Steep Canyon Rangers co-founder to step away from band

The Grammy Award-winning Steep Canyon Rangers will join the Winston-Salem Symphony in a farewell concert of sorts. Founding member Woody Platt will be leaving the group after 23 years.

They began as a bunch of bluegrass-loving college students with varying degrees of skill at UNC-Chapel Hill playing jam sessions in dorms and apartments. At the heart of the six-member group was guitarist and vocalist Woody Platt from Brevard, and banjo vocalist Graham Sharp who hails from Greensboro. Sharp says there are no immediate plans for replacement.

"He served a huge role in the band — as big as anybody's — so, it's a really interesting new chapter and it has taken and will continue to take a lot of work from the five of us to kind of get back to that level," says Sharp. "And it's not going to happen overnight. You know, we've played a half a million songs with Woody. So, we're super excited about where we're heading at it but under no illusions that it's going to take a lot of work."

The Steep Canyon Rangers, including Woody Platt, will join the Winston-Salem Symphony in concert on May 6 performing orchestral arrangements of their songs.