Ben Garnett

Missy Raines & Allegheny

GRAMMY® nominated Missy Raines was named 2021 International Bluegrass Music Association Bass Player of the Year, for the 10th time, more than any other bass player in the history of the organization. She is a bass players’ bass player, a singer, songwriter, teacher, sideman, and bandleader. In addition to the Bass Player awards, she’s received multiple awards from the IBMA for Recorded Event of the Year and Song of the Year. In 2019, Missy was featured in The Country Music Hall of Fame as part of their American Currents exhibit. In January of 2020, Missy Raines & Allegheny debuted on the Grand Ole Opry.

Currently, Missy is touring with her own bluegrass band, Missy Raines & Allegheny, named for the Allegheny highlands of West Virginia where Raines grew up. This band is a significant nod, and return, to her deep traditional bluegrass roots. The music is traditional and hard-driving at its core but energized with Raines’ well-known penchant for originality and innovation.

“I grew up in West Virginia, just a few miles from the historic C&O Canal, the headwaters of the Potomac River, and the Maryland and Pennsylvania state lines. Geographically, it was a pretty straight shot down ‘out of the hills’ to the Washington DC, Baltimore, and northern Virginia areas and my family would travel to there as much as possible to hear all the incredible bluegrass that was being made there during the 60’s and the 70’s. Washington, D.C. was a hotbed of bluegrass (both traditional and progressive) at the time with bands like Bob Paisley, Del McCoury and the Country Gentlemen, and the Seldom Scene. All of that music affected me deeply then and today I’m having the time of life letting those influences shine through with this band, Allegheny.”

Missy Raines & Allegheny features some of the brightest young stars in bluegrass today with Tristan Scroggins on mandolin, Ellie Hakanson on fiddle, Ben Garnett on guitar, and Eli Gilbert on banjo. Their new album, Highlander, produced by Alison Brown, is scheduled for release on Compass Records in 2023.

*Ben will only be playing dates listed as “Missy Raines & Allegheny”