Lamar Grier
Musician · 1938–2019 · Laurel, Maryland
Best known for
Banjo
Lamar Grier was a Maryland-bred Scruggs-style banjoist whose two-year tenure with Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys (1965–1967) placed him in a celebrated lineup with Peter Rowan and Richard Greene at the dawn of the bluegrass-festival era.
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- Born April 15, 1938; raised in the Maryland/DC bluegrass scene, cutting his teeth at New River Ranch jams near Rising Sun, Maryland.
- Played banjo with Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys from September 1965 to July 1967, joining just before Carlton Haney's inaugural bluegrass festival.
- Part of a celebrated Blue Grass Boys lineup with Peter Rowan, Richard Greene, and James Monroe; toured Monroe's first international tour in 1966.
- Recorded ten tracks across five sessions for Monroe, including the June 1967 album "Blue Grass Time."
- After leaving Monroe, joined the Strange Creek Singers with Hazel Dickens, Alice Gerrard, Mike Seeger, and Tracy Schwarz, blending bluegrass and old-time material.
- Recorded multiple albums in the 1970s with Buzz Busby's band; in the early 1980s played in Tom Knowles's Appalachian Reign in DC-area clubs.
- Father of acclaimed flatpicking guitarist David Grier.
- Largely retired from performing in 1984; died December 10, 2019 in Laurel, Maryland at age 81.
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Hazel Dickens and Alice GerrardPlayed on recordings with Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard
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Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass BoysPlayed on recordings with Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys
