This weekend The Crowe Brothers are set to take Cindy Mae out just one more time. The 34th annual Boxcar Pinion Forever Bluegrass Festival at Mountain Cove Farms in Chickamauga, GA, is where they’ll play their last show today, Saturday, May 2. Showtimes are set for 3:00 and 7:00 p.m.
The Crowe Brothers got their start in bluegrass at an early age. Their dad, Charles “Junior” Crowe, was a banjo player whose band, The Sunshine Melody Boys, made it all the way from Georgia to Nashville, Tennessee’s Grand Ole Opry in 1960 after winning a talent contest. As expected, the brothers began learning their craft under their dad’s guidance. In a recent conversation I had with Josh, he said that he (now age 68) and Wayne (now age 71) played their first paying gig when he was around 10 years old. They earned $11 at the grand opening of a Gallant Belk department store.
Early on they performed with bands like Oliver Rice and the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys where Josh played bass and Wayne played banjo. In 1975, with Josh on guitar and Wayne on bass, the Crowes teamed up with legendary North Carolina banjo player Raymond Fairchild. Their combination of brother harmonies and solid picking blended with Fairchild’s unique banjo style seamlessly. They reached new heights and made their own way to Nashville where, for quite some time, they were regulars on the Grand Ole Opry. In the 1990s, Josh won the SPBGMA (Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America’s) award for Best Bluegrass Rhythm Guitar, and the brothers took top honors for Best Instrumental Band alongside Raymond Fairchild. Raymond Fairchild and the Crowes recorded and performed together for more than 15 years.
When Wayne retired from music in 1993, Josh teamed up with David McLaughlin for Going Back on Rounder Records. The release won 1994 Album of the Year at the Washington, DC Music Awards. After Crowe and McLaughlin drifted apart, Crowe started the Josh Crowe Band.
Around 2004, the brothers joined forces yet again. Their 2008 Rural Rhythm release, Brothers – N – Harmony, brought them continued success as the first track, Cindy Mae, reached number one on multiple charts including Sirius/XM. A follow up album in 2011, Bridging The Gap, produced yet another number one for He Could Pick The Hound.
It’s safe to say that Josh and Wayne have nothing left to prove. It’s been 51 years since they began playing music professionally with Raymond Fairchild. They’ve made music virtually everywhere, and achieved the types of major musical milestones that most pickers will never know. Earlier this week Josh told me, “every dream I ever had as a young boy, I’ve fulfilled.”
When the Crowes aren’t busy playing music, you can find them working in and around Waynesville, North Carolina, for Josh Crowe’s trucking and excavating company. Josh bought his first dump truck in the ’90s, and he and his brother have enjoyed this sort of work for a long time. Josh hails Wayne as one of the most talented people on the planet (did you know he built his own bass?) as well as an ace of an equipment operator.
Josh says that he has no intentions of putting his guitar down for good, but after debating it over the last year or so, the brothers have decided that dissolving the band now is the right move. They are currently looking to dedicate more time to their families and home.
The band accompanying the brothers on their final show together is Brian Blaylock on banjo, Cody Shuler on mandolin, Darren Nicholson on guitar and mandolin. If you’re in the area, come out and listen to The Crowe Brothers pick the hound out of it one more time.
