The SteelDrivers

One of the most popular bluegrass bands of its generation, The SteelDrivers formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2005, and featured Tammy Rogers (fiddle, vocals), Richard Bailey (banjo), Mike Henderson (mandolin), Mike Fleming (bass) and Chris Stapleton (vocals, guitar), who left the group in 2010 for a successful solo career. A favorite at country festivals, the band signed with Rounder Records, for whom they recorded five successful albums: The SteelDrivers (2008), which reached #2 on the bluegrass charts and #57 on the country charts, Reckless (#2 in 2010), Hammer Down (#1 bluegrass in 2013), The Muscle Shoals Recordings (#1 in 2015) and Bad for You (#1 in 2020). After changes in musicians with the replacement of Stapleton by Gary Nichols and the arrival of Brent Truitt (mandolin) in 2011, the three-time Grammy-nominated band won the trophy for Best Bluegrass Album in 2015. In 2018, Kelvin Damrell replaces Gary Nichols and, after sessions at Muscle Shoals Studios, The SteelDrivers sign with Gaither Music Group for their sixth album Tougher Than Nails, released in 2023. After Damrell's departure, his replacement Matt Dame becomes the band's lead singer, and in 2023 the compilation Where Rainbows Never Die: Best of the SteelDrivers is released. 2025 saw the release of the seventh original studio album, Outrun, which continued to receive critical acclaim.