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King Wilkie

Based in Charlottesville, Virginia and taking their name from Bill Monroe's— the father of Bluegrass music —favorite steed, KING WILKIE is a sextet that injects their bodacious chops and knowing interplay with an electrifying youthful energy that spikes the punch of the bluegrass music's time-honored recipes and in-the-tradition originals, as heard on their Rebel Records label debut, Broke (April 20, 2004). Recorded at Overdub Lane Studios in Raleigh, North Carolina by veteran producer Bob Carlin, Broke is bracketed by high-stepping instrumental takes on Ralph Lewis' "40 West," knockout covers of Jimmie Rodgers' "Blue Yodel #7," Governor Jimmie Davis' "Where The Old Red River Flows," "Sparkling Brown Eyes,” the Monroe Brothers' "Some Glad Day (Afterwhile)" and "Little Birdie."  The honest and humble originals by Ted Pitney and by Reid Burgess are examples of down-home tune-smithing. King Wilkie cut their live indie debut, True Songs, in 2003. Fresh from their appearance at the Festival de Craponne in Craponne, France King Wilkie has been heralded as “a band on the brink “ (Playboy Magazine).

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Watch Past Performances

King Wilkie and The Tony Rice Unit 8/13/05: King Wilkie and The Tony Rice Unit

The Richmond Times Dispatch hails King Wilkie as “a vibrant shot in the arm of bluegrass” that “takes hold and stings with the power of youth and musicality.” The Tony Rice Unit spans the range of acoustic music, from straight-ahead bluegrass to jazz-influenced new acoustic music, to songwriter-oriented folk.

King Wilkie and The Tony Rice Unit

The Richmond Times Dispatch hails King Wilkie as “a vibrant shot in the arm of bluegrass” that “takes hold and stings with the power of youth and musicality.” The Tony Rice Unit spans the range of acoustic music, from straight-ahead bluegrass to jazz-influenced new acoustic music, to songwriter-oriented folk.

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