OUR HISTORY

Mike Compton, a Grammy-winning mandolinist, is widely recognized for his mastery of the Monroe-style mandolin playing. With a career spanning over four decades, Compton has collaborated with legendary artists such as John Hartford, Nashville Bluegrass Band, Elvis Costello, Ralph Stanley as well as a featured performer on the "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack as well as a mainstay in the two highly successful tours that followed. Mike has done two consecutive years Artist in Residence at East Tennessee State University's "Appalachian Studies/Bluegrass and Old Time" Program. His unique blend of bluegrass, old-time, and traditional music has captivated audiences across the globe.

 Known around the world for his clawhammer banjo playing, Joe Newberry is also a powerful guitarist, singer and songwriter. The Gibson Brothers’ version of his song “Singing As We Rise,” won the IBMA “Gospel Recorded Performance” Award. With Eric Gibson, he shared the IBMA “Song of the Year” Award for “They Called It Music.” A longtime and frequent guest on A Prairie Home Companion, he was also a featured singer on the Transatlantic Sessions tour of the U.K., and at the Transatlantic Session's debut at Merlefest.  Growing up in a Missouri family full of singers and dancers, he took up the guitar and banjo as a teenager and learned tunes and songs from mentors from coast to coast.