Blue Highway

For other uses, see Blue Highway (disambiguation).

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).

Blue Highway
Origin	Kingsport, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	Bluegrass, country, southern gospel, folk, Americana
Years active	1994–present
Members	Jason Burleson Shawn Lane Tim Stafford Wayne Taylor Gary Hultman
Past members	Rob Ickes Tom Adams Gaven Largent Justin Moses
Website	bluehighwayband.com

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)." Jason Burleson, the original banjo player with the group and a multi-instrumentalist, is a native of Newland, North Carolina., 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, and after a 21-year run with the band he announced his departure on November 18, 2015. Ickes was replaced by resonator guitarist and Virginia native, Gaven Largent. 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. Lead singer Wayne Taylor, who plays bass, hails from Southwest Virginia and is also a founding member of the group.

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

Title	Album details	Peak positions
		US Bluegrass
It's a Long Long Road	Release date: July 4, 1995 Label: Rebel	—
Wind to the West	Release date: July 16, 1996 Label: Rebel	—
Midnight Storm	Release date: January 27, 1998 Label: Rebel	—
Blue Highway	Release date: July 13, 1999 Label: Skaggs Family	—
Still Climbing Mountains	Release date: September 11, 2001 Label: Rounder	—
Wondrous Love	Release date: June 24, 2003 Label: Rounder	10
Marbletown	Release date: June 7, 2005 Label: Rounder	4
Lonesome Pine	Release date: April 25, 2006 Label: Rebel	—
Through the Window of a Train	Release date: February 12, 2008 Label: Rounder	2
Some Day: The Fifteenth Anniversary Collection	Release date: January 19, 2010 Label: Rounder	5
Sounds of Home	Release date: August 23, 2011 Label: Rounder	8
The Game	Release date: January 21, 2014 Label: Rounder	4
Original Traditional	Release date: September 9, 2016 Label: Rounder	3
Somewhere Far Away: Silver Anniversary	Release date: August 2, 2019 Label: Rounder
Lonesome State of Mind	Release date: March 29, 2024 Label: Down The Road
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

External links

• Official website
• "Blue Highway – Biography". Country Music Television. Archived from the original on June 3, 2004.
• Leaver, Jack. Biography of Blue Highway at AllMusic. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
• "Blue Highway's Red-Hot Bluegrass". All Things Considered. NPR Music. December 25, 2005.