A string band long established in Virginia's Blue Ridge, Big Country Bluegrass delivers an impassioned, high-spirited brand of country bluegrass infused with gospel and Appalachian elements. Across more than thirty years, the ensemble has issued well over a dozen meticulously assembled albums, among them My Old Virginia Home from 2001, Country Livin' in 2015, and Mountains, Mamas and Memories in 2019.
The group originated in the late 1980s in the mountain community of Independence, founded by mandolinist Tommy Sells and his spouse, vocalist and guitarist Teresa Sells. They adopted their title from Jimmy Martin's vintage number "Big Country" and entered the studio for the first time with 1994's 4th Time Around, presenting a classic mountain style rooted in Virginia and North Carolina traditions, marked by robust instrumental work and layered vocal harmonies. Through the 1990s and much of the following decade they worked chiefly with the Hay Holler imprint based in Blacksburg, marking two decades of activity via the 2007 release Twenty Years of Grass. Starting with The Boys in Hats & Ties in 2010, they aligned themselves with Rebel Records. While personnel experienced occasional adjustments, most of the recordings up to that juncture featured double bassist Alan Mastin, fiddler Billy Hawks, singer and guitarist Jeff Michael, and banjoist Lynwood Lunsford alongside the Sellses.
A notable roster shift preceded Country Livin' in 2015, bringing bassist Tony King, fiddler Tim Laughlin, and singer/guitarist Eddie Gill into the fold. By the time of Let Them Know I'm from Virginia in 2017, Lunsford had exited, with John Treadway assuming the banjo chair. That configuration carried through to Mountains, Mamas and Memories in 2019.
