Steep Canyon Rangers made their debut with the North Carolina Symphony at UNC Health Summerfest n 2017. 

Steep Canyon Rangers is made up of Graham Sharp on banjo and vocals, Mike Guggino on mandolin/mandola and vocals, Aaron Burdett on guitar and vocals, Nicky Sanders on fiddle and vocals, Mike Ashworth on drums and vocals, and Barrett Smith on bass, guitar, and vocals.

The rangers have just announced their first-ever live album of their original songs, Live at Greenfield Lake, which will be released August 30. Their most recent studio album, Morning Shift, was released September 8, 2023. Recorded  at the Hickory Nut Gap Inn in Bat Cave, North Carolina, Morning Shift was produced by Darrell Scott. 

Over the band’s career, the three-time Grammy nominees have released 14 studio albums, collaborated on three albums with actor and banjoist Steve Martin, been inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame, and appeared on some of music’s biggest stages. In 2013, Nobody Knows You won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album, while 2012’s Rare Bird and 2020’s North Carolina Songbook garnered nominations in the same category.

Hailing from both the Appalachian and Piedmont regions of North Carolina, the Rangers have long held traditional bluegrass paramount, while possessing an exceptional ability to bring it down the mountain and to incorporate accessible influence from all walks of the region.