Rickie Simpkins

Rickie Simpkins took up the fiddle at age six and has since distinguished himself as a commanding player on the instrument, appearing across a vast catalog of recordings. Raised in Montgomery County, Virginia, amid his family’s Appalachian musical heritage, he acquired the banjo, guitar, and fiddle during childhood and, at nine, performed alongside Flatt & Scruggs. After finishing high school, the McPeak Brothers recruited him as a permanent member, a position he held through the 1970s and into the early 1980s. He later joined the Virginia Squires, becoming part of one of the most celebrated bluegrass ensembles on the festival circuit; the group issued the widely praised album The Heights of Grass in the early 1980s. Time spent with the Tony Rice Unit, which merged traditional bluegrass and jazz, further established his reputation for technical brilliance. That standing led to his first solo project, 1997’s Dancing on the Fingerboard, where he performed with an all-star bluegrass lineup, played fiddle and mandolin, sang lead vocals, and began writing songs drawn from his own experiences. By the late 1990s he was dividing his schedule between the Lonesome River Band and the gospel ensemble the Isaacs while also contributing session work for Mary Chapin Carpenter and Randy Scruggs. His second solo album, Don’t Fret It, appeared in 2002, again featuring leading bluegrass musicians and highlighting his signature instrumental command.