Balsam Range

Bluegrass and acoustic ensemble Balsam Range came together in 2007 in Haywood County, North Carolina. The lineup brought together several accomplished musicians who later accumulated an array of honors. Fiddler and lead/tenor vocalist Buddy Melton had sung with Jubal Foster and shared stages with David Holt and Doc Watson. Bassist, dobro player, and baritone/lead singer Tim Surrett’s résumé includes stints alongside the Kingsmen Quartet, Tony Rice, Ralph Stanley, and Brad Paisley, along with induction into the Southern Gospel Hall of Fame. Mandolinist and octave-mandolin player Darren Nicholson, who also supplies baritone and low-tenor vocals, made repeated appearances on the Grand Ole Opry stage. Banjoist Dr. Marc Pruett earned a Grammy Award, while guitarist and lead/baritone vocalist Caleb Smith helped establish the gospel ensemble Harvest.

The group’s first recording, the 2007 album Marching Home, contained six songs associated with Bill Monroe and seven new originals. Follow-up releases Last Train to Kitty Hawk in 2009 and Trains I Missed in 2010 strengthened their growing profile. Their 2013 project Papertown, titled for the members’ hometown of Canton, North Carolina, spent five months atop the Bluegrass Unlimited National Bluegrass Survey Chart and captured the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Album of the Year honor, cementing the band’s reputation. In 2014 Balsam Range received the IBMA Entertainer of the Year and Vocal Group of the Year awards; the following year the North Carolina House and Senate formally recognized the group’s achievements. Mountain Voodoo, the sextet’s sixth studio album, arrived in 2016 and earned three IBMA nominations. Their initial holiday collection, the 2017 EP It’s Christmas Time, preceded the January 2019 release of their seventh long-player, Aeonic. Later that year the ensemble issued the compilation The Gospel Collection, gathering selections that highlight their gospel material.