Kenny Smith is a name known well to bluegrass fans interested in instrumental prowess. Mr. Smith has won numerous awards, including a brace of IBMA trophies for Guitar Player of the Year in 1998 and 1999. Smith currently fronts his own band with wife Amanda, The Kenny & Amanda Smith Band. One of the ingredients of a good band is good pickers, and Kenny hasn’t failed to find them.

Aaron Williams began playing at a early age, and at 9 years old he decided mandolin was going to be his instrument of choice. He began playing with Kenny and Amanda in June of 2007 at the age of 15. Aaron has developed into quite a talented young mandolin player and recently release his first solo recording project. The CD, Inside, was co-produced by the Smiths along with Aaron.

The recording features Williams on mandolin, Kenny Smith on guitar, band mate Zac McLamb on bass, and former Smith band member Joey Cox on banjo. Twelve tracks are included, all instrumental in nature.

Two of the tracks are original numbers written by the young mando player from Blacksburg, VA. Both tunes can claim attractive melodies and a sense of tastefulness not always found in players this young. I especially enjoy Seven Mile Ford.

Several traditional tunes are included such as Buffalo Gals, Done Gone and Jesse James. Two Monroe tunes found their way onto the disc, White Horse Breakdown and The Lee Weddin’ Tune.

Only one Kenny Smith composition was included, but it is one of my favorites, Me and My Farmall. This tune was first released on Kenny’s solo CD, Studebaker and captured my ear then for its wonderful melodic richness. Aaron treats the tune with finesse, playing this beautiful melody with style, grace and tone.

As a first outing for a young musician, this CD proves a musical maturity beyond his years. With youthful players like Aaron writing their material and playing the standards, bluegrass is surely safe in the hands of the next generation.

Visit for Aaron’s MySpace page for audio samples. I’m sure you can contact Aaron through that page for purchasing information, or just catch him at a live show with The Kenny & Amanda Smith Band.

And the bluegrass band scramble continues…

Joey Cox will be the newest member of Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, replacing Chris Warner who stepped in briefly when Terry Baucom left the band in March. Just 24 years old, Joey has already had a stellar bluegrass career. He has toured and recorded with both Lou Reid & Carolina and BlueRidge, and was working with Kenny & Amanda Smith when the call came in from Doyle.

Lawson has seen many band members come and go over his tenure at the helm, but was especially sorry to see Chris Warner leave.

“Chris had prior commitments in Pennsylvania which made for a very difficult and draining travel schedule. I really wish that it would have worked out with Chris, as he is an outstanding person.”

Here’s an interesting perspective: Joey wasn’t even born when Doyle Lawson left The Country Gentlemen to start his own band back in 1979. For his part, Joey grew up as a young banjo picker listening to the music of Terry Baucom and Scott Vestal, and developing his style by learning their licks from Quicksilver recordings.

“I never thought it could happen. It’s a like a dream come true. When I was a kid, me and my buddies would jam on Quicksilver tunes, and now I’ll be playing them on stage with Doyle.

It’s an honor and a great opportunity for me, and I’m really grateful for the chance.”

Joey said that he is hard at work learning all the material from the most recent Quicksilver release, More Behind The Picture Than The Wall, but was already familiar with much of Doyle’s earlier music.

Joey will be on stage with the band for their July 12 show at The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Doyle said that he sent Joey set lists and CDs, and left him one piece of advice.

“I told him he better study hard.”

Here is one more gallery of photos from Saturday at IBMA. I took these in the exhibit hall.

Cherryholmes	Jim Van Cleve	Casey Henry	Steve Huber
Megan Lynch	Reno and Rigsby	Sizemore and Lawless	Dan Miller
Murphy Henry	Tony Williams	Fank Solivan II	Joey Cox

Just ahead of the July trading deadline, Kenny & Amanda Smith have acquired Joey Cox from BlueRidge for Jason Davis, and a song to be named later. The trade was announced over the weekend by the Bluegrass Commissioner’s office.

OK… there was no trade. I made that part up. The baseball metaphor was just too delicious to resist.

But Joey Cox is headed for The Kenny & Amanda Smith Band, starting July 28 for their show in Columbus, OH at the Musician’s Against Childhood Cancer Festival. This young banjo picker first attracted attention with Lou Reid & Carolina in 2003 on their Carolina I’m Coming Home CD, but left shortly after its release to join Blue Ridge when Terry Baucom returned to Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver that summer.

Joey is featured on the current BlueRidge CD, Gettin’ Ready, and on the second Huber Banjos release, Cuppa ‘Jo.

Jason Davis, who is leaving Kenny & Amanda next week, will be filling in with BlueRidge for the short term. It is possible that he could end up with the gig full time, but Alan Bibey is still auditioning banjo pickers for the next few weeks.

Jason’s banjo will be featured on the upcoming Kenny & Amanda Smith CD on Rebel, their first all-Gospel project entitled Tell Someone. It is due for a late September release, and Tom Garber at Rebel tells us that it is “fine, fine, fine!”

He also contributes two tracks to the Cuppa ‘Jo CD from Huber.