Steep Canyon Rangers: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

• Videos
• Photos
• Groups/Boards
• Fan Sites

• Nickel Creek
• Donna the Buffalo
• IIIrd Tyme Out
• The Hot Club of Cowtown
• Alison Krauss

Genres:

Contemporary Country Music, Bluegrass Music, Rock Music

Decades Active:

2000's

The Steep Canyon Rangers are a band of young souls who play old-time bluegrass music. The quintet formed during the late '90s, when all of the members were still enrolled at the University of North Carolina. The impetus for forming the band came from a call for bluegrass entertainment for a weekly shindig hosted by the ~Mellow Mushroom Restaurant in Chapel Hill. For the band's debut, Old Dreams and New Dreams, Newgrass Revival's Curtis Burch lent a hand as producer when the group recorded the album in Kentucky in 2001. The Steep Canyon Rangers put together their next release, Mr. Taylor's New Home, in a Chapel Hill studio operated by Jerry Brown. The 2002 release features predominantly original material, plus a couple of bluegrass standards in the mix. The Steep Canyon Rangers are Elizabeth "Lizzie" Hamilton on fiddle, Charles Humphrey III on bass, guitarist Woody Platt, banjo player Graham Sharp, and mandolinist Mike Guggino. Platt also provides lead vocals, while all of the other band members also contribute some vocals. The band has appeared with such artists as Doc Watson, Jimmy Martin, Peter Rowan, Rhonda Vincent the Rage, IIIrd Tyme Out, Donna the Buffalo, and Norman Blake. Festival appearances include ~the Doc Watson Festival, ~Bluegrass Under the Elm, ~the Eno River Festival, and ~the Brushy Mountain Jamboree, all in the band's home state; ~the Camp and Jam Bluegrass Festival sponsored by WDVX, and ~the Boxcar Pinion Bluegrass Festival, both in Tennessee; and ~the Rocky Mountain Bluegrass Festival in Colorado.

- Linda Seida, All Music Guide