Jason was born on October 14, 1979. He started playing fiddle when he was ten years old, at Buckhorn Elementary School. By the time he was 12 or 13, he started bluegrass fiddle lessons at the Bluegrass Parlor in Tampa, FL. He formed his first band, the Jeff Jones Band, at 14. He landed his first touring job with the Sand Mountain Boys and played with them from the day he graduated from high school, at age 17, in 1997, until the end of 2000. Jason says that, without a doubt, the greatest thing to happen to him during his tenure with the Sand Mountain Boys was the day that he asked Jesus Christ in to his life. Jason then worked with Carolina Road until 2005. During 2006, he played with the Churchmen and Bobby Osborne and the Rocky Top Express. Larry Stephenson hired him in 2007. During his stint with LSB, Pinecastle Records released my CD entitled, “The Past Is Present”, a cd which garnered his first ever IBMA nomination for “Instrumental Album of the Year.” He played with Larry until January of 2009, when he joined Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver.
Jason met his wife Sarah, at the California Bluegrass Festival in Grass Valley, CA in 1997. They married in 2002 and have two beautiful children, Isaac and Adalynn. They live north of Nashville, where Sarah is a school teacher. When he has a bit of time off, Jason likes to fish and hunt, and enjoys wood working and instrument repair.
Highlights
- First Grand Ole Opry appearance in September 2001 (with Jim & Jesse)
- Six-time Florida State Fiddle Champion
- Three SPBGMA Fiddle Player of the Year nominations
- IBMA Instrumental Album of the Year nomination for “The Past is Present” (Larry Stephenson Band)
Equipment
- Current fiddle purchased from Steve Ratcliff in Elliottsville, KY
- Great-grandfather’s fiddle, an old German copy of a Jacobus Steiner
- D’Addario Helicore, heavy gauge strings.
