Stacy Boyd was born in Franklin County, VA and grew up in the area where Buffalo Ridge and Dry Hill roads meet. Stacy’s great grandfather was an old time fiddler on his mother’s side of the family, but his first memories of music being played was on his father’s side when his dad started playing the banjo. As a teenager, Stacy would follow along with his dad, Jimmy Boyd, and the Dry Hill Draggers as they played for dances and festivals around the area where he learned how to square dance and flatfoot. Stacy learned to play bass mostly by watching Cordell Pinkard (one of the bass players with the original lineup of the Draggers in the '80s) whose strong and steady bass beat was the old time style Stacy picked up and still plays today. Stacy started filling in on bass with the Draggers at some shows starting in the mid 90’s.
Stacy has since moved from Franklin County and now lives in Laurel Fork in Carroll County, VA. In 2007 when Stacy's son, Jared, started learning to play banjo, The Dry Hill Draggers had just regrouped and Stacy started playing bass full time in the band. Over the years he has placed in many bass contests and band competitions, including receiving the Barbara Poole Memorial Bass Award (second place) in 2014 at the 79th Galax Old Fiddlers Convention. Currently Stacy enjoys playing the old time tunes he learned from the Draggers with the Twin Creeks Stringband.
STACY BOYD
// Bass Fiddle
Jared Boyd grew up in the Laurel Fork section of Carroll County, VA with old-time music being played and sung by his grandparents on both sides of his family. Jared's own music adventures began at age 11 when he began taking clawhammer banjo lessons from Ray Chatfield through the Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) program as well as from his grandfather, Jimmy Boyd, a co-founder of the Dry Hill Draggers. Jared and his dad, Stacy, have played old-time music together for over 10 years with a variety of musicians from SWVA. In addition to his mentors, Jared's banjo playing style has been influenced by clawhammer banjo players such as Kyle Creed, Tommy Jarrell, Fred Cockerham, Adam Hurt, Reed Martin, Brien Fain, and Eddie Bond. After his grandfather and uncle retired from playing banjo with the Dry Hill Draggers, Jared joined up with the remaining band members in the spring of 2017 to continue playing driving old-time music for the dancers. Jared plays a combination of clawhammer banjo styles and provides harmony vocals for the Twin Creeks Stringband (an offshoot of the Dry Hill Draggers).
JARED BOYD
// Clawhammer Banjo
Chris Prillaman was born and raised in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Ferrum, Virginia. At the age of fourteen, Chris became fascinated by old-time music and moonshine making stories after a dear friend started taking him to music events to lift his spirits after Chris's father passed away. Chris's musical journey started on the banjo but it wasn’t long until he picked up the fiddle after hearing his Granddaddy Bill and Mama Irene say “now the first one to learn how to play this fiddle gets to keep it", and Chris “squeaked his way” through playing a tune first. That fiddle had belonged to his great grandfather, Walter “Peg” Hatcher, who bootlegged his way through the depression era and whose fiddling recordings can be found in the Library of Congress. By the age of sixteen, Chris was fiddling old time tunes with the Dry Hill Draggers and playing most weekends alongside Jimmy Boyd, who had taught him how to play the banjo claw-hammer style. Chris mostly taught himself how to play the fiddle, taking inspiration over the years from fiddlers such as Carl Scott, Benton Flippen, and Shay Garriock to name a few. After playing the old time music of the region for over 25 years, Chris felt the need to preserve the history and his own heritage of making moonshine with his family and so in 2015 he started Twin Creeks Distillery in Franklin County, VA. Chris plays his great-grandfather’s fiddle with a bowing style that provides high energy and drive for the Twin Creeks Stringband.
CHRIS PRILLAMAN
// Fiddle
Jason Hambrick was born and raised in Franklin County, Virginia only a few miles from Philpott Lake. His love of music started at a young age with singalongs at home with his sister and dad. Jason's father, Roy, played bluegrass and old-time fiddle and guitar and also sang with a strong voice that Jason has inherited. He recalls listening to bluegrass music growing up, notably The Stanley Brothers, The Seldom Scene, The Country Gentlemen, and considers John Starling to be his favorite singer after his dad. In the 1980's Jason's father joined the Dry Hill Draggers, an old-time band that played music for square dances and started Jason’s interest in another style of music. After Jason lost his dad to cancer, the yearning to play more music turned into a goal that he reached in 2007 when he joined the second generation of Draggers. Jason’s specialty is being able to work some of his favorite bluegrass songs to fit the old-time beat that the dancers enjoy. After more than a decade of playing this old-time style of music, Jason really enjoys being around folks that share his love for the music. When the Draggers took an indefinite hiatus in 2017, Jason was thankful that he and some of the other members decided to form a spin-off of the group called the Twin Creeks Stringband which continues the legacy of the music he was introduced to as a teen by his father. Jason's rhythmic guitar playing complements his strong vocals as he sings lead and harmony with the Twin Creeks Stringband.
JASON HAMBRICK
// Guitar & Vocals
THE TWIN CREEKS STRINGBAND is an old-time band from Southwest Virginia where their hard-driving music has been handed down to them through generations of music in Carroll and Franklin County. The band is a continuation of The Dry Hill Draggers, a band formed in the early 1980's in Franklin County, Virginia who played for dances and festivals for over 30 years. Though the name has changed, the high-energy sound and rock-solid rhythm remains unchanged. The Twin Creeks Stringband continues to play hot fiddle tunes with a driving beat along with strong vocals that will entertain both listeners and dancers alike. The members of the band include Chris Prillaman on fiddle, Jason Hambrick on guitar and vocals, Stacy Boyd on bass, and his son Jared Boyd on banjo.
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