Clay Russell

He comes from Troutdale, Virginia, and grew up around the music: his father played in a bluegrass band and his grandfather played too. After he got a small banjo one Christmas, his father taught him, and lessons followed. Once he moved into the three-finger style he began entering fiddlers’ conventions, and it was at one of them that he met his future bandmates; the band started as a competition group.

In October 2015 he won the first Scott Street Five String Finals, a contest for Virginia banjo players aged 18 and under held at the Richmond Folk Festival and judged by Sammy Shelor among others. The prize was a Huber Workhorse banjo and a mentorship with Shelor. At the time he was also playing with Close Kin, a youth bluegrass and old-time group in southwestern Virginia directed by Johnny Williams.

Shadowgrass was the IBMA Youth Council showcase band in 2016 and was featured on the public radio program American Routes, on which Russell, then 17, described his start. The lineup later grew to include the fiddler and singer Madison Morris and the bassist Evan Campfield, and the band released its self-titled debut album in 2022 and All That Will in 2024.