Storied Bluegrass Band Adds Renowned Multi-Instrumentalist
Ron Stewart to the Lineup
New Album To Be Released In 2018
Nashville, TN – The Seldom Scene, widely regarded as one of the most enduring, influential, and acclaimed bands in bluegrass since its formation in the early 1970s, has signed with Rounder Records.
Throughout the band’s storied 46-year history, they’ve earned accolades for stellar musicianship and their innovative approach to their repertoire, choosing material from the bluegrass canon as well as from the worlds of country, rock, and pop music, and employing unconventional arrangements and instrumentation on their recordings and in live performances.
Over the years, the lineup — which consists of guitarist Dudley Connell, Lou Reid on mandolin and guitar, Fred Travers on Dobro, Ronnie Simpkins on bass, and the band’s newest member, multi-instrumentalist Ron Stewart on banjo and fiddle — has boasted some of bluegrass’ finest musicians, and has remained fairly constant since the late 1990s.
Rounder co-founder Ken Irwin said “I’ve always been impressed by the Seldom Scene’s ability to find great songs from different genres and make them their own and ultimately a part of the bluegrass repertoire. Although we haven’t worked with the Scene, we have worked with most members of the current band in different configurations and are very excited about working with them on this new recording.”
“This will be the first Seldom Scene album which will have no founding members of the band, giving the current band, four of whom have been band members for over two decades, an opportunity to step out and create their own sound and identity. I am very much looking forward to seeing and hearing the next chapter of the Seldom Scene story unfold and to be a part of the process.”
Lou Reid said, “We’re very excited about this new recording we’re about to do for Rounder Records. Ken Irwin has brought some fresh and great ideas for the material we’ll be recording in the near future. I can’t wait to get in the studio with Dudley, Fred and Ronnie, who I have spent twenty years traveling and recording with, and we couldn’t be happier to welcome our old friend Ron Stewart to the band.”
He continues, “Ron is an incredible musician: he was named IBMA’s fiddle player of the year in 2000 and banjo player of the year in 2011. We’re longtime fans of his work, and we’ve had such good times playing music with him when he’s done dates with us in the past. We’re confident that he’s going to bring a lot of great, creative ideas into the recording studio., and we all look forward to making the album and getting back out on the road in the new year. 2018 is shaping up to a be a great year for the Seldom Scene.”
Guitarist Dudley Connell concurs. “I’ve spend the last 21 years of my life in a band that formed in the early 1970s and created a legacy that’s far greater than that of any of the talented musicians who contributed to the band individually. It’s a band that continues to evolve and change, all the while showing reverence for the past and the music that came before us.”