Biography
Chuck Nation, originating from Georgia, grew up steeped in bluegrass that he later characterized as a kind of brainwashing. Drawn southward in search of wider recognition, he established himself on the bluegrass circuits of Louisiana and Florida. His résumé includes work with the Bluegrass Alliance and the Deep River Boys. Self-taught on more than six instruments, he has performed the music since age sixteen, although the fiddle remains his primary focus.
While Louisiana schoolchildren memorize the date of statehood, 1984 is when Nation, at his father’s urging, entered the Louisiana State Fiddlers’ Championship. First prize delivered a $500 check that arrived at an opportune moment, as he was then unemployed. The victory brought no steady employment, however, because the accordion had already supplanted the fiddle in Cajun music by the 1980s. Bluegrass itself never took firm hold in the state, overshadowed by Cajun, zydeco, New Orleans jazz, rock & roll, and other regional styles; this musical landscape may have prompted his move to the Florida parishes. There he participated in the small but existing Louisiana bluegrass community alongside mandolinist Luke Thompson, one of two brothers credited with planting bluegrass roots in Cajun country. In 1968 Nation played guitar with Thompson and the Green Valley Cutups at the first bluegrass festival ever staged in Louisiana, joined by banjoist Allen Shelton. From 1970 through 1974 he continued on guitar in a quartet that also featured Thompson, bassist Johnny Rushing, and banjoist Dennie Blunt.
After relocating to Florida, Nation frequently collaborated with Georgia-based groups, among them the Country Comfort band, with whom he recorded and performed in 1992. His wife, Susan Nation, plays bass in the ensemble, and Jim Pankey plays banjo. In 1998 he joined a reconstituted Bluegrass Alliance that included banjoist Barry Palmer, guitarist Johnny Martin, mandolinist Tom Hicks, and bassist La Rita Buchanan. The band’s membership has always turned over regularly; its original roster counted Vince Gill, Sam Bush, Tony Rice, and Dan Crary among its alumni. That earlier edition released nine albums, toured nationally, and appeared nearly a dozen times at the Grand Ole Opry. The present Atlanta-based lineup continues the name.
Outside music, Nation works as an ordained Baptist minister and part-time carpenter. He also offers private lessons on every instrument he plays, an activity that alone fills his calendar.
While Louisiana schoolchildren memorize the date of statehood, 1984 is when Nation, at his father’s urging, entered the Louisiana State Fiddlers’ Championship. First prize delivered a $500 check that arrived at an opportune moment, as he was then unemployed. The victory brought no steady employment, however, because the accordion had already supplanted the fiddle in Cajun music by the 1980s. Bluegrass itself never took firm hold in the state, overshadowed by Cajun, zydeco, New Orleans jazz, rock & roll, and other regional styles; this musical landscape may have prompted his move to the Florida parishes. There he participated in the small but existing Louisiana bluegrass community alongside mandolinist Luke Thompson, one of two brothers credited with planting bluegrass roots in Cajun country. In 1968 Nation played guitar with Thompson and the Green Valley Cutups at the first bluegrass festival ever staged in Louisiana, joined by banjoist Allen Shelton. From 1970 through 1974 he continued on guitar in a quartet that also featured Thompson, bassist Johnny Rushing, and banjoist Dennie Blunt.
After relocating to Florida, Nation frequently collaborated with Georgia-based groups, among them the Country Comfort band, with whom he recorded and performed in 1992. His wife, Susan Nation, plays bass in the ensemble, and Jim Pankey plays banjo. In 1998 he joined a reconstituted Bluegrass Alliance that included banjoist Barry Palmer, guitarist Johnny Martin, mandolinist Tom Hicks, and bassist La Rita Buchanan. The band’s membership has always turned over regularly; its original roster counted Vince Gill, Sam Bush, Tony Rice, and Dan Crary among its alumni. That earlier edition released nine albums, toured nationally, and appeared nearly a dozen times at the Grand Ole Opry. The present Atlanta-based lineup continues the name.
Outside music, Nation works as an ordained Baptist minister and part-time carpenter. He also offers private lessons on every instrument he plays, an activity that alone fills his calendar.
Albums