Edgar Loudermilk functions as a bassist and composer within bluegrass, having accumulated years of experience supporting established performers before stepping forward to front his own ensemble. His work remains rooted in longstanding traditions yet features a relaxed melodic quality that adds a contemporary edge to the playing. His initial recognition as a bassist came through stints alongside Rhonda Vincent, Full Circle, and IIIrd Tyme Out, although the 2011 solo debut Roads Travelled demonstrated his parallel ability as a songwriter comfortable within classic bluegrass frameworks. The 2019 release Lonesome Riverboat Blues then highlighted growing assurance from Loudermilk and his group in both execution and shaping of material.
Bluegrass lineage runs through Edgar Loudermilk by way of his distant relation to the renowned close-harmony pair Ira & Charlie Louvin, whose original surname was Loudermilk before adopting the stage name Louvin. His own family maintained a band that he entered at age nine. Upon reaching twenty he departed that family unit to work with Carolina Crossfire. What had begun as music pursued purely for enjoyment turned professional once Carolina Crossfire achieved sufficient traction. In 2001 he left Carolina Crossfire to join the touring ensemble of mandolin virtuoso and vocalist Rhonda Vincent. One year afterward he shifted to vocalist Marty Raybon, previously of the country ensemble Shenandoah, in the bluegrass outfit Full Circle. Another opening arrived in 2007 when he was engaged as bassist and tenor vocalist with the established bluegrass group IIIrd Tyme Out.
Loudermilk initiated his solo path in 2011 via the album Roads Travelled, on which he composed eleven tracks, handled bass, and delivered tenor vocals with support from guitarist Shane Blackwell and mandolinist Ashby Frank, both drawn from Full Circle, along with fiddler Tim Crouch, Dobro player Randy Kohrs, and banjoist Scott Haas. Guest vocal appearances came from Rhonda Vincent and Marty Raybon. His follow-up My Big Chance Tomorrow appeared on Mountain Fever Records in 2013; that same year he began performing as a duo with guitarist and singer Dave Adkins, whose joint project Adkins and Loudermilk Mountain Fever issued in 2015.
By 2016 Loudermilk had assembled the ongoing Edgar Loudermilk Band featuring Jeff Autry, with Loudermilk on bass, Jeff Autry handling vocals and guitar, Zack Autry on mandolin, Dylan Armour on Dobro guitar, and Curtis Bumgarner on banjo. Although the 2016 album Georgia Maple, issued by the bluegrass label Pinecastle Records, carried only Edgar Loudermilk’s name, most members of the new band participated in the sessions, and the recording earned favorable notice within bluegrass circles. In 2018 Loudermilk and the group delivered the Pinecastle single “It’s a Way of Life That Stands the Test of Time,” after which they moved to the Rural Rhythm imprint for the 2019 album Lonesome Riverboat Blues. ~ Mark Deming
