Roland White & Friends Bring New Life to an Honored Legacy

A living legend recently inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, master mandolin player and singer Roland White is celebrating a trailblazing period of his storied career with new recordings of songs he helped make classic a half century ago. Roland White and Friends: A Tribute to the Kentucky Colonels is a collection of hand-picked favorites that comprise an ultimate tribute to a groundbreaking era in the genre. The album is available for pre-order HERE and will be released from Mountain Home Music Company on October 26.

Featuring a broad range of some of today's most talked-about acoustic musicians and singers, the project offers a new take on the magic of the original music made by the Colonels in key live and studio recordings from the early 1960s.

The Kentucky Colonels - with the line-up Roland first formed in 1954 -  became one of roots music's most iconic bands. It is only now, decades later, that we can see the strong threads of musical influences the group has had on bluegrass and the greater acoustic music world. Acknowledging that influence - and White's career-long generosity to younger musicians - this special project from Mountain Home Music Company produced by Ty Gilpin and Jon Weisberger, set out to join the pioneering artist with a myriad of today's players who both respect the legacy of White and the Kentucky Colonels and do justice to it by capturing the excitement, instrumental prowess, and emotionally delivered vocal performances for which the Colonels were known.

With artists Brooke and Darin Aldridge, Kristin Scott Benson, Aaron Bibelhauser, Russ Carson, Jeremy Darrow, Nick Dauphinais, Gina Furtado, Jeremy Garrett, David Greer, Brittany Haas, Josh Haddix, Justin Hiltner, Lindsay Lou, Kimber Ludiker, Drew Matulich, Patrick McAvinue, Darren Nicholson, Lyndsay Pruett, Jon Stickley, Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, and Jon Weisberger,  Roland White and Friends: A Tribute to the Kentucky Colonelsreignites the spirit of the past and brings it to the present, transforming the music into modern-day classics.

About Roland White
Roland White is a living legend in Bluegrass Music. Inducted into the International Bluegrass Hall of Fame in 2017, his career spans 60 years. From his start as a teenager with his brother Clarence in what would eventually become the Kentucky Colonels, Roland has been a musical influence on more than just one generation of musicians.

His career is pedigreed. From the far reaching influences of the Kentucky Colonels and the New Kentucky Colonels, to his time as a member of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys to his innovative musicianship in celebrated bands like Country Gazette and The Nashville Bluegrass Band, to his years of studio and solo work all the way to his current outfit, The Roland White Band, it's nothing short of consummate. 

But above all, it's White's stylistic playing and singing that makes him an icon. It's the way he seems to "dance" through his instrument with a touch, tone and aliveness that expresses and communicates feeling to all that hear. In much the same way, White creates mood vocally with rare uniqueness and personality. It's White's creative innovation and professionalism that has made his music stand the test of time.

Even today, White is known in Nashville as a person who continues to bind the city's Bluegrass community together. A mentor to all who have a chance to meet or play with him, he has nurtured numerous performing artists and been an ambassador to the genre.

 

 

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