Mountain Heart   -  Biography

Mountain Heart won the Emerging Artist award from the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) in 1999, but its members had already been playing professionally for many years.

Guitarist Steve Gulley paid his dues at Kentucky's historic Renfro Valley before he joined Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. A former member of IIIrd Tyme Out, Barry Abernathy spent five years playing in Quicksilver as well. Near the end of the 1990s, Gulley and Abernathy decided to form their own bluegrass band, along with a fellow Quicksilver member, then-teenage fiddler Jim Van Cleve. Mandolin master Adam Steffey, an alum of Alison Krauss & Union Station, and bassist Johnny Dowdle also joined, but in time both musicians left the band.

Mountain Heart issued two albums on Doobie Shea Records, including The Journey, which won an IBMA award in the gospel recorded performance category. Steffey returned to the fold in 2002, with Jason Moore taking over as bassist and Clay Jones coming on board as a guitarist. In addition, Steffey won IBMA awards for mandolin player in 2002 and 2003.

The band released the album No Other Way on Skaggs Family Records in 2002, with Force of Nature following in 2004. Both albums were produced by Ricky Skaggs.