SMF ENCORE

Steep Canyon Rangers / Jon Stickley Trio

presented by SMF Encore

Steep Canyon Rangers are Asheville, North Carolina’s GRAMMY winners, perennial Billboard chart-toppers, and frequent collaborators of the renowned banjoist and comedian Steve Martin.

The Rangers are made up of Graham Sharp on banjo and vocals, Mike Guggino on mandolin/mandola and vocals, Aaron Burdett on guitar and vocals, Nicky Sanders on fiddle and vocals, Mike Ashworth on drums and vocals, and Barrett Smith on bass, guitar and vocals. 

Steep Canyon Rangers have been on a journey that is uniquely their own. The band started in college at UNC-Chapel Hill, then dove head first into traditional bluegrass. Over the years they have risen to the top of the bluegrass genre, headlining festivals including Merlefest and Grey Fox, only to then be discovered by Steve Martin. Martin has taken the Rangers on a more than a decade-long tour, introducing them to hundreds of thousands of new fans and giving them prime-time TV exposure. This has helped SCR become a household name in modern bluegrass music. The band has continued to tour extensively on their own, without Martin, and has expanded their sound to incorporate country, jam and Americana. They have performed in two previous SMF seasons, most recently with the Del McCoury Band.

Jon Stickley Trio is an instrumental trio whose deep grooves, innovative flatpicking and sultry-spacy violin moves the listener’s head, heart and feet. Jon Stickley Trio combines Stickley’s rapid-fire flatpicking guitar with Lyndsay Pruett on violin and Patrick Armitage on drums. Guitar Player Magazine writes: “It’s not your father’s acoustic-guitar music, Instead Stickley’s Martin churns out a mixture of bluegrass, Chuck Berry, metal, prog, grunge, and assorted other genres—all thoroughly integrated into a personal style.”

Please note: This concert does not qualify for the Savannah Music Festival Explorer Pass.

This concert is standing-room only.

VIP Experience ($125): Join fellow music lovers in the courtyard of Victory North from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for a pre-show dinner party and an open bar serving beer and wine. Includes admission to the concert.