Biography

2023 proved to be a stellar year for Crandall Creek, including the addition of their new and energetic lead vocalist, Carly Greer, providing her stellar vocal and songwriting talents. Founding member, guitarist, and songwriter Jerry Andrews created the band in 2015 and envisioned a group that created its own music with an ear toward the mountain harmonies he heard as a child. He succeeded in that effort when he linked up with Kathy Wigman Lesnock, a West Finley, Pennsylvania songwriter who sings lead and harmony vocals and mandolin. Crandall Creek also includes the multi-instrumental talents of Dustin Terpenning on banjo and mandolin and Sav Nelson on bass. In 2023, Steve Acord was added to the band on fiddle. He has previously toured with Patty Loveless and other country and bluegrass artists.

Since March 2023, Crandall Creek has achieved significant chart success with numerous singles, including “Love the Thrill,” “Just 18,” and “Refrigerator Homemade Picture Show,” featuring Shannon Slaughter. Also, in December 2023, Andrews quickly composed a fun new holiday song, “Christmastime,” which also received airplay. In addition, the “Just 18” music video was released featuring Carly Greer as lead actor and vocalist, and appearances by fellow Crandall Creek band members Kathy Wigman Lesnock (and her husband) and Dustin Terpenning.

Also, in 2023, the band awarded fiddler Maddie Murray as the first recipient of the Steve Gulley Memorial Scholarship Award in the amount of $5,000. The second scholarship will be awarded this summer and presented during a Crandall Creek performance at the world-famous Station Inn in Nashville, Tennessee. The band created this scholarship as part of their Bluegrass Endeavors Foundation, donating part of their salaries to various charities.

The band kicked off 2024 with a new single, “Pieces” that received immediate airplay and is currently on the Bluegrass Today weekly and monthly charts. On March 1 2024, the band released an impressive new album, Ain’t Love Somethin’ full of original material on Copper Mountain Records, and a gospel single, “Don’t Cry Mary.” Also in March 2024, they released the single and video, “Lazy Sunday,” a duet with Crandall Creek’s Carly Greer and Greg Blake, the reigning IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year. “Pieces,” “Don’t Cry Mary,” and “Lazy Sunday,” are receiving airplay from radio stations around the world and on Sirius XM Bluegrass Junction.

Finally, from March 2023 to March 2024, the band continues to hold a residency in Elkins, West Virginia. People travel by bus from all over the country for a scenic train ride to hear a Crandall Creek performance, with most attendees hearing bluegrass music for the first time. 2023 was so successful that the entire season has been sold out for 2024.