ABOUT
The Eddy Grove Band is made up of banjo player Gary Brockway, guitarist Sean Mestan, mandolinist Carl Woodall, drummer Dean Hughes, and bassist and flutist Kala Dunn.
Brockway is a retired provost and professor at Murray State University. He played in a folk/bluegrass trio during college in the 1970s, but put music aside for several years to focus on his career in higher education. Since his retirement, he has been playing, practicing, and learning new material, attending a summer acoustic music camp in Maryville, Tenn., and pursuing online courses in melodic banjo.
Mestan is a mostly self-taught musician, having taken some classical guitar lessons and some violin lessons with Connie Ottway. He's been playing acoustic guitar since his teenage years and counts James Taylor, Dan Fogelberg, Kenny Loggins, and Jim Messina among his musical influences.
Woodall was born and raised in Western Ky and comes from a musical family. He learned guitar from a singing nun in elementary school and when he was 19 his sister gave him his first mandolin. Being self-taught by playing along with Bill Monroe and Doc Watson music on cassette tapes, his love for music of all kinds has inspired him to perform folk, blues and Americana music for the last 30 years.
Dunn is a lifelong student of music, with a bachelor's degree in piano performance from Murray State University. She is a 2006 graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy, where she studied flute with Nancy Stagnitta. She has also studied at the Brevard Music Center with Donna Lee and Elisabeth Pridonoff, and at Austin Peay State University with William Bennett during the William Bennett Summer Flute Academy.
Hughes, of Princeton, skillfully adds drums and percussion to the group. He has appeared professionally in a wide array of ensembles performing all styles of music, from Dixieland to funk to jazz, and his distinctive playing is instantly recognizable for his tasteful, flexible, and creative collaborative style.
The Eddy Grove Band began when Mestan and Dunn were performing as a duo at Eddy Grove Winery in Princeton, Ky. Dr. Gary Brockway was in attendance with his banjo, and the jam session that followed resulted in a lasting musical ensemble that has performed throughout the region. The ensemble is actively booking dates and can be reached at eddygroveband@gmail.com.