Tristan Scroggins is a mandolin player, composer, teacher, and writer. He is the son of banjo player Jeff Scroggins, who won the National Bluegrass Banjo Championship at Winfield in 1989. At 14 Tristan started touring full time with his father in Jeff Scroggins and Colorado, and he stayed on the road with them for about ten years. He won the IBMA Momentum Award for Instrumentalist of the Year in 2017 and was nominated for IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year in 2021. He moved to Nashville in January 2018.
Why Scroggins matters
Scroggins has become one of the leading voices for crosspicking on the mandolin, the rolling style that Jesse McReynolds invented. His EP Fancy Boy pays tribute to the technique on five classic tunes. He is also a student of bluegrass history and a generous teacher, breaking down great breaks by Doyle Lawson, Ronnie McCoury, and others in long video lessons. For a picker who wants to understand why a break works, he is a great guide.
Life and career
Scroggins grew up around bluegrass, with his father playing banjo in several bands. He picked up the mandolin at eight, after finding the banjo too big for his small hands. He won several state championships before age 16. At 13 he played on his father’s first album, Five Strings, Four Corners.
In 2009 father and son moved to Colorado’s Front Range, and they soon formed Jeff Scroggins and Colorado so they could play together. Tristan began touring full time at 14. The band headlined festivals across the United States and in France, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Ireland, England, Australia, and Canada. In 2017 the IBMA gave Tristan its Momentum Award for Instrumentalist of the Year.
In January 2018 he moved to Nashville. He works as a mandolinist for hire, composer, producer, archivist, and writer, and he writes about bluegrass history for Bluegrass Today. He formed a duo with San Francisco violinist Alisa Rose. He teaches online group classes and through Patreon, and he was nominated for IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year in 2021.
Playing style
Scroggins is known for a raw, driving groove and for crosspicking. In crosspicking he holds a chord shape and rolls the pick across three strings in a steady pattern, with the melody on top. His versions of tunes like Big Sandy River, East Tennessee Blues, and Salt Spring show how much variety the technique can hold.
He is also a deep student of the tradition. His video lessons dissect famous breaks note by note, and his own playing draws on that study, mixing Monroe drive, McReynolds rolls, and modern ideas.
Influences and legacy
Scroggins learned from his father, Jesse McReynolds’s crosspicking, and the great breaks of Doyle Lawson and Ronnie McCoury, which he has taught in detail. He played for years beside Greg Blake and Mark Schatz in Jeff Scroggins and Colorado.
He has played duets with Molly Tuttle.
Signature tunes and songs
Big Sandy River Chinquapin Hunting Cherokee Shuffle Homer the Roamer.
Essential recordings
Five Strings, Four Corners, with Jeff Scroggins (2008) Fancy Boy (EP)
Awards and honors
IBMA Momentum Award, Instrumentalist of the Year (2017) IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year nominee (2021)
Watch and listen
Scroggins crosspicks Big Sandy River. Watch the right hand roll across three strings.
Scroggins and Molly Tuttle play Cherokee Shuffle.
What to learn from Scroggins
Learn crosspicking with Big Sandy River. Start with your right hand alone on a G chord, picking down, down, up across three strings until the pattern is even. Then add the melody one note at a time. Scroggins’s lessons show that crosspicking is a skill you can build a little at a time, and once it clicks it changes how you hear every tune.
Sources
Learning to play mandolin instruction with Tristan Scroggins, Bluegrass Unlimited Tristan Scroggins, Puget Sound Guitar Workshop Having a coffee with Jeff Scroggins, Bluegrass Today Dancing about architecture with Tristan Scroggins, The Tonearm Nashville mandolinist Tristan Scroggins, Acousticult 2021 IBMA award winners list, American Songwriter Walnut Valley Festival winners archive, alphabetical (PDF)
Related players
See the mandolin players hub and the mandolin guide. Scroggins carries on Jesse McReynolds’s crosspicking. He has taught breaks by Doyle Lawson and Ronnie McCoury. Dominick Leslie is another leading player of his generation.