Kevin Richardson

Born in Pinehurst, North Carolina, in 1979, he started on banjo at five, moved to mandolin and settled on the guitar at seven, learning from the records of Tony Rice and then, at about eleven, Clarence White. He played fiddlers’ conventions as a boy, and he cites Del McCoury and Jimmy Martin as the models for his rhythm playing and singing.

In 2000 he joined Lou Reid & Carolina, led by the former Seldom Scene singer, and spent close to seven years with the band, where by his own account he learned to sing as well as play; with Reid he played the Grand Ole Opry. He joined the Larry Stephenson Band on guitar and harmony vocals in about 2008 and played on Stephenson’s 20th Anniversary (Pinecastle, 2010), with Kristin Scott Benson on banjo and Jason Barie on fiddle. He also played guitar on part of Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road’s Carolina Hurricane (Rural Rhythm, 2010).

In 2012 he left Stephenson to lead Kevin Richardson & Cuttin’ Edge, with Boyd Hulin on mandolin, Scott Burgess on bass and Chris Ward on banjo. Its self-titled album, released by Mountain Fever on August 7, 2012, was mostly the band’s own songs, with “What Kind of Love” as the first single, and the same year he was nominated for songwriter of the year by SPBGMA. Jason Hinshaw joined on fiddle that November, and the mandolinist Milom Williams II rejoined in 2013. In 2014 the band announced a second album, Son of a Simple Man, whose title song he based on his grandfather.

In August 2014 he rejoined the Larry Stephenson Band, alongside the banjo player Kenny Ingram, while keeping KRACE going as time allowed. He played on Weep Little Willow (2016), his third album with Stephenson, with Ingram and the bassist Matt Wright and Aubrey Haynie as guest fiddler, and in September 2016 he played in the Tony Rice tribute at the Outer Banks Bluegrass Festival. In February 2017 he announced that he was retiring from performing after twenty years. He also worked with the band Merle Monroe at some point.

In July 2022 he joined Sweet Potato Pie, the North Carolina band in which his wife, Crystal Richardson, plays banjo, as a touring featured musician, after years of guesting with the group on special occasions.