Dan Kelly

Kelly has won many prestigious fiddle contests; was Roy Acuff’s last “Smoky Mountain Boy” fiddle player on the Grand Ole Opry; and has developed a successful career as a sideman, touring with Country stars Pam Tillis, Steve Wariner, Faith Hill, Lonestar, SheDaisy, Alan Jackson, and currently with Clint Black. He has performed on the stages of the Kennedy Center; the Grammy, CMA and ACM Awards shows; the Tonight Show; the David Letterman Show; Good Morning America; and Carnegie Hall.

A native Pennsylvanian, Kelly began playing fiddle at age eight, and by the age of twelve he had won the Canadian National Open Fiddle Championship. During his contest career, he went on to win the state championships of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia, as well as the Mid-America Championship twice. In 1983, at the age of seventeen, Kelly won the most famous fiddle title in the nation, the Grand Master Fiddler Championship.

Kelly’s favorite career highlight, aside from winning the Grand Master Fiddler Championship and being a member of Roy Acuff’s Smoky Mountain Boys, was playing Carnegie Hall with Alan Jackson. When he is not touring with Clint Black, he divides his musical time between performing with the Tennessee Mafia Jug Band; doing session work around Nashville; maintaining a private teaching schedule; and teaching a violin class at a local private school.

Dan may get called out to play with a mega star so he is subject to change.....fingers crossed!