Stephen Mougin, known to most pickers as Mojo, has held the guitar and harmony vocal chair in the Sam Bush Band since 2006. That is 20 years beside the father of newgrass. Off the road he runs Dark Shadow Recording, a studio and label near Nashville, and he has won IBMA Sound Engineer of the Year twice. He released his first solo album, Ordinary Soul, in 2020.
Why Mougin matters
Mougin is the model for a working bluegrass guitarist who does more than take breaks. He sings, plays mandolin, writes, produces, engineers, and teaches. In the Sam Bush Band he holds down rhythm under Bush’s mandolin, and that rhythm job is the one most jammers need to learn. His own records show how a guitarist can serve a song instead of a genre.
Life and career
Mougin grew up in rural western Massachusetts. His father took up guitar when Stephen was five. By age six Stephen was picking and singing at local jams and playing in bluegrass bands. He studied music education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a focus on voice. After college he taught school music in Massachusetts.
He moved to Nashville in 2002. In 2005 he started Dark Shadow Recording in a home studio. In 2006 Sam Bush needed a new guitarist, and banjo player Scott Vestal recommended Mougin. He got the job and has kept it since. He plays guitar, mandolin, and sings on Bush’s Circles Around Me (2009) and Storyman (2016).
In 2009 Dark Shadow grew into a record label with a line of instructional CDs. That same year Mougin formed the duo Nedski and Mojo with banjo player Ned Luberecki. Their album Nothing More came out in 2010. Mougin began producing Becky Buller in 2014, and that work brought him three IBMA awards as a producer.
His solo debut, Ordinary Soul, came out on Dark Shadow Recording on July 31, 2020. He wrote or co-wrote most of the twelve songs. Sam Bush plays on Railroad Man, and the guest list includes the Gibson Brothers, Becky Buller, and Ned Luberecki. In 2023 he and Luberecki released a jam-along course through TrueFire. In 2025 he won his second Sound Engineer of the Year award.
Playing style
Mougin plays rhythm first. He has said his goal is to play for the song rather than paste a stock bluegrass take onto every chart. In the Sam Bush Band that means a big, steady rhythm guitar that gives Bush room to stretch. His lead breaks stay close to the melody and leave space for the vocal.
He is a singer as much as a guitarist. His vocal models are Lester Flatt and Frank Sinatra, and he values singers who sound like they are telling a story. He still plays a guitar his father built in 1988.
Influences and legacy
Mougin came up in New England bluegrass jams. Scott Vestal brought him into the Sam Bush Band, and two decades beside Sam Bush shaped how he plays with a band. He has worked with Ned Luberecki as a duo partner for more than 15 years.
His legacy so far is in the studio and the classroom. He has produced and engineered records for Becky Buller and other Dark Shadow artists. The IBMA named him Mentor of the Year in 2016. He teaches voice, guitar, and mandolin and coaches bands.
Signature tunes and songs
Railroad Man I’m Gonna Ride New Beginnings Another Way to Get to You.
Essential recordings
Circles Around Me, Sam Bush (Sugar Hill, 2009) Nothing More, Nedski and Mojo (Dark Shadow Recording, 2010) Storyman, Sam Bush (Sugar Hill, 2016) Ordinary Soul (Dark Shadow Recording, 2020)
Awards and honors
IBMA Collaborative Recording of the Year, producer, Southern Flavor by Becky Buller (2015) IBMA Momentum Award, Mentor of the Year (2016) IBMA Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year, producer, Speakin’ to That Mountain by Becky Buller (2018) IBMA Collaborative Recording of the Year, producer, The Barber’s Fiddle by Becky Buller (2020) IBMA Sound Engineer of the Year (2020, 2025)
Watch and listen
Mougin and Ned Luberecki introduce their TrueFire jam course. Watch his right hand on the rhythm parts.
Railroad Man from Ordinary Soul, with Sam Bush on mandolin. Listen to how the guitar sits under the vocal.
What to learn from Mougin
Learn Railroad Man as a song, not as a guitar piece. Sing it and play rhythm at the same time. The technique to steal is his rhythm under a soloist. Put on Circles Around Me, pick a Sam Bush mandolin break, and play along with only boom-chuck rhythm. Keep the bass notes clear and the strums light. A jam needs that player more than it needs another hot break.
Sources
Bio, Stephen Mougin Press kit, Stephen Mougin Stephen Mougin, IBMA award recipients Stephen Mougin, Dark Shadow Recording Nedski and Mojo, Dark Shadow Recording 20 things you didn’t know about Stephen Mougin, Bluegrass Today Nedski and Mojo, Nothing More CD, Dark Shadow Recording Nedski and Mojo, Nothing More, Bluegrass Today Stephen Mougin: This Mojo is workin’, Riff Journal Stephen Mougin releases Ordinary Soul, Wortman Works In the Jam with Nedski and Mojo, TrueFire Circles Around Me, Wikipedia Storyman, Wikipedia
Related players
See the guitar players hub and the guitar guide for more flatpickers. Mougin has spent 20 years beside Sam Bush and produces Becky Buller. For other guitarists who sing lead in a band, see Dan Tyminski and Russell Moore.