Kenny & Amanda Smith Band

Kenny and Amanda Smith Band Winners of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s prestigious Emerging Artist of the Year award in 2003, the Kenny and Amanda Smith Band combines gutsy, heartfelt vocals, brilliant instrumental talents and a powerful, contemporary sense of song choice and arrangement into one of the most compelling new sounds in bluegrass today. Originally from Nine Mile, Indiana, Kenny is widely considered one of the most important and influential flatpicking-style guitarists of his generation. A two-time IBMA Guitarist of the Year award winner, his professional credits include six years with the popular Lonesome River Band and an exceptional solo CD, Studebaker, released on Sugar Hill Records in 1997. Kenny is in great demand at guitar workshops and master classes, teaching at the renowned Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend series and at guitar workshops at major events such as IBMA. He has just released a two-DVD instruction set on AcuTab Publications. Born in the small town of Davisville, West Virginia, Amanda grew up singing in church choirs and participating in talent contests at local fairs. She started playing guitar in high school to accompany herself, and soon discovered bluegrass music through female artists such as Rhonda Vincent and Alison Krauss. Amanda met Kenny at a Lonesome River Band concert, and the couple began dating and playing music together almost immediately. Their shared Christian faith, love for bluegrass and desire to perform together led them to record a debut CD, "Slowly But Surely", in 2001. Winning IBMA’s Emerging Artist Award came as an unexpected thrill for the band. The band’s second release, House Down The Block, on Rebel Records, further solidified its position as one of the best new bands in bluegrass.