Riley Baugus (b. November 28, 1965) is an American old-time guitarist, banjo player, fiddler, singer and instrument builder from

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Early life

Baugus was born in

Walkertown, North Carolina Walkertown is a town in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States and a rural area outside of Winston-Salem. It is part of the Piedmont Triad. The population was 5,695 at the 2020 census. Geography is located in eastern Forsyth County and i ...

, near

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 91st-most populous city in the Uni ...

, and grew up in the

Regular Baptist Regular Baptists are "a moderately Calvinistic Baptist denomination that is found chiefly in the southern U.S., represents the original English Baptists before the division into Particular and General Baptists, and observes closed communion and ...

tradition, which gave him a solid foundation in unaccompanied singing. His father had moved from

Alleghany County, North Carolina Alleghany County ( )
, from the North Carolina Collection website at the University of North Caro ...

, in the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a Physiographic regions of the United States, physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States and extends 550 miles southwest from southern ...

, to Winston-Salem in the 1950s, looking for work, and his mother's family (from

Surry County, North Carolina Surry County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 71,359. Its county seat is Dobson, and its largest community is Mount Airy. Surry county comprises the Mount Airy, NC Micropol ...

) had a similar trajectory; and both families brought their culture with them. He began playing the fiddle at age 10 and began playing the banjo at age 11, and grew up with the fiddler Kirk Sutphin. As a youth, he also had the opportunity to study with old-time musicians from

and

Grayson County, Virginia Grayson County is a county located in the southwestern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,333. Its county seat is Independence. Mount Rogers, the state's highest peak at , is in Grayson County ...

, including Tommy Jarrell, Robert Sykes, Dix Freeman, Verlin Clifton, and Paul Sutphin. He is influenced particularly by the Round Peak style of Surry County, North Carolina.

Career

Baugus worked as a welder and blacksmith for 18 years before pursuing a career as a professional musician. He has performed throughout the United States and internationally in Canada, Ireland, Scotland, and England. He has played with several old-time string bands, including The Farmer's Daughters, The Konnarock Critters, The Red Hots, Backstep, and the Old Hollow Stringband. He tours regularly with

Dirk Powell Overview Dirk Powell (born 1969) is an American fiddler, banjo player, and singer. He was born in Oberlin southwest of Elyria, Ohio into a family with deep Kentucky roots. He has lived in Louisiana since 1992. He is considered one of the world's ...

and Tim O'Brien, and frequently performs and tours with dancer

Ira Bernstein Ira Bernstein (born 1959 in Malverne, New York) is a dancer and teacher in the United States who specializes in traditional American dance forms such as Appalachian-style clogging, flatfoot dancing, tap dance, and step dancing. He is consider ...

, with the duo show Appalachian Roots. He often performs as a guest musician with the Dirk Powell Band and the North Carolina folk band Polecat Creek. He sang on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

to the 2003 film '' Cold Mountain''. He has recorded with

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo ca ...

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer, fiddler and music producer. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of eight and recording for the first time at ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

, April Verch, and Martha Scanlan. He has taught banjo at the John C. Campbell Folk School in

Brasstown, North Carolina Brasstown is an Unincorporated community (United States), unincorporated community located mostly within Clay County, North Carolina, Clay County, North Carolina, United States, though roughly one third of Brasstown is within the adjacent Cheroke ...

; the

Augusta Heritage Center Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, West Virginia, United States, is a non-profit organization which fosters the scholarly study and practice of traditional arts in music, dance, craft, and folklore. The program started in 1973 as a summer program ...

's Old Time Week in

Elkins, West Virginia Elkins is a city in Randolph County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. The population was 6,950 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It lies along the Tygart Valley River and was incorporated in 1890, taking its name fr ...

; the Midwest Banjo Camp in

Olivet, Michigan Olivet is a city in Eaton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,517 at the 2020 census. University Of Olivet is located in the city. History From its founding in 1844 through the 1910 census,Banjo Camp North in Massachusetts. Baugus released his first album, ''Life of Riley'', in 2001. A second album, ''Long Steel Rail'', was released in 2006. On March 22, 2025 he was inducted into the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame.https://archive.today/20250321215003/https://journalnow.com/news/local/article_260c370c-0336-11f0-962c-2b905d7b3b38.html He lives in

Discography

Albums

Collaborations

Other appearances

References

External links

Riley Baugus official site
*

Allmusic entry AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the data ...

Listening

"Banjo Master Baugus Looks to Old Times"
by

Noah Adams Noah Adams is an American broadcast journalist and author, known primarily since 1987 from National Public Radio. Career A former co-host of the daily ''All Things Considered'' program, Adams is currently the contributing correspondent at ...

, from ''

Weekend Edition Saturday ''Weekend Edition'' is a set of American radio news magazine programs produced and distributed by National Public Radio ( NPR). It is the weekend counterpart to the NPR radio program ''Morning Edition''. It consists of ''Weekend Edition Saturday ...

'', September 1, 2007
"Riley Baugus on Mountain Stage"
from ''

Mountain Stage ''Mountain Stage'' is a two-hour music radio show, first aired in 1983, produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting and distributed worldwide by National Public Radio (NPR). Hosted by Larry Groce from the show's inception until 2021 and curr ...

'', August, 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Baugus, Riley Singers from North Carolina Appalachian old-time fiddlers American banjoists American folk singers American folk guitarists Old-time musicians Baptists from North Carolina 1965 births People from Forsyth County, North Carolina American acoustic guitarists American male guitarists Living people Guitarists from North Carolina 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians