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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.
from Wikipedia:
Jesse Lester McReynolds (born July 9, 1929, in Coeburn, Virginia) is an American bluegrass musician. He is known for his innovative crosspicking and split-string styles of mandolin playing, and is a forty two year member of the Grand Ole Opry. He is a multiple Grammy nominee and award winner.
Jesse McReynolds, along with his late brother Jim McReynolds, formed the bluegrass band Jim and Jesse in or around 1947.
In 1993 McReynolds was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor. In 1997 he and his brother were presented with the highest honor in the United States for folk and traditional arts, the National Heritage Fellowship Award.
McReynolds plays between 60 and 70 shows each year. He regularly releases albums, both of bluegrass music and of other genres. His recording Bending the Rules received a nomination for "Best Instrumental Recording of the Year" from the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2005.
2010 marked his 63rd anniversary in music, with a birthday festival in his honor on July 9th & 10th at his Pick Inn Music Park in Gallatin, Tennessee.
In 2010 McReynolds completed Jesse McReynolds & Friends ~ a Tribute to Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter due to be released on Woodstock Records on October 5, 2010. The tribute to Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter of the Grateful Dead band features the guitar and vocal work of David Nelson of New Riders of the Purple Sage, Stu Allen of the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band, and Garcia's longtime friend Sandy Rothman on banjo along with other musicians. The record includes 12 of the songs of Garcia & Hunter. Not all of the songs are bluegrass arrangements, but are arranged on a song by song basis as to what McReynolds felt best for the song. Also included on this project is a song written by Robert Hunter and McReynolds, called "Day by Day."
