Lonesome River Band celebrated their 30th Anniversary with three album releases - CHRONOLOGY Volumes One – Three as they continue their reputation as one of the most respected names in bluegrass music. Longtime band member, Virginia Country Music Hall of Famer and multi-award winning banjo picker, Sammy Shelor (banjo and harmony vocals) has put together a wealth of talent that includes: Brandon Rickman (lead & harmony vocals and guitar); Mike Hartgrove (fiddle); Barry Reed (bass, harmony vocals); and Randy Jones (lead & harmony vocals, mandolin) all performing the distinctive LRB sound fans love.
Lonesome River Band's long career is obviously filled with a multitude of Awards and Recognitions including their 2012 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Award for Instrumental Recorded Event of the Year for their song "Angeline the Baker" from their CHRONOLOGY Volume One album on Rural Rhythm Records. Sammy Shelor received his fifth win as the 2012 IBMA Banjo Performer of the Year. The group has also received numerous other awards from IBMA including Album of the Year, along with numerous SPBGMA awards including being named Bluegrass Band of Year, Vocal Group of the Year, Song of the Year and Shelor as Banjo Player of the Year.
Sammy Shelor received the 2nd Annual Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass. Lonesome River Band with special guest Steve Martin made an appearance and performed on the Late Show with David Letterman on November 11, 2011.
This red hot group has numerous other recent album successes on the Rural Rhythm label including STILL LEARNING (2010) that included two hit singles: "Record Time Machine" and "Jack Up the Jail"; and NO TURNING BACK released in 2008 that made its debut at #11 on Billboard's Top 50 Bluegrass Album Chart and hit #1 on numerous radio album charts. The album included the #1 radio chart single, "Them Blues" that reached number #1 on both the Bluegrass Unlimited Top 30 Singles chart (July and August 2009) and the Bluegrass Music Profiles Top 30 Singles (July 2009). Just those two publications alone - LRB garnered SEVEN #1s in 2009.
The band was also part of four other albums on Rural Rhythm including GOD DIDN’T CHOOSE SIDES: CIVIL WAR TRUE STORIES ABOUT REAL PEOPLE, that made its debut at #6 on Billboard Bluegrass Album Chart; Various Artists (2013); LIFE GOES ON by the Musicians Against Childhood Cancer benefiting St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis, TN (2012) that one the 2012 IBMA Recorded Event of the Year for the title track; A BILL MONROE 100TH YEAR CELEBRATION - LIVE AT BEAN BLOSSOM (2011), produced by Sammy Shelor; plus THE ALL-STAR JAM - LIVE AT GRAVES MOUNTAIN (2010) that received four 2010 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) award nominations including ALBUM OF THE YEAR.
They received two nominations for the 2010 IBMA Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year for "Pretty Little Girl," from the album, STILL LEARNING and nominations for band members Sammy Shelor, Brandon Rickman and Mike Hartgrove's work on "Ground Speed," by The Rural Rhythm All-Stars (Rural Rhythm). LRB received a Recorded Event of the Year nomination for the song, "Graves Mountain Memories," recorded by the Rural Rhythm All-Stars (including Sammy Shelor and Mike Hartgrove) on The All-Star Jam: Live at Graves Mountain album; and band leader Sammy Shelor yet another nomination for Banjo Player of the Year, an award he received four consecutive years from 1995-1998 and 2012 by the International Bluegrass Association.
