Mike Auldridge

Recording Artist · Active 1972–2012 · Washington, D.C. · Also a musician
Contemporary Bluegrass

Mike Auldridge was the Dobro player who modernized an instrument previously regarded as archaic. As a founding member of the Seldom Scene (1971–1995) and a solo artist, his clean tone, jazz-informed phrasing, and willingness to apply the Dobro to non-bluegrass material transformed how the instrument was played. Jerry Douglas, Rob Ickes, and every modern Dobro player since has credited Auldridge as a foundational influence. Inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame twice: in 2014 with the Seldom Scene and in 2019 as a solo artist.

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  • Born in Washington, D.C., the child of a banker — one of nine children. Family moved to Kensington, Maryland when Mike was seven or eight. Uncle Ellsworth T. Cozzens was a steel guitarist who performed with Jimmie Rodgers in the 1920s — a key early influence.
  • Started playing guitar at age 13. Switched to Dobro at 17 after acquiring his first one from Josh Graves (Flatt and Scruggs's Dobro player) — Graves became his primary early influence and lifelong friend.
  • Graduated from the University of Maryland in 1967. Worked as a graphic artist for a Bethesda commercial art firm and then for the Washington Star newspaper — his day job throughout the early Seldom Scene years.
  • Played with Emerson and Waldron, Cliff Waldron and the New Shades of Grass, and briefly with the Country Gentlemen before the Seldom Scene formed.
  • Co-founded the Seldom Scene in 1971 in Bethesda, Maryland with Ben Eldridge (banjo), John Starling (guitar, lead vocals), Tom Gray (bass), and John Duffey (mandolin). The name came from the band's initial agreement to play “seldom” — one night a week at the Red Fox Inn while keeping day jobs — an arrangement that rapidly collapsed as the band became one of the most popular bluegrass groups in America.
  • Seldom Scene's 27-year Thursday-night residency at the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia (beginning 1977) made them the most consistently visible live bluegrass band in the D.C. area. Auldridge appeared on every Seldom Scene album 1972–1995.
  • Released his first solo album Dobro (Takoma, 1972) with guest appearances by Josh Graves, Vassar Clements, and David Bromberg. Follow-up Blues & Bluegrass (1974) featured cameos by Linda Ronstadt and Lowell George — his laid-back vocal on “Take Me” earned him a 1975 Grammy nomination for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.
  • Went full-time in music when the Washington Star folded in 1981. From then on, his session calendar stayed full — recorded with Linda Ronstadt, Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, and many others.
  • Worked with luthier Paul Beard to design the Beard Mike Auldridge Signature Dobros, including an 8-string version that became a standard instrument for advanced players. The 8-string allowed chord voicings and harmonic textures impossible on a standard 6-string Dobro.
  • Released Eight String Swing (Sugar Hill, 1981) — a full album of swing instrumentals including Benny Goodman's “Stompin' at the Savoy” — demonstrating how far beyond bluegrass the instrument could go.
  • Voted Best Dobro Player by Muleskinner News readers every year from 1974 to 1978, and repeatedly by Frets magazine readers.
  • Left the Seldom Scene in 1996 after 25 years. Co-founded Chesapeake (with T. Michael Coleman and Moondi Klein) for three Sugar Hill releases. Later played with Auldridge-Bennett-Gaudreau, and finally with Darren Beachley and the Legends of the Potomac.
  • Toured with Lyle Lovett's large band and Emmylou Harris's touring band in various periods.
  • Received the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship in October 2012.
  • Completed the album Three Bells with Jerry Douglas and Rob Ickes shortly before his death — the three Dobro players he'd most influenced. Released posthumously in 2014.
  • Died of prostate cancer at home in Silver Spring, Maryland on December 29, 2012 — one day before his 74th birthday.

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