Bluegrass Hall Of Honor To Induct J.D. Crowe

IBMA is proud to announce this year's inductee to the Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor is the groundbreaking and influential banjo player, J. D. Crowe.

The induction will be one of the highpoints of this year's International Bluegrass Music Awards Show slated for October 2, at the Kentucky Center for the Arts in Louisville, Kentucky.

J. D. Crowe
Born August 27, 1937

A prominent second generation bluegrass instrumentalist, J.D. Crowe first gained national attention for his superb 1956-1961 work as banjo player and baritone vocalist in Jimmy Martin’s Sunny Mountain Boys, where he participated in recording 35 of Martin’s classics, (including a later, 1963 four song session), establishing his reputation as a master of the driving, straightforward five-string banjo style and a penchant for impeccable timing. In ensuing decades he continued to influence countless players during an important solo performing and recording career.

Born James Dee Crowe and reared in Lexington, Kentucky, he began at the age of 13 learning the Earl Scruggs banjo style. In 1961 he organized The Kentucky Mountain Boys, adopting in 1971 his career band name of J.D. Crowe & The New South. Influential vocalists and musicians who were members of these groups included Red Allen, Jerry Douglas, Gene Johnson, Doyle Lawson, Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs, Bobby Slone and Keith Whitley.

During the 1980s Crowe was also a member of The Bluegrass Album Band, an all-star recording group that helped refocus attention and increase the popularity of the traditional style of bluegrass music.

Crowe’s artistic craftsmanship and attention to detail in performance and on recordings have earned him a “Grammy” from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (Country Instrumental in 1983 for “Fireball”), in addition to honors from IBMA in 1994 for Banjo Player of the Year, in 1991 for Instrumental Group and 1997 for Instrumental Album, (the latter two with the Bluegrass Album Band).

Highlight recordings include his seminal 1975 self titled J.D. Crowe & The New South featuring Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs and Bobby Slone; My Home Ain’t In The Hall of Fame (1978) featuring Keith Whitley; The Grammy nominated Flashback (1994); Bluegrass Instrumentals, Vol. 6 with the Bluegrass Album Band; and his latest album, Come on Down to My World (1999). All of the above are on Rounder Records.

Bluegrass Music’s Hall of Honor is housed in International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky. The museum is an institution devoted to the recognition of noteworthy individuals for their outstanding contributions to bluegrass music. The Hall of Honor was founded in 1991 and is the music industry's highest tribute to the pioneers of bluegrass music and the people who have made it great.

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