Mandolinist John Frazier, a founding member of Hit & Run Bluegrass, has accepted a position with The John Cowan Band.

John is a Philadelphia native, and joined Hit & Run after he moved to Colorado to attend college – where he discovered bluegrass music and the mandolin. He and his Hit & Run bandmate (and spouse) Rebecca Frazier moved from CO to Nashville earlier this year, and with John’s professional move to Cowan’s band, Hit & Run expects to accept only a limited number of dates for 2008.

Hit & Run will be recording a new tribute project for CMH Records soon, following up their appearance as part of the popular Simpsons bluegrass project, Four Finger Music – The Bluegrass Tribute to the Music Made Famous by The Simpsons. The new project will focus on bluegrass remakes of 1980’s pop classics, with songs like Take on Me, Jessie’s Girl and Everybody Wants to Rule the World planned for inclusion.

Check John Cowan’s schedule online to catch John, John and the boys near you.

UPDATE 10/19: Clarification… Before anyone gets the wrong idea, Hit & Run is still moving forward as a band. In fact, they are celebrating this week their sixth anniversary playing together.

Current lineup is Rebecca Frazier on guitar, John Frazier on mandolin, Andy Thorn on banjo, Steve Roy on bass and Tod Livingston on dobro. Livingston and the Fraziers are in Nashville, with Thorn in NC and Roy in NH.