Jesse McReynolds

With his older brother Jim McReynolds, mandolin and fiddle player Jesse McReynolds was part of the longstanding bluegrass duo Jim & Jesse, who formed just after World War II and performed until Jim McReynolds' death on December 31, 2002. After fashioning a posthumous Jim & Jesse release, ‘Tis Sweet to Be Remembered (released April 15, 2003, by Pinecastle Records), Jesse McReynolds launched a solo career at the age of 73. Actually, he had released his first solo album, Me and My Fiddle, in 1968. But his formal debut came with New Horizons, released on April 13, 2004. Bending the Rules followed on November 9, 2004. Next, McReynolds paired with Charlie Whitstein for A Tribute to Brother Duets (June 28, 2005). Dixie Road appeared in 2007, and on October 5, 2010, McReynolds "& Friends" (the friends being David Nelson of New Riders of the Purple Sage fame and Stu Allen of the Jerry Garcia Band) delivered Songs of the Grateful Dead on Woodstock Records, for which McReynolds penned a new song, "Day by Day," with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter.