Bryan Sutton

Guitarist Bryan Sutton came into the world near Asheville, North Carolina, in 1973. He first took up the instrument at eight years old and threw himself into rock and jazz, yet the drive and tunefulness of bluegrass ultimately claimed the greatest share of his focus. Once high school ended, he spent the next two years on the road supporting gospel singer Karen Peck, after which he became a member of the modern country-and-gospel ensemble Mid South. His arrival in Nashville opened doors to extensive studio sessions on guitar, fiddle, mandolin, and banjo alike; those sessions introduced him to Ricky Skaggs, who soon added him to the lineup of Kentucky Thunder. Although his time alongside Skaggs kept him fully occupied, Sutton still managed to collaborate with Aubrey Haynie, Jerry Douglas, Don Rigsby, Bobby Hicks, and Hayseed. He left Kentucky Thunder in the first months of 1999, then recorded with Rhonda Vincent, the Dixie Chicks, and Dolly Parton, earning the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Guitar Player of the Year award for 2000. Sugar Hill Records issued his debut solo album, Ready to Go, in 2000, which included contributions from Douglas, Skaggs, and Parton; two years later came the quieter Bluegrass Guitar. Not Too Far from the Tree followed on the same label in 2006. Guests on the 2009 release Almost Live included Sam Bush, Béla Fleck, and Jerry Douglas. Five years afterward he delivered the studio album Into My Own, and The More I Learn appeared in 2016.