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This week on Mandolin Mondays we're joined by Floyd, VA, mandolinist and guitarist of the Lonesome River Band, Jesse Smathers, playing the "Methodist Preacher" on his Hinde mandolin.



Jesse began playing the guitar at age 11, picked up the mandolin at 15, and was heavily influenced by the music of Lonesome River Band. In 2009, he won the guitar championship of the Virginia Folk Music Association. The following year, he began his career as a touring musician with the James King Band, playing mandolin and singing tenor and high baritone, and later rejoined the band performing guitar and vocals. In 2013, High Voltage, featuring Jesse as the lead vocalist, won first place in the bluegrass band category at the Galax Old Time Fiddler’s Convention.

In 2014, Jesse joined Nothin’ Fancy. The same year, he was also inducted in Phi Mu Alpha, a music fraternity, as a Sinfonian, joining such greats as John Phillip Sousa, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Andy Griffith. The Lonesome River Band welcomed him to the group as a mandolin player and lead and tenor vocalist in 2015, and Jesse won the 2017 IBMA Momentum Award for Vocalist of the Year. Mayhayley's House, LRB's second album to feature Jesse, was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2019 IBMA Awards.

Jesse now resides in Floyd, Virginia. He now performs on guitar with Lonesome River Band, and he's also a member of the core faculty at the Handmade Music School, the Floyd Country Store's traditional music school. Jesse's self-titled solo debut came out last year and is definitely worth a listen: https://jessesmathers.hearnow.com/

He also just released the first single from his new album coming out next year--check it out here: https://singdarlingsing.hearnow.com/...GiMzQRzNG50ud8

Be sure to connect with Jesse at the links below for more info about his music:

https://www.jessesmathers.com/home
https://www.facebook.com/jessesmathers
http://instagram.com/smathdaddymusic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FPxlKtZSiI
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6OSCcUWgUcPBorlVhR2K3c

And as always, tune in next week for more Mandolin Mondays! Until then...

Happy Picking!
David