Danny Paisley
Danny Paisley & the Southern Grass
bluegrass
Delaware and Pennsylvania
Danny Paisley & the Southern Grass is a hard-driving, hot-as-a-firecracker bluegrass
band with a sound rooted deep in the mountains of southwest Virginia. With Danny
Paisley’s impressive vocals, Bobby Lundy’s stellar picking and T.J. Lundy’s fiddling, the
group has earned critical praise as the key proponent of a classic style. While under the
radar of the mainstream bluegrass world until recently, they were always a favorite of
fellow bluegrass musicians. Dudley Connell, member of the Seldom Scene writes, “The
band is perhaps one the greatest rhythm sections in bluegrass music. Riding the wave of
this machine are Danny’s vocals, soaring from powerhouse peaks to heart breaking
whispers. I believe everything that Danny sings, and that to me is the mark of a truly
gifted singer.”
Southern Grass is comprised of equal parts Paisley family and Lundy Family. In the
1960s, two transplants from the rich musical region around Galax, Virginia, Bob Paisley
and Ted Lundy, teamed up in Delaware to form the Southern Mountain Boys. Paisley
and Lundy were just two of the many thousands who left Appalachia in the middle part of
the century in search of work. Although they had left their ancestral home, they did not
leave their traditions behind. For over 35 years, they brought the sounds of the Blue
Ridge Mountains of Virginia to their fellow transplants in Delaware, Pennsylvania,
Maryland and Washington, D.C.
Danny Paisley joined his dad’s group in 1971 at the age of 15 and has toured with the
group ever since. When Bob Paisley passed away in 2004, Danny renamed it Southern
Grass, and continued the family tradition. Danny’s brother, Mike Paisley, has played
acoustic bass with the group since 1981. Bobby Lundy, Ted Lundy’s son, plays banjo,
and adds his rich baritone to Dan’s lead and tenor. His brother T.J. is one of the finest
fiddlers in bluegrass, and is a master of the classic 50s bluegrass sound. Travers Chandler
rounds out the ensemble on mandolin and tenor vocals.
In a genre once defined by tradition, bluegrass is quickly being taken over by bands with
slicker sounds, but Danny Paisley & the Southern Grass continue to perform their own
traditional style. Their impressive musicianship and their dedication to this classic sound
make the group stand out from the crowd. Their most recent recording for Rounder
Records The Room Over Mine exemplifies that dedication and is one of the finest
bluegrass records to come out in years.
