Riley Baugus is an American old-time guitarist, banjo player, fiddler, singer and instrument builder from
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...
.
Early life
Baugus grew up in the
Regular Baptist
Regular Baptists are "a moderately Calvinistic Baptist sect 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 foot washi ...
tradition, which gave him a solid foundation in unaccompanied singing. He began playing the fiddle at age 10 and grew up with the fiddler Kirk Sutphin. As a youth, he also had the opportunity to study with old-time musicians 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 city is Mount Airy.
Surry county comprises the Mount Airy, NC Micropolita ...
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
Thomas Jefferson Jarrell (March 1, 1901 – January 28, 1985) was an American fiddler, banjo player, and singer from the Mount Airy region of North Carolina's Appalachian Mountains.
Biography
He was born in Surry County, North Carolina, United ...
, 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 becoming a professional musician. He has performed throughout the United States, as well as 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
Dirk Powell (born 1969) is an American fiddler, banjo player, and singer. Powell was born in Oberlin, Ohio into a family with deep Kentucky roots. He has lived in Louisiana since 1992. He is considered one of the world's leading experts on traditio ...
and Tim O'Brien, and frequently performs and tours with the dancer
Ira Bernstein
Ira Bernstein (b. Malverne, New York, 1959) 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 considered an ...
, 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 recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
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, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following th ...
,
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...
,
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and ''Stardust'' (1978 ...
, Dirk Powell, and Martha Scanlan. He has taught banjo at 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 progra ...
's Old Time Week in
Elkins, West Virginia
Elkins is a city in and the county seat of Randolph County, West Virginia, United States. The community was incorporated in 1890 and named in honor of Stephen Benton Elkins, a U.S. Senator from West Virginia. The population was 6,950 at the ...
Olivet, Michigan
Olivet is a city in Eaton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,605 at the 2010 census. Olivet College is located in the city.
History
From its founding in 1844 through the 1910 census,
He lives 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
Walkertown is located in eastern Forsyth C ...
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 datab ...
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 a ...
, 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'' ...
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 curre ...