Paul Brown

Paul Brown is a respected traditionalist and innovator in old-time music. He started playing banjo at age ten. He spent years learning directly from some of the last southern mountain fiddle, banjo, and guitar players to emerge before the age of radio and recordings. His mentors include banjoist and fiddler Tommy Jarrell, banjoist Gilmer Woodruff, guitarists and singers Paul Sutphin and Fields Ward, fiddlers Robert Sykes and Luther Davis, banjoist Matokie Slaughter and mandolinist Verlen Clifton. He played for three decades with fiddler Benton Flippen, and has been a member of bands including The Smokey Valley Boys, Robert Sykes & the Surry County Boys, The Toast String Stretchers, and The Mostly Mountain Boys. Paul maintains a love of the old ways of playing, but also heeds his mentors’ shared belief in creating one’s own signature sound. He explores tunings, techniques and repertoire constantly on banjo and fiddle. A multiple-time first place winner at the Appalachian String Band Music Festival (AKA, "Clifftop") and other events, he has been teaching at music camps and festivals across the U.S. and abroad since the early 1970s. His latest fiddle CD is Red Dog (2018), and he’s the banjoist on a recent recording featuring Tennessee fiddler Mike Bryant.