There's a particular kind of electricity that happens when a bluegrass band locks in. The banjo starts rolling, the bass digs into the off-beat, the mandolin chops like a snare drum, and suddenly the whole room is leaning forward. HillBilly Fever lives for that moment.
The band's story starts in the mountains of North Carolina, where banjo man Mark Krider grew up listening to and playing bluegrass music. “You might say it's in the water there.” Mark has played banjo and guitar for 50 years, forming bands wherever he has lived, from North Carolina to Tennessee and Arizona, and sharing the stage with the Osborne Brothers, the Country Gentlemen, the Lewis Family, and Blue Highway. In 2018, wanting to keep the traditional sound going, he formed HillBilly Fever. Mark now calls Texas home, and the band is based in the Dallas/East Texas area.
On guitar and lead/tenor vocals is Justin Smith, who began playing guitar at age 12 and has performed with numerous bluegrass and gospel bands throughout Texas and Oklahoma. Justin brings strong vocals and a driving guitar style to the front of the band.
Daniel David plays mandolin deeply rooted in the style of the genre's early pioneers. His Monroe-style approach emphasizes solid rhythm and driving lead lines, shaped by years of playing with bands along Colorado's Front Range before he moved to Arkansas.
On resonator guitar, Adam Bachman, originally from Tigerville, South Carolina, and now based in Asheville, North Carolina, has played for over 10 years at historic venues and festivals including the Ryman Auditorium, the Station Inn, and MerleFest. He also tours with Cast Iron Bluegrass, Wilson Banjo Company, and James Tucker.
Anchoring it all on bass is Anne Luna, whose playing is graceful and elegant, yet precise and hard-driving. Anne has recorded on more than 20 albums with distinguished musicians including Alan Munde, Kenny Maines, and Amanda Shires, and as a member of The Hard Road Trio released four critically acclaimed albums between 2012 and 2019, spending more than a decade touring, playing festivals, and teaching workshops across the country.
HillBilly Fever has carried its sound to festival stages across the country, including the Wickenburg (Four Corner States) Bluegrass Festival in Arizona, the Susanville Bluegrass Festival in California, the Midsummer Bluegrass Fest and Bluegrass at the Lake in Wisconsin, High Mountain Hay Fever in Colorado, the Washington Bluegrass Association Festival, the Wyoming State BBQ & Bluegrass Festival, and the Big Bend, Van Zandt, Nelson Magee, and Salmon Lake Gospel festivals in Texas. The band has been booked from California to North Carolina, from Montana to Texas, and points between, and is proudly sponsored by GHS Strings.
On stage, HillBilly Fever delivers hard-driving bluegrass and gospel music with the tone and timing of the music's first generation. The president of the Washington Bluegrass Association compared the band's traditional sound to seeing Jimmy Martin play, and S. Osborne of the Osborne Brothers summed it up simply: “Good band, Good Tone, Just Good.” The band's latest CD, Bluegrass Mix Vol. 2, captures some of its best work, including two original songs.
Whether it's a festival main stage, a community concert, or a private event, HillBilly Fever brings the same thing every time: real bluegrass, played hard and played right. Catch the fever.
