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photo by Carrie Hemlock
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RT23
Bios
Ernie
Thacker
Though he's
still a young man, ERNIE THACKER has quite a record of accomplishment
in bluegrass, including a six year stint with Ralph Stanley and
the Clinch Mt. Boys and appearances on both the Grammy-nominated
The Stanley Tradition and its IBMA award winning successor, The
Stanley Gospel Tradition.
Born and raised
in Elyria Ohio, Thacker nevertheless has deep roots, including
a family connection to Dickenson County, Virginia, where he moved
as a teenager. By then he was already a serious mandolin player
and singer, and it wasn't long before he came to the attention
of Ralph Stanley. Impressed with the young man's talent, Stanley
invited him to travel with the Clinch Mt. Boys, and eventually
made him a member of the band - first as mandolin player and then,
in 1989, as lead singer and guitarist.
Ernie Thacker
and Route 23 may be a young outfit, but their classic sound, energetic
stage presence and commitment to professionalism have already
earned notice from veterans in the bluegrass industry, resulting
in their appearance among the top 20 nominees for the IBMA's Emerging
Artist Of The Year Award for the years of 1999 and 2000. " Great
stage presence, hgh energy and great crowd pleasers," says Dwight
Dillman (IBMA's Promoter Of The Year) of the Bean Blossom Festivals,
where the band has appeared in every season since its creation,
while the Poppy Mountain Festival's Marty Stevens called them
"One of the hottest new traditional groups on the circuit" .
"Ernie has
a great voice, and a special feel for traditional bluegrass and
the Stanley sound, "says Doobie Shea's Tim Austin, who with Dan
Tyminski co-produced the singer's debut for the label. "with first-rate
material from wriiters like Keith Tew, Ronnie Bowman, Jerry Wlliamson
and Junor Siisk, and guests like Aubrey Haynie, Dan, as well as
Route 23, I think he's going to open a lot of eyes."
Singing
the National Anthem Daytona FL, July 02
The highest honnor ever, was being asked to sing the National
Anthem at the GNC Live Well Busch race in Daytona FL, over 130,000
in the stands and over a million viewers tuned in across the country
on the FX network...
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