in Tennessee. New toys and cash donations can be dropped off at Cumberland Caverns, or mailed to them at:
Not only will you have the certainty of helping bringing some Christmas cheer to less-privileged children, each new toy or donation of $5 or more will also enter you into a drawing to win one of three prize packages for Bluegrass Underground tickets, along with accommodations and restaurant passes for shows in 2016.
To be entered in the drawings, toys or donations must be received by December 19.
Full details about the prize packages can be found online.
We got a note from Doyle Lawson this morning with some further news about his touring band, Quicksilver.
“After about 4 years of playing guitar and then switching to bass, Corey Hensley has left the band to pursue other interests. Corey was a multiple vocalist during his stay here, and wrote or co-wrote some of the songs we recorded. We all wish him the very best in his future endeavors and I’m sure folks will be seeing him in a band configuration soon.
For those who may be curious, Eli Johnston will be coming aboard singing harmony and some lead. Eli is a multi-instrumentalist but will primarily be playing bass. And so another chapter is added to the ongoing saga of DL&Q!”
Eli will be starting with Quicksilver right away. He had worked previously with Monroeville.
The guys have released a live video highlighting their newest member, Eli Johnston. In so doing, they also demonstrate that fears about the future of traditional bluegrass music are both ignorant and unfounded.
These six talented young men, barely out of their teens, lay down a solid version of a song recorded by Flatt & Scruggs before the Monroeville parents collective were born. True, their arrangement owes as much to the Bluegrass Album Band of the 1980s as it does Lester and Earl from the 1950s, but I guess that is still “the old days” for these youngsters.
Monroeville has brought multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter Eli Johnston into the band. He will take the guitar position vacated by Seth Taylor, but given the band’s versatility across the bluegrass instruments, they expect that Eli will be utilized in other slots as well.
Johnston has spent time with bluegrass touring groups Nothin’ Fancy and Pine Mountain Railroad, and worked the past four years as a featured performer at the Tennesse Shindig Theater in Pigeon Forge. While working with PMR, his song Captain was a hit for the band, and it was there that he became acquainted with Monroeville fiddler, Matt Flake.
The guys are delighted to add Eli to the band, and he shares the sentiment.
“I’m very excited to have the opportunity to play professionally with some of my best buddies! The future of Monroeville is very bright and I’m honored to be a part of it!”
The band is working up some of Johnston’s songs now, and will debut their new sound this weekend when they tape a performance for Song Of The Mountains on Saturday in Marion, VA.
