{{short description|American bluegrass band}} {{other uses}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}} {{multiple issues| {{third-party|date=March 2013}} {{more footnotes|date=April 2012}} }} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Blue Highway | image = | origin = Kingsport, Tennessee, U.S. | genre = Bluegrass, country, southern gospel, folk, Americana | years_active = 1994–present | label = | associated_acts = | website = {{URL|bluehighwayband.com}} | current_members = * Jason Burleson * Shawn Lane * Tim Stafford * Wayne Taylor * Gary Hultman | past_members = * Rob Ickes * Tom Adams * Gaven Largent * Justin Moses }}
'''Blue Highway''' is an American contemporary bluegrass band formed in 1994 and based in Tennessee. The band's albums include ''Wondrous Love'' (2003), ''Marbletown'' (2005), and ''Original Traditional'' (2016).
==Background== After helping found the band Dusty Miller, which was the 1990 SPBGMA International Bluegrass Band champion, and being a member (1990–92) of Alison Krauss & Union Station, Kingsport, Tennessee native Tim Stafford helped organize Blue Highway with Wayne Taylor in 1994. The group's first project, ''It's a Long, Long Road'', "spent six months at the top of the Bluegrass Unlimited charts and won IBMA's Album of the Year Award (1996)."<ref name="website bios">{{cite web|title=photos+bios|url=http://www.bluehighwayband.com/Pages/photos.htm|publisher=Blue Highway|accessdate=October 2, 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005075742/http://bluehighwayband.com/Pages/photos.htm|archivedate=October 5, 2012}}</ref> Jason Burleson, the original banjo player with the group and a multi-instrumentalist, is a native of Newland, North Carolina.,<ref name="website bios" /> Rob Ickes, a Northern California native, moved to Nashville in 1992 and joined as a founding member in 1994. Ickes has won numerous awards for his playing,<ref name="website bios" /> and after a 21-year run with the band he announced his departure on November 18, 2015.<ref name="Ickes departs">{{cite web|title=ResoRevolution|url=http://www.resosummit.com/news.html#bh|website=ResoRevolution|accessdate=November 19, 2015}}</ref> Ickes was replaced by resonator guitarist and Virginia native, Gaven Largent.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bluehighwayband.com/bio-awards|title=Blue Highway – Bio & Awards|website=bluehighwayband.com|access-date=September 20, 2016}}</ref> Vocalist, fiddler, and mandolin player Shawn Lane joined the group as a founding member after cutting "his musical teeth" in the bands of Ricky Skaggs and Doyle Lawson. Lane's songs have also been recorded by Ricky Skaggs, Ronnie Bowman, Mountain Heart, Blue Ridge, and other groups.<ref name="website bios" /> Lead singer Wayne Taylor, who plays bass, hails from Southwest Virginia and is also a founding member of the group.<ref name="website bios" />
==Awards and honors== '''Grammy nominations''' * Best Bluegrass Album (2005): ''Marbletown'' * Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album (2004): ''Wondrous Love'' * Best Bluegrass Album (2016): ''Original Traditional''
'''International Bluegrass Music Association Awards''' * Song of the Year (2008): "Through the Window of a Train" * Vocal Group of the Year (2012) * Gospel Recording of the Year (1997): "God Moves in a Windstorm" * Gospel Recording of the Year (2004): "Wondrous Love" * Emerging Artist of the Year (1996) * Album of the Year (1996): ''It's a Long, Long Road'' * Album of the Year Award (2006): ''Celebration of Life: Musicians Against Childhood Cancer'' * Songwriter of the Year (2014, 2017): Tim Stafford * Dobro Player of the Year (2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996): Rob Ickes
'''Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America Awards''' * Gospel Group of the Year (Overall) (2005) * Instrumental Group of the Year (2003) * Dobro Performer of the Year (2003): Rob Ickes * Bass Performer of the Year (2001): Wayne Taylor * Guitar Performer of the Year (2001, 2015): Tim Stafford
'''Dove Award''' * Best Bluegrass Album (2004): ''Wondrous Love''
==Personnel== ===Current members=== * Jason Burleson – banjo, guitar, mandolin * Shawn Lane – mandolin, fiddle, guitar, vocals * Tim Stafford – guitar, vocals * Wayne Taylor – bass, vocals * Gary Hultman – resonator guitar, vocals
===Former members=== * Rob Ickes – resonator guitar * Tom Adams – banjo * Gaven Largent – resonator guitar * Justin Moses – resonator guitar
==Discography==
===Albums=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |- ! rowspan="2" style="width:16em;"| Title ! rowspan="2" style="width:20em;"| Album details ! colspan="1"| Peak positions |- style="font-size:smaller;" ! width="65"| US Bluegrass |- ! scope="row"| ''It's a Long Long Road'' | * Release date: July 4, 1995 * Label: Rebel | — |- ! scope="row"| ''Wind to the West'' | * Release date: July 16, 1996 * Label: Rebel | — |- ! scope="row"| ''Midnight Storm'' | * Release date: January 27, 1998 * Label: Rebel | — |- ! scope="row"| ''Blue Highway'' | * Release date: July 13, 1999 * Label: Skaggs Family | — |- ! scope="row"| ''Still Climbing Mountains'' | * Release date: September 11, 2001 * Label: Rounder | — |- ! scope="row"| ''Wondrous Love'' | * Release date: June 24, 2003 * Label: Rounder | 10 |- ! scope="row"| ''Marbletown'' | * Release date: June 7, 2005 * Label: Rounder | 4 |- ! scope="row"| ''Lonesome Pine'' | * Release date: April 25, 2006 * Label: Rebel | — |- ! scope="row"| ''Through the Window of a Train'' | * Release date: February 12, 2008 * Label: Rounder | 2 |- ! scope="row"| ''Some Day: The Fifteenth<br />Anniversary Collection'' | * Release date: January 19, 2010 * Label: Rounder | 5 |- ! scope="row"| ''Sounds of Home'' | * Release date: August 23, 2011 * Label: Rounder | 8 |- ! scope="row"| ''The Game''<ref>Lawless, John. [http://bluegrasstoday.com/the-game-from-blue-highway/ "The Game from Blue Highway"] ''Bluegrass Today'', December 19, 2013</ref> | * Release date: January 21, 2014 * Label: Rounder | 4 |- ! scope="row"| ''Original Traditional''<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://bluegrasstoday.com/original-traditional-blue-highway/|title=Original Traditional – Blue Highway|newspaper=Bluegrass Today|access-date=December 7, 2016}}</ref> | * Release date: September 9, 2016 * Label: Rounder |3 |- ! scope="row"| ''Somewhere Far Away: Silver Anniversary'' | * Release date: August 2, 2019 * Label: Rounder | |- ! scope="row"| ''Lonesome State of Mind''<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://bluegrasstoday.com/lonesome-state-of-mind-blue-highway/ |title=Lonesome State of Mind – Blue Highway |website=bluegrasstoday.com |date=2024-05-08 |access-date=2024-12-18}}</ref> | * Release date: March 29, 2024 * Label: Down The Road | |- | colspan="3" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{official website|1=http://www.bluehighwayband.com}} * {{cite web | url = http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/blue_highway/bio.jhtml | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040603213648/http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/blue_highway/bio.jhtml | url-status = dead | archive-date = June 3, 2004 | title = Blue Highway – Biography | publisher = Country Music Television }} * {{AllMusic | class = artist | id = p169354 | tab = biography | label = Biography of Blue Highway | first = Jack | last = Leaver | accessdate = May 8, 2012 }} *{{cite web|title=Blue Highway's Red-Hot Bluegrass|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5068576|work=All Things Considered|publisher=NPR Music|date=December 25, 2005}}
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Category:Musical groups established in 1994 Category:Rebel Records artists Category:Rounder Records artists Category:American bluegrass music groups Category:Country music groups from Tennessee Category:Musical groups from Nashville, Tennessee