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Steep Canyon Rangers co-founder to step away from band

Steep Canyon Rangers are (from left) Mike Ashworth, Graham Sharp, Woody Platt, Mike Guggino, Nicky Sanders and Barrett Smith. Photograph by Sandlin Gaither.

The Grammy Award-winning Steep Canyon Rangers will join the Winston-Salem Symphony in a farewell concert of sorts. Founding member Woody Platt will be leaving the group after 23 years.

They began as a bunch of bluegrass-loving college students with varying degrees of skill at UNC-Chapel Hill playing jam sessions in dorms and apartments. At the heart of the six-member group was guitarist and vocalist Woody Platt from Brevard, and banjo vocalist Graham Sharp who hails from Greensboro. Sharp says there are no immediate plans for replacement.

"He served a huge role in the band — as big as anybody's — so, it's a really interesting new chapter and it has taken and will continue to take a lot of work from the five of us to kind of get back to that level," says Sharp. "And it's not going to happen overnight. You know, we've played a half a million songs with Woody. So, we're super excited about where we're heading at it but under no illusions that it's going to take a lot of work."

The Steep Canyon Rangers, including Woody Platt, will join the Winston-Salem Symphony in concert on May 6 performing orchestral arrangements of their songs. 

 

Before his arrival in the Triad, David had already established himself as a fixture in the Austin, Texas arts scene as a radio host for Classical 89.5 KMFA. During his tenure there, he produced and hosted hundreds of programs including Mind Your Music, The Basics and T.G.I.F. Thank Goodness, It's Familiar, which each won international awards in the Fine Arts Radio Competition. As a radio journalist with 88.5 WFDD, his features have been recognized by the Associated Press, Public Radio News Directors Inc., Catholic Academy of Communication Professionals, and Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas. David has written and produced national stories for NPR, KUSC and CPRN in Los Angeles and conducted interviews for Minnesota Public Radio's Weekend America.

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