Adrienne Young

Born in Tallahassee, FL, Adrienne Young spent her early years in Clearwater, located just west of Tampa. She relocated to Nashville to enroll at Belmont University, drawn in part by her affinity for country music. Earlier, she had performed with the folk-pop groups Big White Undies and Liters of Pop. Her passionate singing, powerful clawhammer banjo technique, and skillful songwriting gained notice after she claimed the bluegrass division of the Chris Austin songwriting contest at MerleFest in 2003 with “Sadie’s Song,” a piece co-written alongside Mark D. Sanders. Issued on her own Addiebelle imprint in late 2003, her debut album Plow to the End of the Row was helmed by Nashville pop veteran and multi-instrumentalist Will Kimbrough; the project received a Grammy nomination that year for its packaging, which incorporated a packet of wildflower seeds with each copy. Young demonstrates particular skill at merging old-timey string band textures with contemporary pop elements, and she and her band Little Sadie—comprising Tyler Grant on guitar, Clayton Campbell on fiddle and mandolin, Amanda Kowalski on bass, and Steven Sandler on percussion—have established themselves as a compelling concert ensemble. The Art of Virtue followed in 2005, with Room to Grow arriving in 2007.