By Rick Zeigler—
MUNCIE, IN—Acclaimed, GRAMMY-winning bluegrass group Steep Canyon Rangers will be performing in a FREE outdoor concert as part of the 2025 Muncie Three Trails Music Series. The concert will take place at 7:00 PM on Saturday, May 31st at Canan Commons (500 S. Walnut St.) in the heart of downtown Muncie, IN. Mike Martin & the Beautiful Mess will open the show.
Heralds of the Carolina sound for more than two decades, the Steep Canyon Rangers find themselves in a unique seat at the table for their new release, Morning Shift. On this record, the band tell stories that both honor their roots, and expand upon the living art of bluegrass music. Recorded in Bat Cave, NC, at the Hickory Nut Gap Inn, a historical refuge settled near a long-forgotten crossroads of Southern Appalachia, this was the perfect space to feel confident in expanding upon that Carolina sound, the perfect runway to let their well-oiled machine do what it does best- craft stories from the ground up, as a unit. With a sure hand at the wheel was the distinguished Darrell Scott, whom the Rangers put full faith in to navigate the waters of producing their most important record to date. “It was like going to recording camp,” said Scott, “We ate together, we stayed at the Inn together the whole time, and we recorded. Going about it that way made for a very organic record.”
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. 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 influences from all walks of the region.
With the band’s last few albums, they have gained recognition well beyond the world of bluegrass, earning a reputation as some of the most influential songwriters in Americana today. Over the band’s esteemed career, the three-time GRAMMY nominees have released 14 studio albums, three collaborative 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.
The Muncie Three Trails Music Series is a non-profit partnership between Muncie Downtown Development Partnership and Rick Zeigler, series founder and organizer. The mission of the series is to bring critically acclaimed, national recording artists to perform at Canan Commons, Muncie’s premier outdoor performance venue, located in the heart of Downtown Muncie, and at the Brown Family Amphitheater at Ball State University. A second mission is to promote the many recreational, artistic, and cultural attractions located along, or in close proximity to downtown Muncie, Ball State, and Muncie’s popular “Three Trails” — The White River Greenway, Cardinal Greenway, and Muncie Arts and Culture Trail.
We hope attendees will heed our slogan, “Explore the Trails, Enjoy the Music.”
