Johnny Staats
Encyclopedia
Johnny Staats is a bluegrass
mandolin
, guitar
and violin
player, born and raised in West Virginia
. He has been featured on NBC
's Today Show, in People Magazine, on the CBS Evening News
and CNN
, and has appeared on the Grand Ole Opry
. He won Charleston's Vandalia Gathering-Mandolin championships in 1996, 1997, and 1999. In 1997 he also won the guitar title and placed third in the fiddle competition.
He is an avid racoon hunter. His Johnny Staats Bluegrass Festival is a part of the Parkersburg (W.Va.) homecoming every year. He supports local instrument makers by playing ones made in the Parkersburg area. He lives in Sandyville
, West Virginia
.Current members of Johnny Staats band “The Delivery Boys” are: Butch Osborne on banjo, Roger Bissell on bass and harmony, Ray Cossin on fiddle, and David Vaughn on guitar and vocals.
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
player, born and raised in West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
. He has been featured on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Today Show, in People Magazine, on the CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963....
and CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, and has appeared on the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
. He won Charleston's Vandalia Gathering-Mandolin championships in 1996, 1997, and 1999. In 1997 he also won the guitar title and placed third in the fiddle competition.
He is an avid racoon hunter. His Johnny Staats Bluegrass Festival is a part of the Parkersburg (W.Va.) homecoming every year. He supports local instrument makers by playing ones made in the Parkersburg area. He lives in Sandyville
Sandyville, West Virginia
Sandyville is an unincorporated community in north central Jackson County, West Virginia, United States. It lies close to the left fork of Sandy Creek, nestled in the hills between Ravenswood and Ripley. It has a population of 1,721 and an average household income of $41,122....
, West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
.Current members of Johnny Staats band “The Delivery Boys” are: Butch Osborne on banjo, Roger Bissell on bass and harmony, Ray Cossin on fiddle, and David Vaughn on guitar and vocals.
Discography
- Wires & Wood (credited to "The Johnny Staats Project"), Giant Records, 2000
- Pickin Up Steam (with Robert Shafer)
- Wound for Sound (credited to "Johnny Staats & the Delivery Boys")