Mountain Heart is an American band, which combines elements of rock,

jam band A jam band is a musical group whose concerts and live albums substantially feature improvisational "jam session, jamming". Typically, jam bands will play variations of pre-existing songs, extending them to musical improvisation, improvise ove ...

, country,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, folk and

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass has roots in African America ...

. Mountain Heart or its members have won or been nominated for multiple

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

s, ACM, CMA, and IBMA Awards. They have appeared on the stage of the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

The group is signed to

Compass Records Compass Records is an American independent record label founded in 1995 by musicians Garry West and Alison Brown that specializes in folk, bluegrass, Celtic, jazz, and acoustic music. In 2006, Compass purchased the Green Linnet and Xenophil ...

History

The band was formed in 1998 by Barry Abernathy, Steve Gulley (vocals, guitar),

Adam Steffey Adam Carter Steffey (born November 24, 1965) is an American mandolin player, best known for playing in the bluegrass and old-time styles. He spent time as a member of bands such as Alison Krauss & Union Station, Mountain Heart, Lonesome Riv ...

(mandolin), and Jim VanCleve. Johnny Dowdle was introduced early as the band's original bassist. For a short period, Adam Steffey left the band to play with bluegrass/gospel group

The Isaacs The Isaacs are a bluegrass Southern gospel music group consisting of mother Lily Isaacs (b. September 20, 1947), daughters Becky (b. Aug. 2, 1975) and Sonya Isaacs (b. July 22, 1974) and son Ben Isaacs (b. July 25, 1972), along with John Bowma ...

, during which Steffey was replaced by Alan Perdue. Early in 2000, Dowdle left the group and was replaced by Jason Moore, the former bassist for the James King Band. In 2001, Steffey returned to the group, and Mountain Heart added virtuoso guitarist, Clay Jones, in 2003. Mountain Heart performed in Scarborough, Ontario as part of the Bluegrass Sundays Winter Concert Series in 2000 and 2001. In 2005, they took part in the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival. Later, in 2007, the band revisited Canada when they played the Tottenham Bluegrass Festival in Ontario. The band released their first, eponymous project in 1999, on Doobie Shea Records, following it quickly with an all-gospel release, ''The Journey''. In 2001, the band signed with Skaggs Family Records and soon released ''No Other Way'', their first for the label. The project was nominated for Album of the Year by the IBMA, with Mountain Heart being nominated for Entertainer of the Year. In 2004, they released ''Force Of Nature'', which again earned the band nominations for Album of the Year and Entertainer of the Year. The group released their final Skaggs Family Records recording in 2005, entitled ''Wide Open''. The album, produced by

Mark Bright Mark Abraham Bright (born 6 June 1962) is an English sports correspondent and former Association football, footballer. Born to a The Gambia, Gambian father and English mother, he was adopted into a foster family in Stoke-on-Trent at an early a ...

, was notable for a stylistic departure for the band into the americana/folk/country sound. In December 2006, the band announced that lead singer, Steve Gulley, would be leaving the group. In January 2007, Josh Shilling debuted as the band's new lead singer at the

in Nashville, TN. In September of that year, Jones was replaced by Grammy Award winning guitarist, Clay Hess. In December 2007, mandolinist Aaron Ramsey replaced Steffey, making his debut also on the stage of

The Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country-music radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the time of year. It was founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. ...

. Clay Jones returned replacing Hess in January 2009, joining the band again at The Ark, in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

. The Ark would later become the site of their 2007 recording, ''The Road That Never Ends - The Live Album'', their first project with Rural Rhythm Records out of Los Angeles, CA, a single record deal. The album was produced by Jim VanCleve and promoted with a music video produced by Josh Shilling, which brought the band critical acclaim and greater radio rotation. In 2010, Mountain Heart opened a record label. Under MH Music Group, the band recorded their first ever self-released project, ''That Just Happened,'' in January 2011. Among the album's featured guests are

New Grass Revival New Grass Revival was an American progressive bluegrass band founded in 1971 and composed of Sam Bush, Courtney Johnson, Ebo Walker, Curtis Burch, Butch Robins, John Cowan, Béla Fleck, and Pat Flynn. They were active between 1971 and 1989 r ...

front man &

Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock music, rock band formed in San Jose, California in 1970. Known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their Vocal harmony, vocal harmonies, the band has been active for over five d ...

bassist,

John Cowan John Cowan (born August 24, 1953) is an American progressive bluegrass vocalist and bass guitar player. He was the lead vocalist and bass player for the New Grass Revival. Cowan became the band's bassist in 1972 after the departure of original ...

, legendary session drummer,

Eddie Bayers Eddie Bayers (born January 28, 1949) is an American session drummer who has played on 300 gold and platinum albums. He received the Academy of Country Music 'Drummer of the Year Award' for fourteen years, has three times won the Nashville Music ...

, and noted acoustic guitarist,

Bryan Sutton James Bryan Sutton (born 1973) is an American musician. Primarily known as a flatpicking acoustic guitar player, Sutton also plays mandolin, banjo, ukulele, and electric guitar. He also sings and writes songs. Biography Early career Sutton's gr ...

. Produced by VanCleve and Mountain Heart, ''That Just Happened'' received high praise from critics, scoring a Four Star rating from

Country Weekly ''Country Weekly'' (known as ''Nash Country Weekly'' from 2015–16) was an American magazine about country music. It was in circulation between April 1994 and May 2016. The publisher, Cumulus Media, now maintains the site Nash Country Daily. O ...

. In January 2012, Mountain Heart added guitarist Seth Taylor. In November 2014, Barry Abernathy left the band to focus on family. Jeff Partin, of Volume 5, joined on guitar, dobro, bass, vocals, and virtually every other instrument. On May 6, 2016, Mountain Heart released ''Blue Skies'', which saw another revamped line-up, including members of the Cherryholmes.

Band members

*Travis Anderson – bass, vocals *Ashby Frank - mandolin, lead and harmony vocals * Josh Shilling – lead and harmony vocals, piano, Hammond B3 organ, acoustic guitar *Seth Taylor –

guitars The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, vocals *Matt Menefee - banjo

Awards and recognition

Mountain Heart was awarded the IBMA Emerging Artist of the Year award in 1999, before the release of their first recording. The group was awarded Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year by the IBMA in 2002. They have since been nominated for many other IBMA awards, including, "Entertainer of the Year" (2003, 2004, 2005), "Vocal Group of the Year" (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006), and "Instrumental Group of the Year" (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007). As a member of Mountain Heart, Adam Steffey won the Mandolin Player of the Year Award several times (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006). Jim VanCleve's solo album ''No Apologies'', which featured all the members of Mountain Heart, was nominated for "Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year in 2007". The project also won Album of the Year Honors from the Indie Acoustic Awards.

Discography

Music videos

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control American bluegrass music groups Musical groups established in 1998