The award-winning bluegrass band Balsam Range consists of Buddy Melton (fiddle, lead and tenor vocals), Darren Nicholson (mandolin, octave mandolin, lead vocals, baritone and low tenor vocals), Dr. Marc Pruett (banjo), Tim Surrett (bass, dobro, baritone and lead vocals), and Caleb Smith (guitar, lead and baritone vocals). Hailing from western North Carolina, the ensemble adopted the name of the Great Balsam Range that surrounds their home county of Haywood, N.C., where the Great Smoky Mountains meet the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The group’s ascent to the top of the Bluegrass world has left a well-marked trail of success since the band’s inception in 2007. One of the genre’s most award-winning artists in recent years, they have garnered ten International Bluegrass Music Association Awards on the heels of six critically acclaimed albums. Balsam Range has headlined major festivals from coast to coast and appeared multiple times at the Grand Ole Opry.