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J.D. Crowe and the New South

Band · Active 1971–2021 · Lexington, Kentucky · jdcrowe.org
Classic Bluegrass

J.D. Crowe and the New South was the band that defined modern traditional bluegrass — a Kentucky-based group whose 1975 debut album (known by its Rounder Records catalog number "0044") is widely considered one of the greatest bluegrass records ever made. Led for 50 years by the impeccable banjo playing of J.D. Crowe, the New South served as a finishing school for a remarkable roster of future bluegrass and country stars.

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  • James Dee Crowe (August 27, 1937 – December 24, 2021), born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky; had a musical conversion experience at age 12 watching Earl Scruggs at the WVLK Kentucky Mountain Barn Dance in September 1949.
  • Joined Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys at age 18 in 1955 and spent five years as Martin's banjo player — forever shaping the hard-driving, timing-perfect "Jimmy Martin banjo" style that bears his influence.
  • Returned to Lexington in 1961 and formed the Kentucky Mountain Boys, which by the mid-1960s included Doyle Lawson and Red Allen; their 1968 album Bluegrass Holiday was named for the band's regular gig at the Holiday Inn North.
  • Secured a six-nights-a-week residency at the Red Slipper Lounge in Lexington's Holiday Inn North starting in 1968 — a rare case of bluegrass being played in an upscale venue to college audiences.
  • Renamed the band The New South in 1971 to signal a new musical direction; early recordings including Bluegrass Evolution experimented with drums and electric instruments.
  • In late 1974, the classic lineup came together: Crowe (banjo), Tony Rice (guitar, lead vocals), Ricky Skaggs (mandolin, fiddle, tenor vocals), Bobby Slone (bass), and Jerry Douglas (Dobro) guesting for the studio sessions.
  • Recorded J.D. Crowe and the New South (Rounder 0044) in January 1975 — a landmark album that inducted into the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2024 and the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2025.
  • The band became a training ground for future stars: Doyle Lawson, Red Allen, Larry Rice, Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas, Jimmy Gaudreau, Keith Whitley, Glenn Lawson, Wendy Miller, Harley Allen, and many others passed through its ranks.
  • Keith Whitley's late-1970s and early-1980s tenure with the New South, recorded on My Home Ain't in the Hall of Fame (1979) and Somewhere Between (1982), launched his successful country career.
  • The band won a Grammy in 1983 for their instrumental "Fireball"; won IBMA Album of the Year in 2007 for Lefty's Old Guitar.
  • Crowe also co-founded the Bluegrass Album Band in 1980 with Tony Rice, Doyle Lawson, Bobby Hicks, and Todd Phillips — a recording supergroup that released six influential traditional bluegrass albums through 1996.
  • Inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2003; died of pneumonia in Nicholasville, Kentucky, on Christmas Eve 2021 at age 84.
  • J.D. Crowe
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Bobby Slone
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Tony Rice
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Jerry Douglas
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Keith Whitley
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Ricky Skaggs
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Steve Bryant
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Jimmy Gaudreau
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Doug Jernigan
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Phil Leadbetter
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Curt Chapman
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Larry Rice
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Don Rigsby
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Dwight McCall
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Randy Howard
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Richard Bennett
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Rickey Wasson
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Buddy Spicher
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Doyle Lawson
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Glen Duncan
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Greg Luck
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Harold Nixon
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Ron Stewart
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Wendy Miller
    Played on recordings with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Bonny Beverly
    Played on recording with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Brian Stephens
    Played on recording with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Bryn Davies
    Played on recording with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Cia Cherryholmes
    Played on recording with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Glenn Lawson
    Played on recording with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Jack Solomon
    Played on recording with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Jimmy Ashby
    Played on recording with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Pete Wade
    Played on recording with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Randy Best
    Played on recording with J.D. Crowe and the New South
  • Sharon Gilchrist
    Played on recording with J.D. Crowe and the New South

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