Johnny Campbell is a third generation fiddler hailing from Nashville, Tennessee. He grew up listening to Bluegrass greats Bill Monroe, Jimmy Martin, Jim & Jesse & the Virginia Boys, and the Stanley Brothers. Johnny’s long-bow fiddling style is modeled after the late, great Kenny Baker, as well as his brother Jimmy Campbell, who played extensively with both Jim & Jesse and Bill Monroe. To Johnny, Bluegrass is not just a genre of music, but a lifestyle. Sticking strictly to the roots of first generation bluegrass musicians, Johnny brings enthusiasm and charisma to an oft mislabeled musical category. Johnny has won several fiddle competitions over the years, including Uncle Dave Macon Days, LaGrange Fiddle Competition, and Yeehaw Junction. He is a founding member of the Volunteer String Band (a Nashville Jamgrass band), has toured with James Monroe and helped San Francisco based band Windy Hill win several band competitions, including Emerging Artist in The California Bluegrass Association, First Place at Yonder Mountain String Band’s String Summit and Second Place at Rocky Grass. He currently plays with Chris Henry & The Hardcore Grass and David Davis & The Warrior River Boys. After 35 years as a sideman Johnny is now up front. In the oft' heard words of Johnny himself, “Let’s Pick!” Johnny started the Bluegrass Drifters in Santa Cruz, California with his wife Whitney. The band has gone through several changes since moving back to Nashville and Johnny’s really excited about the current line-up.
Kyle Tuttle spent a few years living in Santa Fe NM, Athens GA, and being on the road with several bands including “Here’s to the Long Haul” and “Smokey’s Farmland Band”, Kyle attended Berklee College of Music where he studied Jazz Improvisation, Composition, and Ear Training. His teachers have included Bela Fleck, Tony Trischka, Bill Keith, Noam Pikelny, John McGann, and David Newsam.
While living in Boston Kyle had the chance to participate some pretty exciting musical venues. He played in the Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band at Ossipee Festival ’11, placed in the top 5 at the Walnut Valley National Banjo Contest ’11, traveled the east coast with ‘River Wheel’, won 2nd place at Winfield and MerleFes,t and performed with Victor Wooten, Bill Keith, and Somerville’s Mystic Chorale. Kyle is currently writing a lot, and preparing material for his first solo release.
Nick DiSebastian holds a degree from Berklee College of Music as a guitar principal, Nick’s musical interests now cover many areas. Nick has had the privilege of studying with John McGann, Matt Glaser, Guy Van Duser, and Livingston Taylor. Not only does Nick play both acoustic and electric guitar, the electric and upright bass, mandolin family instruments, and dobro, he also sings. Stylistically he is rooted in bluegrass and country music but has an affection for jazz, Motown, rock, and Latin styles.
His years spent in New England provided him many working opportunities as a musician. Nick performed all over the region with Three Tall Pines, The Palmetto Bluegrass Band (featuring Jenni Lyn Garnder of Della Mae), Tony Watt, Frank Drake, Kyle Tuttle and other great musicians. Nick has also worked in the studio as an instrumentalist on various projects. Along with playing in the studio, Nick produced the instrumental EP The Tri-Mountain Sessions. While performing and recording at night, Nick was on staff as an accompanist for the vocal department at Berklee for over a year.
Whitney Campbell is the backbone of the band, holding down the upright bass. Beginning on guitar at age 12, she comes from a folk and country background. After taking a long hiatus to raise two children, Whitney joined the Upcreek Drifters. While a bit of a late comer to the genre of bluegrass, she is charging ahead full throttle, making up for lost time. In addition to her ability to switch between vocal parts for some of the Bluegrass Drifters signature harmony numbers, she is also the major songwriter for the band and is currently working on her own solo music project.
