Branson Raines

This year the Happy Valley Jamboree is pleased to welcome incredible multi-instrumentalist and musical prodigy Branson Raines. Branson is a fiddler from Asheville, NC, known for his performances of bluegrass, old-time, and country fiddle music.  He comes from a musically inclined family and was a student (one of only three to be officially “graduated”) of the renowned fiddler and teacher, Arvil Freeman. Branson also studied and became close with the late fiddle icon Bobby Hicks. Raines often performes with NEA Heritage Award winner Sheila Kay Adams and was part of the Davis & Elkins Appalachian Ensemble at Davis & Elkins College.  He frequently leads jams in the greater Asheville area and has taken over Arvil Freeman‘s post as the fiddler for the legendary Stoney Creek Boys–the host band for decades for Shindig on the Green.