Biography
Placing equal weight on spiritual conviction and musical performance, the Christian bluegrass ensemble Summer Brooke & Mountain Faith formed in Sylva, North Carolina. The McMahan family launched the project in 2000, originally calling it Mountain Faith; bassist Sam McMahan teamed with his children Summer Brooke McMahan on fiddle and vocals plus Brayden McMahan on banjo. For an extended period the act remained regional, appearing at bluegrass festivals across North Carolina and nearby states while Sam divided his time between music and a tire shop–convenience store he ran with his brother; both Summer and Brayden later joined the store’s staff as well. Guitarists Luke Dotson and John Robert Morgan, a cousin of the McMahans, completed the lineup.
Mountain Faith entered the annual talent contest at RenoFest in South Carolina during 2011 and finished third. Later that year Crossroads Records issued the band’s debut album, Save Me. Battlefield arrived in 2013, and mandolinist Cory Piatt joined in 2014. National visibility arrived in 2015 when the group was chosen for America’s Got Talent; their reading of OneRepublic’s “Counting Stars” reached a coast-to-coast audience, they advanced to the semifinals, and elimination followed a cover of the Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face.” By year’s end they had signed with Mountain Fever Records, which released That Which Matters.
Dotson and Morgan departed in 2016, after which Nick Dauphinais took the guitar chair. As media attention increasingly centered on Summer Brooke McMahan, the ensemble adopted the billing Summer Brooke & Mountain Faith. That name first appeared on the August 2017 release Small Town Life, whose single was “Umbrella.” The album initially came out as a Special Acoustic Edition performed in classic bluegrass style; two months later a second version added percussion and keyboards for a contemporary-country flavor.
Mountain Faith entered the annual talent contest at RenoFest in South Carolina during 2011 and finished third. Later that year Crossroads Records issued the band’s debut album, Save Me. Battlefield arrived in 2013, and mandolinist Cory Piatt joined in 2014. National visibility arrived in 2015 when the group was chosen for America’s Got Talent; their reading of OneRepublic’s “Counting Stars” reached a coast-to-coast audience, they advanced to the semifinals, and elimination followed a cover of the Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face.” By year’s end they had signed with Mountain Fever Records, which released That Which Matters.
Dotson and Morgan departed in 2016, after which Nick Dauphinais took the guitar chair. As media attention increasingly centered on Summer Brooke McMahan, the ensemble adopted the billing Summer Brooke & Mountain Faith. That name first appeared on the August 2017 release Small Town Life, whose single was “Umbrella.” The album initially came out as a Special Acoustic Edition performed in classic bluegrass style; two months later a second version added percussion and keyboards for a contemporary-country flavor.
Albums
Singles
