IIIrd Tyme Out

Moore, bassist Ray Deaton and fiddler Mike Hartgrove left Quicksilver together in 1991, and mandolinist Alan Bibey and banjo player Terry Baucom joined them soon afterward. The name was a count: for most of the members, this was the third full-time professional band they had played in. In June 1991 the five recorded their first album, IIIrd Tyme Out, at Music Row Audio in Nashville, and Rebel issued it that year. Its “Erase the Miles” spent two months at the top of the bluegrass charts. The same lineup made Puttin’ New Roots Down for Rebel in 1992.

That December Wayne Benson came in on mandolin in place of Bibey, and Barry Abernathy took over the banjo from Baucom. With them the band recorded Grandpa’s Mandolin for Rebel, and its title track held the top of the bluegrass charts for three months. Steve Dilling then replaced Abernathy, and the band moved to Rounder. Letter to Home, its first album there, included an a cappella arrangement of the Platters’ “Only You.” Rounder went on to release the all-gospel Living on the Other Side (1996), the live Live at the MAC (1998), John & Mary (1999) and a second live set, Back to the MAC (2001).

Those were the years of the band’s seven straight Vocal Group awards, and Moore’s own singing was recognized as well: the IBMA named him Male Vocalist of the Year in 1994 and 1997, and again in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2019, six wins in all.

Benson left in 2004 to join the John Cowan Band and returned in May 2007. In the 2000s the band recorded for Chateau Music Group, and after taking Moore’s name into its billing it moved to Rural Rhythm, which issued a self-titled album in 2009 and Prime Tyme in 2011. It also made Timeless Hits from the Past… Bluegrassed for Cracker Barrel, followed by It’s About Tyme in 2015, and released singles on Pinecastle in 2024 and 2025. On 3 December 2024, Alison Krauss & Union Station announced that Moore had joined them as vocalist and guitarist for their 2025 tour.