Ronnie Simpkins
Musician · b. 1958 · Virginia
Best known for
Bass
Ronnie Simpkins is the longtime bassist of the Seldom Scene — a Southwest Virginia-born player whose steady bass and baritone harmony vocals have anchored one of the most decorated progressive bluegrass bands for nearly 30 years, following a decade with the Tony Rice Unit.
- Grew up in Southwest Virginia in a musical family — father played banjo, mother guitar and sang, sister mandolin, brother Rickie fiddle. Ronnie took up bass to round out the family band.
- Started on electric bass as a child, standing it up like an acoustic on a stool until he was big enough to handle the full-size upright. Played in the Heights of Grass family band with brother Rickie.
- Member of the Bluegrass Cardinals in 1980. Later joined the Virginia Squires alongside Mark Newton, Sammy Shelor, and brother Rickie, recording Mountains and Memories (1984) — a hit album that introduced several future bluegrass stars.
- Joined the Tony Rice Unit in the mid-1980s alongside Rice (guitar), Jimmy Gaudreau (mandolin), Wyatt Rice (guitar), and brother Rickie. Toured and recorded with Rice for about a decade.
- Joined the Seldom Scene on New Year's Eve 1995, recruited by John Duffey along with Fred Travers and Dudley Connell. The three replaced the departing Moondi Klein, T. Michael Coleman, and Mike Auldridge — who had left to form Chesapeake.
- Recorded Dream Scene (1996) with the reconstituted Seldom Scene shortly before John Duffey's fatal heart attack later that year.
- Appeared on every Seldom Scene album since 1996: Scene It All (2000), Scenechronized (2007, Grammy-nominated), Long Time… Seldom Scene (2014, Smithsonian Folkways), and Remains to Be Scene (2024).
- Seldom Scene's weekly Birchmere residency in Alexandria, Virginia — running since the late 1970s — remains one of the longest-running live bluegrass institutions in the country.
- Worked part-time in the mail order department at Smithsonian Folkways starting in 1996 alongside Dudley Connell; retired from Folkways in 2024.
- Brother Rickie Simpkins joined the Seldom Scene in January 2016 when Ben Eldridge retired; left in 2017 when Ron Stewart replaced him.
- Inducted (with the Seldom Scene) into the Virginia Folk Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
- Current Seldom Scene lineup: Ronnie Simpkins (bass), Lou Reid (mandolin), Ron Stewart (banjo, fiddle), Fred Travers (Dobro), Clay Hess (guitar, succeeding Dudley Connell in 2025).
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The Bluegrass BandPlayed on recordings with The Bluegrass Band
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The Seldom ScenePlayed on recordings with The Seldom Scene
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The Tony Rice UnitPlayed on recordings with The Tony Rice Unit
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Larry RicePlayed on recordings with Larry Rice
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Rice, Rice, Hillman and PedersenPlayed on recordings with Rice, Rice, Hillman and Pedersen
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Rickie SimpkinsPlayed on recordings with Rickie Simpkins
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Dudley Connell and Don RigsbyPlayed on recordings with Dudley Connell and Don Rigsby
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Lou ReidPlayed on recordings with Lou Reid
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The Virginia SquiresPlayed on recordings with The Virginia Squires
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James KingPlayed on recording with James King
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John CowanPlayed on recording with John Cowan
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Larry StephensonPlayed on recording with Larry Stephenson
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The Kentucky ColonelsPlayed on recording with The Kentucky Colonels