8 minute read
Tim Stafford
On the set of Hee Haw -- Adam Steffey, Tim, Alison Krause, Barry Bales, Country Music Hall of Fame member and Hee Haw Co-Host Roy Clark, and Alison Brown.
TIM STAFFORD
A Life in Music
Tim Stafford has spent his adult life involved in bluegrass music. Perhaps best known for his guitar expertise, he is also a songwriter and is now an author of books about bluegrass music. Tim grew up in Kingsport and has spent most of his life in the tri-cities area.
EARLY LIFE
Tim Stafford was born in Kingsport in 1960. His family lived there until 1965 when they moved to Cookeville, where Tim attended first and second grades. The family moved again, this time to Newbern, Tennessee where they lived for about six months. The Stafford family returned to Kingsport in the late 1960s. Tim attended Ketron High School. He lived for a while in Johnson City and for two years in Ohio (finishing work on his PhD in history at Miami University) and then returned to the area for good. He has lived in Jonesborough for the last five years.
THE MUSIC BEGINS
Tim’s mother’s family, the Browders, were musical and his twin sisters play piano and sing, but Tim’s serious interest in music didn’t start until his freshman year of high school. “I heard a couple of guys playing bluegrass, Greg Cornett was a junior and played mandolin and Pat Cox, a senior, played guitar. I didn’t know what the mandolin was.” An English teacher at Ketron, Wayne Chilcote, was a member of a band called Country Comfort, which was heavily influenced by The Country Gentlemen and the Seldom Scene. As fate would have it, bluegrass star Doyle Lawson’s mother lived near Tim’s family. Tim remembers meeting the members of
From page 31 the Country Gentlemen at her house. Tim said “I remember going to my first bluegrass festival, The Wise County Bluegrass Festival in Wise, Virginia. I saw the Country Gentlemen, The Seldom Scene, Ralph Stanley and Larry Sparks.” Tim began playing banjo, but switched to guitar in the late 1970s.
Flatpicking Guitar magazine features Tim in this issue, a tribute to his ability as a guitarist. The Tony Rice book was co-written by Tim and Caroline Wright. The Tim Stafford Acutab guitar instruction book.
Tim at the Paramount Theater, Bristol.
THE BANDS
One of the early bands Tim played in was “The Boys in the Band”. “We had Frank Wing and Tom and Audey Ratliff. We played from 1980 to 1987.” Tim then played with the band Dusty Miller, which included Adam Steffey and his wife Tammy Rogers and Barry Bales. They recorded for June Apple Records. A young Alison Krauss heard Tim play with The Boys in the Band and Dusty Miller. She asked Tim to join her group, but at that time he did not join. In 1990 Tim would join Alison Krauss and Union Station along with Barry Bales and Adam Steffey. Tim spent two years with Alison, leaving in May of 1992. Tim left to avoid the constant travel; “My son was 4 or 5 months old, I just wanted to be home with family.” Tim also spent some time in the first East Tennessee State Bluegrass Band when Jack Tottle first started the ETSU Bluegrass Program. Tim was a graduate student at that time.
BLUE HIGHWAY
Tim kept up with the bluegrass community after leaving Alison Krauss and Union Station by writing articles for Bluegrass Unlimited magazine. It would be almost two years before Blue Highway would be formed. One article Tim wrote was about Tim Laughlin’s band, where he first met Wayne Taylor. Tim said “I heard Wayne Taylor (bass) playing with Tim Laughlin and I thought I would really like to play with him if he ever left that group.” Wayne did become available and about the same time Shawn Lane (mandolin) The Jesse McReynolds session
Ken Irwin (founder of Rounder Records), Tony Rice, Sam Bush and Tim. Tim jamming with Chris Eldridge (Infamous Stringdusters, Punch Brothers)
Tim, Tony Rice and Caroline Wright
From page 32 contacted Tim about playing together. Tim had gotten to know Rob Ickes (dobro) from his time on the road with Alison Krauss. Jason Burleson (banjo) was the final piece and Blue Highway played their first show on New Year’s Eve on 1994.
The new band was an immediate success. Their debut album won “album of the year” in 1995 and they were named “emerging band of the year.” Blue Highway has continued to win numerous awards. Tim states that “Rob won dobro player of the year about fifteen times.” A prolific songwriter, Tim won “songwriter of the year” in 2014 and 2016. To date Blue Highway has released twelve cds, along with two compilation cds. They recorded their first three albums for Rebel Records. They then recorded for Ricky Skaggs’ Ceili Records. In 2001 they moved to Rounder Records with Jerry Douglas producing and have released their last eight albums there. Blue Highway has been nominated for three Grammy Awards, has won a Dove Award and nearly thirty IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Awards.
Tim says that he likes to keep busy. He has recorded three solo albums and is working on another. In 2010 he co-authored Still Inside: The Tony Rice Story, the biography of bluegrass legend Tony Rice. He recorded an album in 2010 with Steve Gulley entitled “Dogwood Winter” and they have a new recording in 2020; “Still With the late John Prine
BLUE HIGHWAY
Blue Highway continues to be one of the most honored and most popular bands in bluegrass music.
From page 33
Here”, which was completed not long before Gulley’s untimely passing. He has taught occasionally at ETSU and taught a class called “Bluegrass Traditions” at Appalachian State. He has recorded a Christmas EP cd with Barry Ricks. He continues to teach at numerous guitar camps.
Tim is in demand as a studio musician, having recorded with over 75 artists, including Willie Nelson, Kenny Chesney, Jorma Kaukonen, Jesse McReynolds, Benny Sims, Marty Raybon, Joe Isaacs, Ronnie Bowman, Charles Sawtelle, Tony Trischka, Larry Sparks, Jim Mills and many others. Tim was named SPBGMA Guitar Performer of the Year in 2001 and 2015. He has produced many award-winning records for various artists, including Kenny Chesney, The Infamous Stringdusters (IBMA 2007 co-album of the Year), and Knee Deep in Bluegrass, the Acutab Sessions (IBMA 2001 Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year).
Some future projects Tim is working on include a book on the history of bluegrass music. He continues to add to the 250+ songs he has written, and has upcoming cuts with Shannon Slaughter, Linda Lay, Nate Lee, Tom Jutz, Doyle Lawson and Volume Five among others. And of course, Blue Highway will continue to be one of the most popular bluegrass bands in the world. www.TimStaffordGuitar.com www.BlueHighwayBand.com
Discover Sullivan County • 2020 35
DISCOGRAPHY
FEATURED
Endless Line, FGM Records 114, 2004.
Just to Hear the Whistle Blow, Hedge Drive Records, (HDR01) 2014.
Acoustic Guitar, Hedge Drive Records, (HDR02), 2017.
Tunes & Ballads, Hedge Drive Records, (HDR03), 2020. FEATURED Jim Hurst, Tim Stafford and Bryan Sutton, Hurst, Stafford and Sutton: Live in Nashville, FGM records, 2003 (DVD). Steve Gulley and Tim Stafford, Dogwood Winter, Rural Rhythm (RHY-1066), 2010. Tim Stafford and Bobby Starnes, What We Leave Behind: A Songwriters’ Collection, S&S Records, S&SR-001, 2018. Tim Stafford and Barry Ricks, Who Needs Mistletoe?, BT Records, BT-001, 2019. Steve Gulley and Tim Stafford, Still Here, 2020. WITH ALISON KRAUSS AND UNION STATION
Alison Krauss and Union Station, Every Time You Say Goodbye, Rounder 0285, 1992. [Grammy winner; IBMA Album of the Year]
Alison Krauss, Now That I’ve Found You: A Collection, Rounder, 1997. WITH BLUE HIGHWAY Blue Highway, It’s a Long, Long Road, Rebel 1719, 1995. [IBMA Album of the Year] Blue Highway, Wind to the West, Rebel 1731, 1996. Blue Highway, Midnight Storm, Rebel 1746, 1998. Blue Highway, Blue Highway, Ceili 2002, 1999. Blue Highway, Still Climbing Mountains, Rounder 0489, 2001. Blue Highway, Wondrous Love, Rounder 0524, 2003. [Grammy nominee; Dove Award winner] Blue Highway, Marbletown, Rounder 0558, 2005. [Grammy nominee] Blue Highway, Lonesome Pine, Rebel 7512 (Vault Masters series), 2006. Blue Highway, “I’ll Wait” on Strummin’ with the Devil, CMH, 2006. Blue Highway, Through the Window of a Train, Rounder 0594, 2008. Blue Highway, Some Day: A 15th Anniversary Celebration, Rounder 0633, 2010. Blue Highway, Sounds of Home, Rounder 9107, 2011. Blue Highway, The Game, Rounder 9170, 2014. Blue Highway, Original Traditional, Rounder 610010, 2016. [Grammy nominee] Blue Highway, Somewhere Far Away: Silver Anniversary, Rounder 1166100620, 2019. OTHERS (selected)
The Boys in the Band, self-produced EP, 1983.
The ETSU Bluegrass Band, East Tennessee, Now and Then Records, 1986.
The Boys in the Band, self-produced cassette, 1987.
Dusty Miller, self-produced cassette, Classic C-3178, 1988.
Dusty Miller, Dusty Miller, June Appal, JA0057,1989.
Alison Krauss, Every Time You Say Goodbye, Rounder 0285, 1992.
Alison Krauss, Now That I’ve Found You: A Collection, Rounder, 1997.
