Darrin Vincent (mandolin, bass, guitar, lead and harmony vocals) started singing at age three and playing music at age six as part of his family band, The Sally Mountain Show, along with sister Rhonda Vincent. As a member of Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for the past ten years, Darrin has won five Grammy Awards (Ancient Tones, Soldier of the Cross, "A Simple Life," Brand New Strings, Instrumentals) and eight IBMA Awards for Instrumental Group of the Year. He also performed on Grammy-winning albums by Dolly Parton (The Grass is Blue) and Jimmy Sturr (Top of the World). He has performed and recorded with a multitude of other artists including Nora Jones, Emmylou Harris, Earl Scruggs, Bruce Hornsby, Vince Gill, John Hartford and Keith Urban. Darrin earned three Grammy nominations for co-producing Rhonda Vincent's One Step Ahead, Ragin' Live and All American Bluegrass Girl. His other production credits include Susie Luchsinger's Dove Award-nominated Count It All Joy, The Cherryholmes' Bluegrass Vagabonds, and Hunter Berry's IBMA-nominated Wow Baby.
Joe Dean, Jr. (banjo, guitar, bass vocals) is the youngest in the group, born on July 18, 1989, in St. Louis, Missouri. He gained an interest in music at the age of five after watching The Eagles reunion tour on television. He soon began taking guitar lessons. At the age of 10 he picked up the mountain dulcimer and won the Illinois State Dulcimer contest at age 11. Joe became interested in bluegrass at the age of 12, when he started playing mandolin. At 13 he picked up the banjo.
Joe played with a few local groups in the St. Louis area including the Rosa Stringworks Band. In 2004, he stepped in to play mandolin for Bull Harman's band, Bullseye. Joe played for Bull until the end of 2006, when he took a job with Barry Scott. Barry was forming his band and needed a banjo player and bass vocalist.
Jeff Parker (mandolin, guitar, harmony vocals) is a proud Kentucky native who learned to play guitar from his father, Vester, when he was just 6 years old. After tackling the guitar, he moved on to other instruments, until at age 12 he was inspired by Harold Russell of the Russell Brothers to play mandolin. Soon after, Jeff joined his dad and other family members, playing at area churches and radio stations, and they became known as the Sounds of Gospel.
When he was 19, Jeff left the Sounds of Gospel and joined Train 45, The Bluegrass Drifters, and other acts. He then became a member of Renfro Valley Entertainment Center, where he played mandolin, guitar, banjo and fiddle and sang harmony vocals in the staff band from 1986 to 1994. He also performed with The Parker Brothers, a featured bluegrass act at Renfro Valley. They were named Best Bluegrass Band at Renfro in 1992. In 1994 Jeff was awarded Best Harmony Singer, and in 1991 he was named Best Instrumentalist. After leaving Renfro Valley, Jeff spent five years in the group Wilderness Trail, which he formed with his brother Mike.
In October 2001 Jeff joined The Lonesome River Band as mandolin player and tenor singer. He spent the next five years with LRB and recorded three albums with them.
Jesse Stockman (fiddle) was born June 17, 1977, in Deming, New Mexico. He started playing fiddle at age 8, and went on to become New Mexico State Fiddle Champion four years in a row. After he married, Jesse moved to Arizona to play with a local band, Patti Bell and the Arizona Jamboree. He entered and won the Arizona State Fiddle Championship, Four Corners Mandolin Championship, and Four Corners Regional Flat Pick Guitar Championship. While in Arizona Jesse and his good friend, Jess Barry, formed a bluegrass band called Crucial County. It was while performing with Crucial County in Arizona that Jesse was approached by Doyle Lawson and offered a fiddle job with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. Jesse moved to Tennessee in March 2002 and stayed with Lawson for the next 3 and ˝ years. In August 2005, Jesse began playing fiddle with The Isaacs. While with The Isaacs, Jesse performed on many Gaither videos, traveled to Africa, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Ireland, and performed on several cruises. He also had the privilege of playing with Vince Gill, George Jones, Josh Turner and many others. Jesse and his wife Amanda have three children--Hannah, 10; James, 6; and Oliver who just turned one year old.
