Steeldrivers win Grammy Award

Published 2:41 pm Tuesday, February 16, 2016

The Steeldrivers, who capped the Greenville Area Arts Council’s 34th season back in January, took home the 2016 Grammy Awards Best Bluegrass Album trophy Monday for “The Muscle Shoals Recordings.”

“I guess four is the charmer!” said Tammy Rogers.

The band, which an International Bluegrass Music Association Award for “Emerging Artist of the Year in 2009 with Chris Stapleton serving as the bands lead singer, had previously been nominated or a Grammy three times.

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For those who attended January’s performance at the historic Ritz Theatre, The Steeldrivers’ award probably comes as no surprise.

Rogers and her fellow SteelDrivers Gary Nichols, guitarist and lead vocals, Mike Fleming, bass fiddle and vocals, Richard Bailey, banjo and Brent Truitt, mandolin, shared haunting ballads and rollicking bluegrass generously tinged with soul, from “The River Runs Red” to “Where Rainbows Never Die.”

The benefits of their combined years of experience recording and performing with talents as diverse as the Rev. Al Green and the musician known as “father of bluegrass,” Bill Monroe, was amply displayed as they performed “bluegrass for people who don’t necessarily like bluegrass.”

The band received a standing ovation following its performance in the Camellia City, just less than a month before capturing its first Grammy.

The band’s former lead singer, Stapelton, also won a Grammy for Best Country Album and Best Country Solo Performance for “Traveller,” the title track of the album by the same name.

Stapleton made a name for himself with The SteelDrivers as one of the founding members of the band.