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Stuart Duncan

Musician · b. 1964 · Quantico, Virginia · Also a recording artist
Best known for Fiddle Lead Vocals

Stuart Duncan is the preeminent bluegrass fiddler of his generation and one of the most in-demand session players in American roots music — a nine-time IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year whose work stretches from the Nashville Bluegrass Band (since 1985) through thousands of Nashville sessions to the Grammy-winning classical-bluegrass fusion of the Goat Rodeo Sessions with Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Chris Thile. His combination of technical precision, emotional depth, and stylistic range has made him the fiddler other fiddlers point to.

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  • Born in Quantico, Virginia, to folk-musician parents. Raised in a military family on Camp Pendleton in Southern California. Both parents played; his father ran the sound system for a local folk club, exposing Stuart to the Southern California bluegrass and old-time scene as a child.
  • Found his calling in the early 1970s after hearing the Dillards and the Earl Scruggs Revue. Cited a Byron Berline show as the moment that “hit the light switch” for him.
  • Played with childhood friend Alison Brown (banjo) starting around age ten. The two teenagers performed regularly as a duet and with various bands throughout school; they recorded an unreleased project together titled Pre-Sequel.
  • As a teenager with the Pendleton Pickers (a group of military-base kids), won a radio contest that brought them to the Grand Ole Opry in 1974. Returned to the Opry in 1978 as a teenager alongside Alison Brown.
  • Attended South Plains Community College in Levelland, Texas — where he roomed with future Alison Krauss & Union Station guitarist Ron Block — and developed his session-microphone technique.
  • Moved to Nashville in 1984 and toured with Larry Sparks. Joined the Nashville Bluegrass Band as fiddler in 1985; has remained a core member ever since.
  • Nashville Bluegrass Band won Grammy Awards for Best Bluegrass Album for Waitin' for the Hard Times to Go (1993) and Unleashed (1995).
  • Self-titled solo debut Stuart Duncan (Rounder, 1992) featured Sam Bush, Béla Fleck, David Grier, Victor Wooten, and Jerry Douglas.
  • When Mark O'Connor stepped back from Nashville session work in the early 1990s, Duncan became the leading session fiddler in country and roots music. Session credits include George Strait (every album since 1992's Pure Country), Alan Jackson (all albums), Patty Loveless, Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Robert Plant, Elvis Costello, John Prine, Mark Knopfler, Barbra Streisand, Band Perry, and hundreds of others.
  • Appeared on the 2000 Grammy-winning O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack and its concert-film follow-up Down from the Mountain.
  • Touring fiddler for Robert Plant and Alison Krauss's Raising Sand (2007–2008), including the group's Grammy Album of the Year tour.
  • The Goat Rodeo Sessions (Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile, 2011) won the 2012 Grammy for Best Folk Album. The 2020 follow-up Not Our First Goat Rodeo continued the collaboration.
  • Duo with banjoist Noam Pikelny includes touring and the album Universal Favorite.
  • In April 2025 joined Alison Krauss & Union Station as fiddler for the Arcadia album tour — replacing guitarist and vocalist Dan Tyminski as the newest addition to the classic AKUS lineup.
  • Nine-time IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year. Four Grammy wins including three with the Nashville Bluegrass Band and the Goat Rodeo Grammy. Named a Nashville Cat by the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2014.
  • Also a highly regarded clawhammer banjoist, mandolinist, and guitarist; frequently contributes those instruments on sessions alongside his fiddle work.

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