Sammy Shelor is the banjo player and leader of the Lonesome River Band, which he joined in 1990. He grew up in a southwest Virginia banjo family whose line runs back to Charlie Poole. He won IBMA Banjo Player of the Year four years in a row, 1995 to 1998, and again in 2012. He won the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass in 2011.
Why Shelor matters
Shelor won four straight IBMA banjo awards in the 1990s with the Lonesome River Band. His playing is modern but built on Scruggs, Crowe, and Osborne. He also kept the band going through many lineup changes for more than 30 years.
Life and career
Shelor grew up in Ferrum, Virginia. Charlie Poole taught his grandfather the banjo, and his grandfather taught him. When Shelor was four, his grandfather made him a banjo from a pressure cooker lid. He started playing at five and joined his first band, the Posey Boyd family band, at 16. In 1980 and 1981 he played with Interstate Exchange and the Heights of Grass, becoming a full-time professional at 19.
The Heights of Grass grew into the Virginia Squires, with Rickie and Ronnie Simpkins. Shelor played six years with the band, which recorded for Rebel in the mid-1980s. In 1990 he joined the Lonesome River Band. In 1992 he spent six months with the country group Matthews, Wright and King and toured with Reba McEntire. When founder Tim Austin left the band in 1995, Shelor and Ronnie Bowman took over its management. He has run the band himself since Bowman left in 2000.
He won IBMA Banjo Player of the Year in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998. His solo album Leading Roll came out on Sugar Hill in 1997. He shared IBMA Instrumental Album of the Year in 2001 for Knee Deep in Bluegrass. He joined the Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame in 2009, won the Steve Martin Prize in 2011, and took his fifth IBMA banjo award in 2012. In 2013 he played on Alan Jackson’s bluegrass album.
Playing style
Shelor patterned his playing on J.D. Crowe, Earl Scruggs, and Sonny Osborne. He talks about drive as the core of bluegrass banjo. He has a signature banjo model and signature finger picks.
Influences and legacy
Shelor learned from his grandfather and from the Crowe, Scruggs, and Osborne records. He played beside Ronnie Bowman, Tim Austin, and Kenny Smith in the Lonesome River Band. He teaches through AcuTab books and DVDs and at workshops.
Signature tunes and songs
Long Gone Mississippi Sawyer.
Essential recordings
Carrying the Tradition, Lonesome River Band (Rebel, 1991) Old Country Town, Lonesome River Band (Sugar Hill, 1994) Leading Roll (Sugar Hill, 1997) Finding the Way, Lonesome River Band (Sugar Hill, 1998)
Awards and honors
IBMA Banjo Player of the Year (1995) IBMA Banjo Player of the Year (1996) IBMA Banjo Player of the Year (1997) IBMA Banjo Player of the Year (1998) SPBGMA Banjo Performer of the Year (1999, 2002, 2004, 2014) IBMA Instrumental Album of the Year, Knee Deep in Bluegrass (2001) Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame (2009) Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass (2011) IBMA Banjo Player of the Year (2012)
Watch and listen
Shelor plays Mississippi Sawyer at the Galax Fiddlers Convention.
Here he talks about drive in bluegrass banjo.
What to learn from Shelor
Watch his talk on drive, then play Mississippi Sawyer with a metronome. The technique to steal is drive. Practice one roll at a steady tempo with a firm, even attack until it cuts through.
Sources
Sammy Shelor, Wikipedia Shelor, Sammy, BluegrassBios.com
Related players
See the banjo players hub and the bluegrass banjo guide for more pickers. Shelor built on J.D. Crowe, Earl Scruggs, and Sonny Osborne, and played with Kenny Smith in the Lonesome River Band.