Mandolin player and in-your-face bluegrass singer Ron Spears has joined David Parmley’s Continental Divide.

Spears played mandolin for Greg Cahill’s Special Consensus and left the group about a year ago to join Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, a move that didn’t work out. Spears spent the summer driving tourist and band buses in Nashville before accepting a call from Parmley.

Spears hails from Salt Lake City, Utah, where he played banjo in local bluegrass bands in the early 1970s before switching genres to play guitar in a country band. Dissatisfied with the direction country music was going in the mid-1990s, he turned back to bluegrass and played mandolin and guitar in several regional bands in Utah and the Northwest.

In 1999, Spears landed a spot in Rhonda Vincent’s The Rage. A year later, he formed his own band and recorded three CDs for Copper Creek Records.

Besides bringing his unique, Monroe-style mandolin playing to David Parmley’s group, Spears is known not only for his songwriting, but also his powerful vocals. Mandolin player and in-your-face bluegrass singer Ron Spears has joined David Parmley’s Continental Divide.

Spears played mandolin for Greg Cahill’s Special Consensus and left the group about a year ago to join Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, a move that didn’t work out. Spears spent the summer driving tourist and band buses in Nashville before accepting a call from Parmley.

Spears hails from Salt Lake City, Utah, where he played banjo in local bluegrass bands in the early 1970s before switching genres to play guitar in a country band. Dissatisfied with the direction country music was going in the mid-1990s, he turned back to bluegrass and played mandolin and guitar in several regional bands in Utah and the Northwest.

In 1999, Spears landed a spot in Rhonda Vincent’s The Rage. A year later, he formed his own band and recorded three CDs for Copper Creek Records.

Besides bringing his unique, Monroe-style mandolin playing to David Parmley’s group, Spears is known not only for his songwriting, but also his powerful vocals.

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