Born in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, on this day (September 20) in 1962, Steve Gulley carried his Appalachian roots into his musical career. Leaving his mark on bluegrass music, the singer-songwriter got his start on Kentucky’s Renfro Valley Barn Dance radio show before moving on to helm two award-winning bands, Mountain Heart and Grasstowne.
A widely beloved figure in the bluegrass community, Gulley died at age 57 on August 18, 2020 at the UT Medical Center in Knoxville, Tennessee, following a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. Today, we’re highlighting his life and legacy on what would have been his 64th birthday.
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About Steve Gulley
Steven Muncey “Steve” Gulley grew up in the shadow of the Appalachian mountains, where Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia all collide.
Needless to say, bluegrass music was in his blood practically from birth. His father, Don Gulley, was a country music disc jockey and a member of the Pinnacle Mountain Boys.
Gulley first rose to prominence in the early 1980s as a cast member of the Renfro Valley Barn Dance, where he performed bluegrass, country, and gospel music.
In 1994, he left the show to accept a position as lead singer and guitarist of the bluegrass band Quicksilver.
Mountain Heart
After two years in that role, Steve Gulley formed Mountain Heart with fellow Quicksilver bandmates Jim VanCleve (fiddle) and Barry Abernathy (banjo).
The group combines elements of rock, jam band, country, blues, jazz, folk and bluegrass music. They recorded five albums over the next five years.
Signing with Skaggs Family Records in 2001, Mountain Heart released the International Bluegrass Music Association-nominated album No Other Way the following year. They also earned an IBMA nod for Entertainer of the Year.
Next, Mountain Heart built on that success with 2004’s Force Of Nature, again landing Album and Entertainer of the Year nominations.
Grasstowne
Mountain Heart’s 2005 album, Wide Open, marked a sonic shift from bluegrass to a more Americana and folk-centered sound.
The following year, Steve Gulley departed the band. He went on to found Grasstowne with award-winning dobro player Phil Leadbetter and acclaimed mandolinist Alan Bibey.
After three albums with the group, Gulley left Grasstowne under Bibey’s leadership. He recorded the 2006 solo album Sounds Like Home before releasing 2010’s Dogwood Winter with Tim Stafford of Blue Highway.
In 2014, he formed a new band, Steve Gulley & New Pinnacle. The group released multiple albums from 2015 until his death in 2020.
Featured image courtesy of Facebook
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