Ronnie Reno

Ronnie Reno, the eldest son of bluegrass legend Don Reno, launched his professional career at age eight. The youngster frequently stood atop a milk carton to reach the microphone while performing on mandolin and guitar alongside his father. Following nearly a decade with the Don Reno Band, he chose to spend four years alongside the Osborne Brothers, during which the bluegrass group issued five albums. His initial major opportunity arrived in 1973 through an ongoing association with country star Merle Haggard, for whom he opened numerous concerts before serving as a backing musician. Across the 1970s and 1980s, Reno contributed to ten of Haggard’s albums and penned the hit song “I’ve Got a Darling” for the artist. In the same period he cut his debut release, For the First Time, for MCA Records. Early in the 1990s he united with his younger brothers to create the Reno Brothers, whose recordings began with the 1992 album Kentucky Gold and concluded with 1998’s Three Part Harmony on Pinecastle Records; the ensemble earned an International Bluegrass Music Association Award nomination in 1997. While contributing to projects by Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Conway Twitty, Reno completed his second album, Portfolio, in 2002.