Norman Blake

A celebrated instrumentalist who has worked with legendary figures in country, bluegrass, and folk, Norman Blake is best known as a flatpicking guitarist, though he's also proficient on other stringed instruments, including mandolin, Dobro, and fiddle. Steeped in traditional styles, Blake is renowned for his clean, unpretentious picking, emphasizing melody over technical flash, and he earned a sterling reputation as a sideman and studio musician before stepping forward as a solo artist with 1972's influential Back Home in Sulphur Springs. A frequent collaborator with his spouse Nancy Blake, Blake has also recorded with other icons of acoustic music, including Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, Tony Rice, and Tut Taylor. As interest in Blake's work grew in the 2000s, he continued to record, producing late career gems like 2021's Day by Day and 2024's Pilgrimage to Rising Fawn.