Russ Carson Archives - Bluegrass Today

Huber Banjos introduces Russ Carson model

Huber Banjos has announced that Russ Carson, the crackerjack banjo player with Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, is the latest endorser of the banjos, with the introduction of the new gold-plated Russ Carson Signature model Huber.

Russ joins Sammy Shelor and Ron Block as endorsing artists with their own signature model banjo.

It’s part of Huber’s Truetone series, incorporating the very latest in prewar replica components, including the latest iteration of the HR-30 tone ring, made no-hole style for Russ’s preference, along with a fat Engineered Rim. Carson wanted a maple banjo, so Steve Huber chose to use a wider AAAA-grade curly maple neck, with a sunburst maple resonator. The headstock is a double cut, with a Flying Eagle pattern, and Hearts & Flowers in the fingerboard.

Russ says that he loves the banjo, and is leaving it with Huber during SPBGMA so that others can check it out this weekend.

“I will be taking this banjo on the road very soon, but first you can check this beast out for yourself in the Huber Banjo suite in room 4094 at SPBGMA 2025. After that, be sure and come to a Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder show near you and hear the quality for yourself!”

The Huber Russ Carson model Truetone banjo will sell for $6,950. It’s not up yet on the Huber web site, but anyone interested in ordering one can contact them online.

In addition to picking with Ricky, Russ is the proprietor of the 81 Crowe YouTube and Instagram channels on social media, where he demonstrates tunes, techniques, and gear for his more than 26,000 subscribers. No doubt you’ll be seeing a test drive of his new Huber there soon!

Russ Carson in the pink after hand surgery

No… that’s not a stigmata on Russ Carson’s right hand. The crackerjack banjo picker with Ricky Skaggs is just off a full month of banjo rest following carpal tunnel surgery.

This inflammatory disorder has afflicted a number of banjo players. It arises when the tendons which run through the carpal tunnel in your wrist become enlarged and begin impinging on the median nerve, likewise running down the arm to the fingers. It can be exaggerated by repetitive movements, which is exactly what a banjo picker does with their right hand, especially at the speeds demanded by Kentucky Thunder.

Carpal tunnel syndrome can be extremely painful, crippling even for a musician. Steve Dilling also had this surgery some years ago, which typically release the pressure on the nerve by cutting the transverse carpal ligament.

Carson had his surgery in Nashville in mid-February, and says that he is finally back to playing, with no ill effects. He says that he is nearly fully healed and ready to get back on the road.

“The hand is doing much better and I’m glad to be on this side of things. Dr. Staelin was recommended to me by Jerry Douglas, and did a phenomenal job. I’m building back my playing now to rejoin Kentucky Thunder, hopefully on the 15th.”

The pain had become so bad over the winter that Russ figured he had no choice but to get it fixed.

“It got to the point of two fingers going numb during shows, with a lot of pain in the morning. At its worst it would take me two hours in the morning to make a fist and close my right hand.”

But judging from this video he sent, Carson is back in fine form.

Welcome back Russ! I’m sure Ricky and the boys will be glad to have you back in mid-season form.

Awesome Sauce from Russ Carson

Engelhardt Music Group has a new single for Nashville banjo player Russ Carson, the second from his upcoming full-length album. We all know Russ as the banjo man with Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, and as proprietor of the very popular YouTube Channel, 81 Crowe, so named for Carson’s axe of choice, a 1981 J.D. Crowe model Gold Star banjo.

A lot of bluegrass fans also recall Carson from his many years playing the five with Audie Blaylock and Redline before Skaggs and Nashville came calling.

Russ explains how he came up with the title for this new track, a fiery banjo instrumental called Awesome Sauce.

“Awesome Sauce will be familiar to those who have followed my 81Crowe YouTube channel for a while. I needed a theme song to play at the end of my videos, and this is what I came up with. But the question I constantly got was, ‘What’s up with the name?’

The simple answer is my incredible wife, Bethie. When we first met back in my days with Redline, everything that was cool and exciting was simply ‘Awesome Sauce.’

I played all the instruments on the original track, but this time around with the assistance of Jake Workman, Stuart Duncan, Aaron Ramsey, Mike Bub, and my old Mahogany Style 3….. the tune truly came to life.”

Bethie is a grasser of note as well, who spent several years playing guitar with her siblings as The Burie Family, so she knows from awesome sauce.

Have a listen to Russ’s new single…

Awesome Sauce from Russ Carson is available now from popular download and streaming services online. Radio programmers will find the track at AirPlay Direct.

Look for Carson’s album from EMG later this summer.

Bugle Call Rag – new banjo single from Russ Carson

Over the past eight years, Russ Carson has risen to considerable prominence in the banjo world since taking the job with Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder. On top of burning up the five on stage with Ricky, Russ has developed a sizable online presence as “81 Crowe,” his social media moniker, posting videos of all things banjo on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and the like.

81 Crowe refers to Carson’s banjo of choice, a 1981 Gold Star J.D. Crowe model, which he has retained throughout his professional career. While most of his peers are chasing down prewar Mastertones, Russ is equally infatuated with the Gold Stars made at the start of their design and manufacture by the Saga corporation. In fact he told us yesterday that he just ran down the twin to his gold plated Crowe, serial #3, which he says is an identical match to his long time axe, #5.

But let’s save that for later…

Russ has recently signed with Engelhardt Music Group, and is nearly finished with a new banjo album where he revisits some of the classic of the genre. EMG is releasing a debut single today, Carson’s take on a Dixieland standard from 1922 that Earl Scruggs brought to bluegrass in the early ’60s, Bugle Call Rag.

It’s a very interesting cut of this tune, given that Earl’s arrangement so dominates the thinking of every bluegrass banjo player alive. Yet Russ manages to play it in a way that brings Scruggs to mind – and J.D. Crowe’s version from Holiday in Japan – without the sort of direct quotes that we have come to expect. He truly makes the tune his own, and the way he slightly revises the licks and phrases associated with the masters is a joy to behold.

He tells us that the whole thing has been great fun, in talking about the making of the album and this first single.

“It’s ’bout time! I’ve wanted to do this for a number of years, but every time I was ready, something happened. Instead of rushing it, I figured I’d just go with the flow. So when Adam Engelhardt approached me, I couldn’t say yes fast enough.

I learned Bugle Call Rag as a kid, from a video my dad recorded of the Rounder Album Band – Crowe, Rice, Alison, Jerry – for a TV special. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen as a kid. Now the tape is almost unwatchable, I’ve rewound it so much. It’s almost gone.

This is a fun song to play, but it’s very challenging to play.”

Everyone is smokin’ on this track. Russ’s Kentucky Thunder bandmate Jake Workman is on guitar, with Aaron Ramsey on mandolin, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, and Mike Bub on bass.

Have a listen…

Oh my!

Of course we had to talk banjos a bit when we caught up yesterday, and Russ was so excited to have found the twin to his beloved 81 Crowe, and it came with a pedigree.

“I found Gold Star #3, which Crowe had used on a west coast tour with Bluegrass Album Band. It looks just like #5, gold and maple, but they sound completely different. #5 sounds like J.D., but #3 sounds like Foggy Mountain Banjo.”

The new acquisition only came recently, so it’s #5 on the new album.

Carson said that there is no release date yet for the full project, but expects it sometime in October. The single is available now from popular download and streaming services. Radio programmers can get the track via AirPlay Direct.

“I’m really excited for folks to hear some of this stuff. It’s a tip of the hat to my heroes – Sonny, Earl, Crowe, Tony – mostly classics, half songs that I grew up with, and half really deep catalog. There’s only one original of mine on there.”

In speaking of heroes, Russ summed it up nicely…

“Earl made me want to play the banjo, and JD made me fall in love with it.”

Look for more details about the Russ Carson solo project in the coming months.

My Favorite J.D. Crowe Lick – Russ Carson

Today we are launching a new feature to memorialize the creative and musical legacy of the late J.D. Crowe, who we lost just before Christmas. We are calling it My Favorite Crowe Lick, and each episode will feature a prominent bluegrass banjo player sharing both their thoughts about Crowe and his influence, and showing us a lick they learned from his playing that sticks with them.

First up is Russ Carson, banjo picker with Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder. Russ is also prominent on social media, where he regularly shares videos of banjo playing for his followers. Look for him on all platforms as 81crowe.

Here is his video…

Thanks Russ!

A performer’s eye view of Grey Fox ’17

Russ Carson isn’t just one of the top bluegrass banjo players in the world today. The youthful five stringer with Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder is also a talented photographer, with the innate sense of a natural documentarian.

For several years Russ has been capturing footage of interest to banjo pickers, and bluegrass fan in general, and sharing them on his YouTube channel. While at the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival this past weekend, he shot and assembled this 15-minute travelogue showing how a major festival looks from the performer’s side. It’s a highly entertaining video, featuring several other members of Kentucky Thunder along the way.

Just recently Russ has started a Pick Of The Week feature on Facebook where he takes banjo instrumental requests from his followers and posts his version online. Here’s his most recent, Earl Scruggs’ arrangement of Home Sweet Home.

To see all the videos he’s created, visit Russ on Facebook or YouTube. His handle on both is 81crowe.

A Day in the Life of Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder

Russ Carson is a clever guy. Not only among the finest to strap a five-string banjo to his side, he’s also an insightful photographer and a budding videographer, besides working full time with Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder.

Recently Russ fulfilled a plan he’s been hatching for several months, to document a full day on the road with Skaggs on video. He shot everything, from getting packed the night before, to loading the bus, driving gigward, loading out, playing the show, loading up again, and riding home – including a few minutes with the old man – all set to original music by Ricky Skaggs.

After shooting much of the day, Russ downloaded all the footage to his trusty computer and created this mini-documentary.

If you have any fascination for the road life, i.e., what these top flight musicians go through on a regular basis to bring the music you love where you live, it’s well worth a half hour of your time.

Well done, Mr. Carson.

You can see his other video creations on YouTube, including lots of banjo stuff, and duet renditions of classic tunes with his friends Patrick McAvinue and his band-buddy, Jake Workman.

Learn more about Russ and his many talents online.

Congratulations Russ and Bethany!

On October 22, Russell Carson, banjo player with Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, and Bethany Burie, guitarist with The Burie Family, were wed at the First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, TN.

The ceremony was a who’s who of young Nashville, bluegrass edition.

Bethany and Russ are currently honeymooning on a driving tour of Utah. Knowing these two, a prodigious batch of stunning photographs will be the result.

The couple will make their home in the Nashville area upon their return.

Congratulations Russ and Bethany!

The latest thing: POV jam videos

The indubitable Russell Carson, crack banjoist with Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder and enterprising bluegrass photographer/videographer, has posted the latest thing in music archiving – the POV video!

Many types of action photography, from the sublime to the discreditable, now utilize this point of view perspective, allowing the viewer to enjoy the experience of being in the scene themselves. Russ achieved the effect by strapping a GoPro Hero to his head during a wicked hotel room jam with Michael Cleveland, Patrick MacAviniue, Jake Workman, Jesse Smathers, and Barry Reed.

Here’s their screaming version of Big Mon.

You can see all of Carson’s videos on YouTube.

SPBGMA 2016 notes

We had a blast this year at the SPBGMA National Convention in Nashville. As always, it’s great to re-connect with old friends and make new ones, with more high-quality music being played than you could ever hope to see in a day.

Between the main stage and the many hotel suites offering live bands, you could hear a wide variety of bluegrass well into the wee hours. Not to mention jamming in every hallway, stair well, and sleeping room.

Here are some disconnected and occasionally random observations that stood out this year.

• Young folks – the number of teen and young adult pickers in attendance seems to grow year to year. Walking through the hotel lobby even on Thursday evening it struck me that it resembled a singles event with hundreds of young people smiling and having fun. Young bands found every unobstructed nook and cranny for a jam, or to showcase their music.

• The Moron Brothers – If you’ve caught the bluegrass comedy shows these two retired fighters put on, you’ll be pleased to know that they are the exact same down home, corn pone characters they portray on stage. I had the pleasure of meeting Burley and Lardo before their set on Saturday, and to chat with them a couple of other times over the weekend. They really are natural comedians and shared a few jokes with me that are a bit too political for the show. Don’t miss them when they come your way.

• Jamming restrictions – though I didn’t witness it myself, we heard reports that hotel staff were rousting jammers from the hallways after 11:00 p.m. on Saturday night. Not sure if that was in the convention area or the hotel proper.

• Wife Wanted – When you wander through the hotel floors at the Music City Sheraton during SPBGMA, it’s quite common to find festival flyers posted on room doors, and a few instrument or bus for sale notices. One lodger came up with this interesting proposal taped to his door.

Thanks to Kimberly Williams for the photo.

• Po’ Ramblin’ Boys – I’ve been high on this group since I saw videos from some of their early performances last year. For a youthful outfit, they have some impeccable traditional bluegrass credentials. Mando man C.J. Lewandowski has spent some formative time with Karl Shiflett, and banjo picker Jereme Brown is the son of bluegrass genius Tommy Brown, so no one should be surprised that they put a crackerjack band together.

With Josh Rinkle on guitar, their three-part harmony is rich and sharp with Stanley-style contours. This was my first time catching their live show, and it was a dandy with bass player Jasper Lorentzen’s wild gyrations setting the tone. Matt Flake was sitting in on fiddle and added a great deal to the sound.

Their new album, Back To The Mountains, has just been released on Randm Records.

• Kentucky Mountain Trio – this duet team, which performed as a quartet at SPBGMA, features one of the most exciting young voices in bluegrass and Americana music. Heidi Greer packs a very powerful sound in a tiny little body, and she and husband Ryan sing together like brother and sister. Steve Gulley, who is producing their album, told us to expect big things from this bunch, and after seeing them live, I certainly concur.

• Russ Carson – I’ve long admired this super-talented young banjo picker, now plying his trade with Ricky Skaggs, but getting to spend an evening with him in the Huber Banjos suite was extra special. Russ picked his way through several of the new Hubers on display, plus a couple of prewar flatheads that were floating around the room. One was an old RB-4 that belonged to Steve Huber, and another was a style 3 that had belonged to J.D. Crowe, known affectionately as “Banger.” It had recently been purchased by Melvin Cumbee, and he was giving Russ a chance to put ‘er through its paces.

Melvin also offered to let Carson take the banjo to his Grand Ole Opry show with Skaggs the next day, and he posed for this photo with the boss man and his Loar-signed F-5 mandolin. That’s a lot of vintage value in one picture!

In addition to his banjo prowess, Russ is also a first-rate photographer, as is his charming and talented fiance, Bethany Burie, who snapped this shot.

Only 51 more weeks ’till SPBGMA ’17!