“These guys are among the elite in the business keeping the fires lit for the original bluegrass sound.” - Craig Havighurst, Music City Roots
Joe Mullins began to recognize the power of music to bridge traditions and create new communities while listening to his father, Paul “Moon” Mullins, a radio broadcaster and accomplished fiddle player from Kentucky. Like so many, the Mullins family found themselves in the Dayton/Cincinnati area as a result of the great Appalachian out-migration from coalfields to industrial urban centers. Mullins witnessed how his father’s daily country and bluegrass radio show comforted those far from home and it was then he knew he wanted to perform traditional Appalachian music. As a performer, Mullins quickly established himself as a strong traditional banjo player and lead vocalist, and in 2006 Mullins founded the Radio Ramblers. Under his leadership, the Radio Ramblers debuted at the Grand Ole Opry on July 27th, 2013, a mere 7 years after their first performance.
Mullins’ music is best described as authentic bluegrass, marked by consistently clean harmonies, Joe’s driving Scruggs-style banjo playing, and his band’s entertaining showmanship. Mullins has recorded over 22 albums and had eleven #1 songs, has received over a dozen awards, including “Banjo Player of the Year” in 2023 from the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music Association (SPGMA), as well as the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) 2019 award (with the Radio Ramblers) for “Entertainer of the Year,” the highest award a band can earn within the genre. Other notable honors include IBMA’s “Song of the Year” in 2018 for If I’d Have Wrote That Song, as well as IBMA’s “Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year” in both 2016 and 2017.
In addition to band leader duties, Joe Mullins is an award-winning radio broadcaster who can be heard daily across the globe via Real Roots Radio, and is also host of the syndicated radio program Front Porch Fellowship currently on over 200 radio stations worldwide. His family’s twice-annual event, the Industrial Strength Bluegrass Festival, won IBMA’s “Event of the Year” in 2022.
In addition to Joe, the Radio Ramblers feature Jason Barie on fiddle, Randy Barnes on bass, Adam McIntosh on guitar, and Chris Davis on mandolin. Jason previously spent two years with the Larry Stephenson Band and almost six years with Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver. He has been with the Radio Ramblers since 2014. Randy, who joined the Radio Ramblers in 2013, is an accomplished bass player and has an impeccable reputation among the bluegrass community, having worked as a band member for Lou Reid & Carolina, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, the Larry Stephenson Band and the Josh Williams Band. Guitarist Adam McIntosh is a founding member of the Radio Ramblers. He has also played with Dry Branch Fire Squad. Mandolin maestro Chris Davis is the most recent recruit to the Radio Ramblers. He has previously worked with the Grascals, Larry Sparks, Alecia Nugent, Junior Sisk, Larry Cordle, Marty Raybon, and Diamond Rio.
