mandolin

Silas Powell

Posted on by Heidi Herzog

Silas is a 5th generation picker from the small town of Salem, WV. While a multi-instrumentalist of fiddle, guitar, and banjo, his passion remains with the mandolin.

Silas first had the mandolin in his hands in his playpen, and his dad and Papaw knew then he was going to follow them in their music talents.  He first started playing the mandolin at age 7 when he picked up the instrument and started ‘chopping’ along to his dad’s band rehearsal!

Silas has performed at Merlefest, Houston-fest, Remington Ryde, Bob Evan’s Festival, and Baygrass Festival in the Florida Keys. He has performed with many top Bluegrass musicians, including Jesse McReynolds, David Grier, Doyle Lawson, Mike Compton, Blue Highway,  Missy Raines, Sierra Hall, Mandolin Orange, Emory Lester, Johnny Staats, Terry Baucom, Joe Mullins , and The Grascals.  Silas has been featured on Woodsong’s Old Time Radio hour as a “Woodsong’s Kid” as well as being a member of “Tomorrow’s Bluegrass Stars”.  In 2017 and 2018 Silas was selected as 1 of 25 kids to participate at the IBMA’s Kids on Bluegrass.

Silas’s lists of competitions wins and awards is impressive for such a young player:

  • 4 time Junior Champion, State of Maryland;
  • 2nd place, Maryland State Adult division (age 12);
  • West Virginia State Championship Adult Division Top 5;
  • 4th place, Monterey Virginia’s Old Time Fiddler’s Convention (at age 10);
  • 2106 State of West Virginia Junior Flatpick Champion
  • 2nd place Appalachian Old time Fiddler’s Championship, West Virginia University (Fiddle);
  • Scholarship Recipient Houstonfest, Galax, VA

In 2019, Silas became the 1st Recipient of the Monroe Mandolin Camp Apprenticeship, which offers students going into music teaching, a teachers hands-on experience and mentoring.

Add on to all of these accomplishments, Silas shares his love of music monthly at a local nursing home, which has earned him “Youth Volunteer of the Year”, State of West Virginia.  You can see Silas Powell and The Powell Family Band at festivals around the country.

Darren Nicholson

Posted on by Hhmmc

If you’re looking to be impressed, you will be – if you’re looking to make a friend, you already have. Darren Nicholson, who has played mountain music since his youth in Western North Carolina, is a high-caliber musician with substantial contributions to such acts as Alecia Nugent and Balsam Range.

Yes, he’s a punchy mandolinist with instrumentation nods to Bill Monroe and Marty Stuart, but he’s also an introspective songwriter, technical harmony singer, convincing lead vocalist, and a man on a mission. Since going solo, Nicholson has persistently and earnestly invested in his shows, making each one a tailored experience. They are genuine, entertaining, and an extended handshake to the community. He’s accomplished this all while managing to retain the fun-witted and approachable character formed in his raising.

“I want to be a positive part of other people’s lives with music, you know? I want to be an ambassador to roots music – tip my hat to the past while looking forward at the same time.”
“This music was intended to be played in a way that adds joy to the community. All I want is to restore that purpose, not to complete a transaction.”

He may not be focused on commercial success but his accomplishments have certainly earned recognition. Darren is the recipient of 11 International Bluegrass Music Association awards, along with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest honor bestowed by North Carolina’s governor. But he won’t talk your ear off about that.

When you come out to a show, whatever you do, please come talk afterward. “I’m like Willie Nelson. ‘I don’t want fans, I want friends.’ It’s a communal thing.”

Darren Nicholson. Homegrown. Whole Hearted. Music with a purpose.

Mark Stoffel

Posted on by Hhmmc

Mark Stoffel is a mandolinist, recording artist, and instructor based in Southern Illinois. Originally from Munich, Germany, he spent years traveling between Europe and the United States before making Southern Illinois his home in 2001. Known for his expressive playing, musical versatility, and longtime work with Chris Jones & the Night Drivers, Mark has built a respected career as a performer, recording artist, and collaborator.

A self-described bluegrass music addict, Mark’s journey with the mandolin began by accident. As a teenager in 1979, he asked for a ukulele for Christmas but was mistakenly given a mandolin instead. What started as a mix-up became a lifelong passion. With the help of a classic mandolin instruction book, exposure to bluegrass through radio and live performances, and experience playing in folk, rock, and bluegrass bands, Mark developed the foundation for his musical career.

During those years, he began building connections with American musicians by helping arrange tour dates and offering hospitality to touring artists, including Chris Jones, who would later become a key part of his professional journey. As Mark spent more time in the United States, his tasteful playing, growing sound engineering skills, and strong harmony vocals earned him recognition. He first performed with regional acts, then with Sally Jones, and eventually joined Chris Jones & the Night Drivers around the time of the band’s 2009 recording, Cloud of Dust.

Today, Mark’s mandolin playing can be heard on numerous recordings, most prominently his three solo releases One-O-Five (2008), Coffee & Cake (2020), and True Tones (2024), in addition to the nine albums by Chris Jones & the Night Drivers albums, including their latest release, Chalk Lines and Dust (2026).

Mike Compton

Posted on by Heidi Herzog

Befriended and mentored by Bill Monroe, the acknowledged Father of Bluegrass Music, Mike Compton is one of today’s foremost interpreters of Monroe’s genre-creating mandolin style. Compton’s mastery of mandolin is at once effortless and exceptional. A compelling entertainer either alone or with a group, his skills as a singer, arranger, instrumentalist, composer and accompanist also make him in-demand as a band member and ensemble player at festivals, clubs and concert halls, recording sessions, music workshops and as a private instructor.

Compton’s decades of touring and recording with musical luminaries ranging from rockstars Sting, Gregg Allman and Elvis Costello, to straight-fro-the-still acoustic legends like John Hartford, Doc Watson, Peter Rowan, Ralph Stanley and David Grisman, have established him as a true master of the modern American mandolin and a premier interpreter of roots and Americana musical styles. With over 140 CDS in his discography, Compton has helped keep mandolin a cool, relevant sound as the modern musical styles ebb and evolve to reach an every-broadening audience.

A native of Meridian, Mississippi, Compton picked up the mandolin in his teens and absorbed the area’s native blues, old-time country and bluegrass sounds. He soon gravitate to Nashville, where he helped found one of the 20th Century’s most admired and influential bluegrass groups, the iconic Nashville Bluegrass Band. He’s also been a part of the Hubert Davis Band, John Hartford Stringband, 1942, Compton & Newberry, and other seminal groups.

When A-list Americana producer T-Bone Burnett needed experts in authentic rural musical styles to anchor the landmark ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ movie project and subsequent tour, he called upon Compton’s unique knowledge and signature mandolin style to authenticate the Soggy Bottom Boys’ rootsy sound. That Grammy Award Album of the Year-winning album went on to sell seven million copies and sparked a global revival in old-time and bluegrass musical styles.

Connoisseur of hand-painted vintage silk ties, popularizer of the denim overall urban fashion statement, lover of iconic men’s hats and curator of oddball official days (ask him about National Lost Sock Memorial Day or National root Canal Appreciation Day), Mike Compton thrives at the intersection of traditional funk and modern authenticity.

Equally skilled in bluegrass, old-time string band music, country blues, roots Americana styles, and much more, Compton soars beyond easy categorization as n acoustic mandolin player and singer. Gifted at tastefully incorporating rural, roots-based learn and rhythm mandolin styles into modern Americana music, Compton’s unique musical skill set allows him to entertain audiences ranging from racers and urban hipsters to die-hard country, folk and bluegrass fans.

A mandolin master able to channel the Monroe-style playing better than anyone, Compton is a preservationist who continues teaching the music that Bill Monroe innovated, and which set the standard for generations of bluegrass mandolin players to come. For more information about Mike, visit his website at mikecompton.net