Steep Canyon Rangers at Hylton Performing Arts Center

One of America’s best Bluegrass bands makes its debut on the Merchant Hall stage. Steep Canyon Rangers is a GRAMMY Award-winning, Billboard chart-topping, and genre-defying sextet that has spent nearly two decades reshaping the sound of Bluegrass, mixing elements of pop, country, and folk rock to create a sound all its own. The band started while attending college at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, diving headfirst into Bluegrass in its most traditional form. They became a household name after touring with banjoist and comedian Steve Martin. The Rangers are made up of Graham Sharp (banjo and vocals), Mike Guggino (mandolin/mandola and vocals), Aaron Burdett (guitar and vocals), Nicky Sanders (fiddle and vocals), Mike Ashworth on (drums and vocals), and Barrett Smith (bass, guitar, and vocals). Today, the ensemble continues to tour extensively (without Martin), while expanding their style into country, jam, and Americana. Bluegrass Today writes, “Quite frankly, there’s no better band equipped to connect past with present while blurring whatever divide remains in-between.”