Kurt Stephenson is a Tennessee banjo player who won the National Bluegrass Banjo Championship at Winfield, Kansas, in 2010. It was his first time at the contest. He plays banjo and sings harmony in High Fidelity, a Rebel Records band that recreates the sound of 1950s and 1960s bluegrass. Don Reno is his biggest influence.
Why Stephenson matters
Stephenson carries on the Don Reno sound. He can play the banjo parts from Reno and Smiley’s 1961 album Wanted note for note. With High Fidelity he has recorded four albums for Rebel, including Banjo Player’s Blues, with twin banjos from Stephenson and Jeremy Stephens.
Life and career
Stephenson was born in 1985 in Dyersburg, Tennessee, and grew up there. He started banjo at 9. At 11 he shook hands with Earl Scruggs, and at 12 he won first place and $50 at a banjo contest in Sardis, Tennessee. He also plays guitar, mandolin, and bass. In 2004 he made a solo album produced by Charlie Cushman.
In 2010 he went to Winfield with Jeremy Stephens for his first try at the national contest. Stephenson won, and Stephens placed third.
He plays banjo and sings second harmony in High Fidelity. The band signed with Rebel Records in 2017. He also leads his own band, Stone County Connection, and plays as a sideman around West Tennessee. In 2019 he was also working as a radiation therapist in Dyersburg.
Playing style
Stephenson plays traditional banjo built on Don Reno’s style. He also names Earl Scruggs, Little Roy Lewis, and Ralph Stanley as influences, and he admires Sammy Shelor’s work with the Lonesome River Band. He learned to play the melody first and to learn tunes at a slow tempo before speeding up. His main banjo is a 1998 Osborne Chief that Frank Neat built as a copy of Sonny Osborne’s prewar Gibson Granada.
Essential recordings
Hills and Home, High Fidelity (Rebel, 2018) Banjo Player’s Blues, High Fidelity (Rebel, 2020) Music in My Soul, High Fidelity (Rebel, 2023) Never Say Goodbye, High Fidelity (Rebel, 2026).
Awards and honors
Banjo contest, Sardis, Tennessee, first place (age 12) National Bluegrass Banjo Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, first place (2010).
Watch and listen
Stephenson’s own band, Stone County Connection, plays Rocky Top.
High Fidelity plays The Darkest Hour Is Just Before Dawn at Silver Dollar City.
What to learn from Stephenson
Pick one player and learn his records note for note. Stephenson did that with Don Reno and Reno and Smiley’s Wanted. Play the melody first, start slow, and speed up only when the tune is clean.
Sources
Kurt Stephenson interview, AcoustiCult (2019) High Fidelity, Rebel Records 20 things you didn’t know about High Fidelity, Bluegrass Today (2020) High Fidelity to Rebel Records, Bluegrass Today (2017) Banjo Player’s Blues review, Bluegrass Unlimited Kurt Stephenson profile, Pickers Paradise Walnut Valley Festival winners archive, chronological (PDF)
Related players
See the banjo players hub and the bluegrass banjo guide for more pickers. Stephenson’s playing goes back to Don Reno and Earl Scruggs. He also admires Sammy Shelor, and his banjo copies one owned by Sonny Osborne.