About Madison Shepherd
Hello! My name is Madison Shepherd and I turned 16 years old in May. I have been playing for about 6 years now and have loved every bit of it and am so blessed, and thankful for the talent I have been given!
Many people ask how I got started, and I tell everyone the same story.
I was probably around the age of 4 or 5 and my parents and I decided we would go to a Rhonda Vincent concert in Sparta NC. We hadn’t been to many bluegrass concerts nor did we know much about it. Down the road from where we lived was a place called the Mountain Music Jamboree. They had local bluegrass bands on Saturday nights which we tried to attend quite often. So, other than that, we had not had much experience with bluegrass & old time music at the time. During intermission at the Rhonda Vincent concert, the JAM (Junior Appalachian Musicians) program from Sparta NC performed. Each of the kids was in either 4th, 5th or 6th grade at the time. And let’s just say, I was blown away. Particularly by the talent of the youth. Not to mention that Rhonda Vincent had just performed. So, after that I told myself that one day, I too, would join the JAM program and play an instrument. The rest is history!
Something that most people do not know and are quite surprised to hear is that originally, I wanted to play the mandolin! When I got in 4th grade and was offered the opportunity to join the JAM program, they did not offer mandolin and only offered guitar, banjo and fiddle. Also, all of these instruments were taught the “old time” style, so that is what I play to this day is old time, Clawhammer banjo! After seeing that mandolin was not offered, my second choice was banjo and I do not regret it one bit! I love the banjo so much. And last year in May of 2014, I began taking mandolin lessons too! So now, I am trying to learn a little on the mandolin and I am very pleased to say it is going very well!
I competed in my first fiddlers convention youth competition in 2011. Since then I have competed at Ashe County Fiddlers Convention, Mt Airy Fiddlers Convention, Elk Creek Fiddlers Convention, Allegheny Fiddlers Convention, Galax Fiddlers Convention (the largest and oldest fiddler’s convention in the world), Laurel Bloomery Fiddlers Convention, Fries Fiddlers Convention, Surry County Fiddlers Convention, Tommy Jarrell Festival, Tazewell Fiddlers Convention and the Appalachian State Fiddlers Convention. As of 2015, I am super blessed and excited to say that I have taken home 1st place in the youth competition in every single one of those competitions at least once. I have also placed in the adult competition in several of those. I competed in the Galax Fiddlers Convention adult competition in 2014 against 109 other competitors and took home 3rd place and 2nd place in 2015. It is safe to say that that was a dream come true! I also won the 2014 Banjo Shootout youth competition last year. I also competed in the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Youth Competition in 2013 and took home 1st place in youth banjo winning a new Deering banjo and a cash prize of $100.
In 2014, I was on my first CD released through Mountain Roads Recordings called Close Kin: Our Roots Run Deep. This project was a follow up to the original Close Kin project which had around 18 accomplished adult bluegrass and old time musicians from around the area on it. The Close Kin: Our Roots Run Deep project I was on, had around 12 youth musicians from around the area ranging from ages 10-17 and was also a mix of bluegrass and old time. The purpose of these projects is to combine old time and bluegrass music because in today’s world, it seems that many think that bluegrass and old time music cannot be combined and I myself think that both of these CD’s show that when bluegrass and old time do come together it creates a wonderful and beautiful sound! We released the CD on April 11th 2014 when we played for a live sold out audience at the taping of the national PBS television show, Song of the Mountains which also airs on UNC-TV. That is said to air on national television in May of 2015.
I have performed in Lexington KY on the local Lexington news and the world wide, national broadcast radio show, Woodsongs with 15 time Grammy Award Winning Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn. I have also performed for a world-wide audience radio show in Washington DC. I have performed on WKYT’s News Channel out of Bristol TN as well. I have also performed at HoustonFest in Galax VA and was a part of a live radio broadcast from 98.1 WBRF out of Galax VA. I have performed at the well-known, MerleFest festival in Wilkes North Carolina also.
Besides competing and performing with my band and Close Kin, I enjoy playing at Phipps Store in Ashe County NC, and setting in with the Mountain Park old time band every chance I get. And I never like to miss out on any good dance jam!
When I am not playing or traveling with my banjo, I enjoy reading, photography, the outdoors, Carolina basketball (Go Heels!), Appalachian State Sports, learning new things, running and spending time with my family. I also have clogged for 11.5 years! I am now a member of the Senior Team and I absolutely love it!
I would to thank everyone for taking time to stop by and I hope to hear from each of you or see you at one of my upcoming events! Also, feel free to contact me at any time! Thank you again and God Bless!
Many people ask how I got started, and I tell everyone the same story.
I was probably around the age of 4 or 5 and my parents and I decided we would go to a Rhonda Vincent concert in Sparta NC. We hadn’t been to many bluegrass concerts nor did we know much about it. Down the road from where we lived was a place called the Mountain Music Jamboree. They had local bluegrass bands on Saturday nights which we tried to attend quite often. So, other than that, we had not had much experience with bluegrass & old time music at the time. During intermission at the Rhonda Vincent concert, the JAM (Junior Appalachian Musicians) program from Sparta NC performed. Each of the kids was in either 4th, 5th or 6th grade at the time. And let’s just say, I was blown away. Particularly by the talent of the youth. Not to mention that Rhonda Vincent had just performed. So, after that I told myself that one day, I too, would join the JAM program and play an instrument. The rest is history!
Something that most people do not know and are quite surprised to hear is that originally, I wanted to play the mandolin! When I got in 4th grade and was offered the opportunity to join the JAM program, they did not offer mandolin and only offered guitar, banjo and fiddle. Also, all of these instruments were taught the “old time” style, so that is what I play to this day is old time, Clawhammer banjo! After seeing that mandolin was not offered, my second choice was banjo and I do not regret it one bit! I love the banjo so much. And last year in May of 2014, I began taking mandolin lessons too! So now, I am trying to learn a little on the mandolin and I am very pleased to say it is going very well!
I competed in my first fiddlers convention youth competition in 2011. Since then I have competed at Ashe County Fiddlers Convention, Mt Airy Fiddlers Convention, Elk Creek Fiddlers Convention, Allegheny Fiddlers Convention, Galax Fiddlers Convention (the largest and oldest fiddler’s convention in the world), Laurel Bloomery Fiddlers Convention, Fries Fiddlers Convention, Surry County Fiddlers Convention, Tommy Jarrell Festival, Tazewell Fiddlers Convention and the Appalachian State Fiddlers Convention. As of 2015, I am super blessed and excited to say that I have taken home 1st place in the youth competition in every single one of those competitions at least once. I have also placed in the adult competition in several of those. I competed in the Galax Fiddlers Convention adult competition in 2014 against 109 other competitors and took home 3rd place and 2nd place in 2015. It is safe to say that that was a dream come true! I also won the 2014 Banjo Shootout youth competition last year. I also competed in the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Youth Competition in 2013 and took home 1st place in youth banjo winning a new Deering banjo and a cash prize of $100.
In 2014, I was on my first CD released through Mountain Roads Recordings called Close Kin: Our Roots Run Deep. This project was a follow up to the original Close Kin project which had around 18 accomplished adult bluegrass and old time musicians from around the area on it. The Close Kin: Our Roots Run Deep project I was on, had around 12 youth musicians from around the area ranging from ages 10-17 and was also a mix of bluegrass and old time. The purpose of these projects is to combine old time and bluegrass music because in today’s world, it seems that many think that bluegrass and old time music cannot be combined and I myself think that both of these CD’s show that when bluegrass and old time do come together it creates a wonderful and beautiful sound! We released the CD on April 11th 2014 when we played for a live sold out audience at the taping of the national PBS television show, Song of the Mountains which also airs on UNC-TV. That is said to air on national television in May of 2015.
I have performed in Lexington KY on the local Lexington news and the world wide, national broadcast radio show, Woodsongs with 15 time Grammy Award Winning Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn. I have also performed for a world-wide audience radio show in Washington DC. I have performed on WKYT’s News Channel out of Bristol TN as well. I have also performed at HoustonFest in Galax VA and was a part of a live radio broadcast from 98.1 WBRF out of Galax VA. I have performed at the well-known, MerleFest festival in Wilkes North Carolina also.
Besides competing and performing with my band and Close Kin, I enjoy playing at Phipps Store in Ashe County NC, and setting in with the Mountain Park old time band every chance I get. And I never like to miss out on any good dance jam!
When I am not playing or traveling with my banjo, I enjoy reading, photography, the outdoors, Carolina basketball (Go Heels!), Appalachian State Sports, learning new things, running and spending time with my family. I also have clogged for 11.5 years! I am now a member of the Senior Team and I absolutely love it!
I would to thank everyone for taking time to stop by and I hope to hear from each of you or see you at one of my upcoming events! Also, feel free to contact me at any time! Thank you again and God Bless!