Randall plays lead guitar and sings lead and harmony vocals for BNS. At the age of 12, his dad taught him his first 3 chords on the guitar, and Randall hasn't looked back since. He attributes his interest in Bluegrass music to groups such as Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, Boone Creek, Lonesome River Band & The Seldom Scene.
Randall was a member of both One Way Track and New Road , two very talented groups based out of East Tennessee . He does some writing himself, and many of his great gospel songs can be found on the New Road recordings. Randall currently makes his home in Knoxville , TN.
Tim Tipton
Tim plays the acoustic bass for BNS. He credits his grandfather as being his earliest musical influence and says that his grandfather was the first person to introduce him to the wonderful sounds of Bluegrass music. Tim was a founding member of the band Blue Moon Rising.
Tim says that he is heavily influenced by the music of Bill Monroe, Lou Reid, New Grass Revival, Ricky Skaggs, and Del McCoury. Tim is loves the sport of coon hunting and currently makes his home in Madisonville , Tennessee with his wife Penny and two daughters.
Stuart Wyrick
Stuart has been playing Bluegrass and Bluegrass Gospel music since the age of 8. He has played major Bluegrass Festivals and Gospel Concerts in his musical career. He played with the Better Way Quartet for 10 years, then played with New Road from 2005 to early 2008.
He is now focused on his career with Brand New Strings. His musical influences have been his Dad (Theodore Wyrick), Earl Scruggs, J.D. Crowe, Sonny Osborne, Jimmy Millsapps, and many more. Stuart enjoys going to Church and raising Registered Black Angus Cattle.
Mike Ramsey
Hi folks, I’m Mike Ramsey. If we have never met, here are a few lines about myself; you can tell me your story when we do meet. I’m 40-something and lived all my life in the mountains of East TN. My wife Jodee and I live on the family farm, most of which has never been owned by anyone outside of the Ramsey family. I make my living doing electric line work for the local electric Co-Op. I love the Lord and His word, you can’t separate them, I also dearly love my good mule John, and my beautiful wife, Jodee, maybe my wife should have been before my mule ,and I love music; gospel, old time and yes, bluegrass .
People ask how long have I been playing and best I can recall is I learned to walk, talk, ride, shoot, read, write and farm the first 9 years of my life, then I started picking and I haven’t learned much else since. I’m blessed, blessed beyond measure to have spent the last 14 years in New Road , a great gospel bluegrass band. Stuart and I are excited to be reuniting with our old friend and band mate, Randall Massengill as well as join Tim Tipton, a long time friend and a true team player, to create Brand-New Strings! Life’s good and I’m loving it!!
Matt Leadbetter
Resophonic guitarist Matt Leadbetter is one of the top musicians on the circuit today. He has started playing the Dobro at the age of 8 years old, a self taught player who also learned from long hours of listening and studying other resonator guitarist. While traveling on the road with his father Phil Leadbetter, Matt had the opportunity to be around some of the top bluegrass musicians in the world. He has also toured with Blue Moon Rising, Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike, the Lonesome River Band and Marty Raybon. You can hear a lot of his resophonic work on many recordings including the Lonesome River Band's 2006 release "The Road With No End." Matt endorses Beard Resophonic Guitars, Gibson Dobros, GHS Strings, and R.Poffmaker Straps.
Hi There, We started a Facebook site and wanted to let you know about it in you case you have one too and would like to join us there as well as at Myspace. For the link... Just Click here----->
FACEBOOK Urban Monroes Thanks a lot. Hope to see ya there!
What day will you guys show up at IBMA? We will be at Chris's wed. night and check in the Hilton thur. LRB is going to be at the Station Inn that night....any chance you can make it?
Petal Night of Bluegrass! Monday, June 29, 2009 at 11:50pm JBB to RECORD LIVE!
The Jason Boone Band is happy to announce that they have been approached and have come to an agreement with South City Records, a University of Southern Mississippi student-operated label to record their upcoming Petal Night of Bluegrass show for possible release on CD. The guys are excited about the possibility of a live recording and feel that it is the ideal next step for the group. “This is a great opportunity for us to allow our fans who may have yet to see the group in action to get a taste of what a live JBB concert is really all about,” says Don Robinson, banjoist for the group. Also appearing for the first time in the Pine Belt area is Brand New Strings, of Knoxville, TN, the 2009 SPBGMA International Band Champion. This group is made up of 5 guys with professional experience in the bluegrass music world and is a very polished band that you don't want to miss! The JBB is working hard to get a large crowd for the August 22 taping and want to invite all MSBA members to come and bring folks with them to this very special event.
Hey guys! Thanks for adding us as a friend. CONGRATULATIONS on winning the SPBGMA competition! Ya'll were awesome. Would love to pick with ya'll sometime.
Congratulations to the entire group on your win at SPBGMA....fantastic sound..I know you guys are top notch, will do well, and continue to produce the very best in Bluegrass. I look forward for the release of your new project. Wishing the best for Brand New Strings..