J.D. Crowe

J.D. Crowe ranked among the foremost architects of progressive bluegrass in the 1970s thanks to his innovative banjo work. Early on he absorbed Earl Scruggs alongside rock and roll and blues influences, moving through multiple groups in the 1960s while forging a personal instrumental voice that wove together country, bluegrass, rock, and blues threads. Only in the early 1970s did national attention reach him after he assembled the New South, yet once the band issued its self-titled debut in 1972 he remained a steady presence on the bluegrass circuit for the following two decades.

Lexington, Kentucky, was both Crowe’s birthplace and childhood home; at thirteen he first took up the banjo after hearing Flatt & Scruggs perform on the Kentucky Barn Dance. Thereafter he attended their shows regularly, claiming a front-row seat to analyze Scruggs’ groundbreaking technique. Several Kentucky outfits soon employed the young player, one of them alongside Curley Parker and Pee Wee Lambert. Radio spots around Lexington led to his breakthrough in 1956 when Jimmy Martin, driving through town, heard Crowe on the air, hurried to the station, and invited him into the Sunny Mountain Boys. Crowe accepted at once and toured with Martin, frequently slipping rock and roll numbers into what had been a strict bluegrass repertoire.

Six years later, in 1962, Crowe exited the Sunny Mountain Boys to strike out alone. He worked Lexington clubs and hotels, sharpening a forward-looking bluegrass approach enriched by folk, blues, and rock. Mid-decade he formed the Kentucky Mountain Boys with Red Allen and Doyle Lawson; their first album, Bluegrass Holiday, appeared on Lemco Records in 1968. The group favored varied material yet restricted itself to acoustic instruments. Ramblin’ Boy and The Model Church followed before the band dissolved in the early 1970s.

Crowe next launched the New South, widely regarded as the era’s most radical bluegrass unit. Guitarist Tony Rice, mandolinist Ricky Skaggs, dobroist Jerry Douglas, and fiddler/bassist Bobby Sloan made up the original lineup, which delivered an expansive, electric-powered sound. Their 1975 Rounder Records release J.D. Crowe & the New South created an immediate stir and signaled a decisive evolution in the genre. Every member of that first roster later enjoyed a prominent solo career, and most departed within a few years. By decade’s end the band included guitarist/vocalist Keith Whitley, mandolinist Jimmy Gaudreau, fiddler Bobby Slone, and bassist Steve Bryant.

The 1980s found the New South cycling through personnel, with alumni returning for guest turns while Crowe cultivated emerging players, turning the group into a recognized incubator for future solo artists. In 1980 he joined Tony Rice, Bobby Hicks, Doyle Lawson, and Todd Phillips in the Bluegrass Album Band, whose occasional tours and recordings earned steady critical and popular approval. Crowe kept the New South active until 1988, when he stepped away from the road. Special one-off appearances followed, including a tour with Tony Rice, though he concentrated chiefly on studio production for developing acts.

Retirement from touring proved only partial; Crowe continued directing the New South’s shifting lineups in both live and recorded settings. Rounder Records released Flashback in 1994, Come on Down to My World in 1999, and Lefty’s Old Guitar in 2006.