Butch Robins
Musician · Lebanon, Virginia
Best known for
Banjo
Butch Robins is a Virginia-born banjoist whose four-year tenure with Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys (1977–1981) and a string of ambitious solo records — "Forty Years Late," "Fragments of My Imagination," "The Fifth Child" — placed him among the most musically restless players of his generation.
- Born Joseph Calvin Robins on May 12, 1949 in Lebanon, Russell County, Virginia.
- Played electric bass in New Grass Revival, earning the distinction of being "the one and only New Grass / Blue Grass Boy."
- Played banjo for Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys 1977–1981, performing at the White House and Lincoln Center during his tenure.
- Released landmark solo banjo albums including "Forty Years Late" (1977), "Fragments of My Imagination" (1978), and "The Fifth Child" (1980), the latter widely regarded as a high-water mark for progressive bluegrass banjo.
- Sideman credits in the 1970s with Charlie Moore, Jim & Jesse, and Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper.
- Founded Hay Holler Records and led the reformed Bluegrass Band from 1989; in 2007 created the World International Blue Grass Band.
- Author of the autobiography "What I Know 'Bout What I Know"; nominated for IBMA's Print Media Personality of the Year in 2004.
- Inducted into the Bill Monroe Bluegrass Hall of Fame at Bean Blossom, Indiana on September 24, 2016. Longtime banjo instructor at the Tennessee Banjo Institute, Augusta Heritage Center, and Camp Ausgrass.
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The Bluegrass BandPlayed on recordings with The Bluegrass Band
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Bill Monroe and James MonroePlayed on recording with Bill Monroe and James Monroe
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Charlie MoorePlayed on recording with Charlie Moore
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Wilma Lee and Stoney CooperPlayed on recording with Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper