Gaven Largent (born 1996) is a Dobro player from Winchester, Virginia. At 19 he took Rob Ickes’s place in Blue Highway. He won the IBMA’s Resophonic Guitar Player of the Year award in 2024. He also plays banjo, and he has played both instruments in the same band. This page covers his Dobro work. His banjo work has its own page.
Why Largent matters
From 1990 to 2023 the IBMA Dobro award went to only five people. In 2024 Largent became the sixth. He has also played Dobro and banjo in the same band, first with Flamekeeper and later with Dailey and Vincent.
Life and career
Largent grew up in Winchester, Virginia. He started on guitar at age eight, then took up the Dobro, and then the banjo. He played in his grandfather Max Largent’s band as a boy. As a boy he won the Dobro contest at the Old Fiddler’s Convention in Galax, Virginia, against adult players. At 13 he played the Grand Ole Opry with Rhonda Vincent.
As a teen he played with Bud’s Collective and Lonesome Highway. In 2015, at 18, he joined Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper on both banjo and Dobro. Late that year Blue Highway chose him to replace Rob Ickes. He played Dobro with Blue Highway for about three years and earned a Grammy nomination with the band for Original Traditional.
He then joined Dailey and Vincent on Dobro and banjo. He has since played with East Nash Grass, and in 2024 he won his first IBMA award. He also builds resonator guitars in his own shop.
Playing style
Dobro is Largent’s main instrument. As a boy he said he wanted to build his own style. When Michael Cleveland hired him in 2015, Cleveland said Largent had his own style on both banjo and Dobro. Largent has played the fiddle tune Fisher’s Hornpipe on Dobro with his friend Jack Dunlap.
Influences and legacy
When Largent joined Blue Highway, he named Rob Ickes as one of his idols. In East Nash Grass he plays beside banjo player Cory Walker.
Essential recordings
Original Traditional, Blue Highway (Grammy nominee)
Awards and honors
IBMA Resophonic Guitar Player of the Year (2024) Grammy nomination with Blue Highway for Original Traditional Dobro winner, Old Fiddler’s Convention, Galax, Virginia, as a boy.
Watch and listen
Largent plays a Dobie Dobro at Galax.
What to learn from Largent
Largent plays fiddle tunes on the Dobro. Learn Fisher’s Hornpipe on the Dobro. Play it with a fiddler or a recording, and match the fiddle note for note before you add your own licks.
Sources
Gaven Gravy Largent, Bluegrass Unlimited Gaven Largent ‘14, OneHandley Gaven Largent profile, VOA News (2009) Gavin Largent to Flamekeeper, Bluegrass Today Gaven Largent to Blue Highway, Bluegrass Today Blue Highway, Wikipedia Del McCoury and his boys are back on top at the IBMA awards, WMOT 35th annual IBMA Bluegrass Music Award winners, MusicRow Awards by Category, IBMA
Related players
See the Dobro players hub and the Dobro guide. Largent also has a page among the banjo players. Rob Ickes came before him in Blue Highway, and Justin Moses followed him.