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Don Rigsby

Don Rigsby

Recording Artist · Active 1998–present · Also a musician
Contemporary Bluegrass Gospel

Don Rigsby is one of the most distinctive high-tenor voices in traditional bluegrass and a first-rate mandolin player — known for his long tenures with the Lonesome River Band and Longview, for his solo career, and for his decade running Morehead State University’s Kentucky Center for Traditional Music. A Kentucky-rooted singer whose style descends directly from Ralph Stanley and Keith Whitley, he has been a standard-bearer for the Eastern Kentucky bluegrass sound across more than 35 years of performing and recording.

  • Born Donald Glen Rigsby on February 18, 1968 in Isonville, Kentucky — a tiny community in Elliott County, in the Appalachian foothills of Eastern Kentucky. Cousin of Ricky Skaggs; grew up in the same region that produced Keith Whitley.
  • Learned to sing at age 5 from a 1959 tape of Ralph Stanley singing “Hills of Home” and “Little Maggie.” At age 6, taken to see Ralph Stanley perform at the Paramount Arts Center in Ashland, Kentucky; Keith Whitley, then a Clinch Mountain Boy, hoisted young Don onto his shoulders and carried him backstage to meet Ralph for the first time — a moment Don has called the start of his musical life.
  • Began playing guitar at age 12, later adding mandolin, fiddle, and dulcimer.
  • While attending Morehead State University, played mandolin in TruGrass with Johnie Lewis (banjo) and Tim Gilliam (guitar). In 1987 joined Charlie Sizemore’s bluegrass band for two years.
  • Graduated from Morehead State in 1990 and moved to Nashville, where he joined country singer Vern Gosdin’s road band.
  • First national bluegrass exposure came with the Bluegrass Cardinals (1991–1993), then J.D. Crowe and the New South (1993–1995).
  • Joined the Lonesome River Band in 1995, replacing Dan Tyminski. Stayed six years (1995–2001) alongside Ronnie Bowman, Sammy Shelor, and Kenny Smith, appearing on One Step Forward (1996), Finding the Way (1998), and Talkin’ to Myself (2000). On stage he and Kenny Smith developed the comic personas “Soup Bean” and “Cornbread.”
  • Founding member of Longview, the traditional-leaning supergroup with Dudley Connell and James King alongside Joe Mullins, Glen Duncan, and Marshall Wilborn. The band released Longview (1997), High Lonesome (1999), Lessons in Stone (2002), and Deep in the Mountains (2008).
  • Briefly filled in with the Seldom Scene following the 1996 death of John Duffey.
  • Released first solo album A Vision (1999, Sugar Hill), a bluegrass gospel set with guest support from J.D. Crowe, Ralph Stanley, Sammy Shelor, Roy Huskey Jr., and Ricky Skaggs — won the Association of Independent Music’s Gospel Album of the Year award. Five solo albums in total including Empty Old Mailbox (SPBGMA Song of the Year 2001), The Midnight Call (2003), Hillbilly Heartache (2006), and The Voice of God.
  • Recorded two Appalachian-brother-duet-style albums with Dudley Connell: Meet Me by the Moonlight (1999) and Another Saturday Night (2001).
  • In 2001, became the first full-time director of Morehead State University’s Kentucky Center for Traditional Music — a position he held through 2010. Taught vocal harmony for the Traditional Music minor and coordinated workshops and touring programs.
  • Won IBMA Recorded Event of the Year and Album of the Year awards in 2005 as producer of Larry Sparks’s 40. Two-time Grammy nominee, two-time SPBGMA Traditional Male Vocalist of the Year. 1999 Bluegrass Now Fans’ Choice Vocal Tenor of the Year.
  • Also leads Midnight Call and in 2016 founded Flashback with former J.D. Crowe New South members Richard Bennett, Phil Leadbetter, and Curt Chapman. Still lives in Isonville, Kentucky.

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