Mike Compton was one of the first acoustic music performers we booked back in the fall of 1997. We’ve been privileged to have him play for us in a variety of contexts over the years, and we are delighted to present his duo with Southern folk icon Laura Boosinger.

The Knackered Ramblers musical interpretations echo the traditional country styles of the South from Bluegrass to Old-Time to Shaped Note hymns. Their approach is honest and engaging. Both Boosinger and Compton have been featured at major events across the nation and have traveled extensively abroad bringing their brand of roots music to audiences around the world. Laura Boosinger has collaborated with musicians across the spectrum from Grammy Award winner David Holt, guitarist and bass player for the Stanley Brothers George Shuffler, to multi-instrumentalist and storyteller Josh Goforth. Laura is a figurehead in maintaining the tradition of shaped note singing from the Christian Harmony. She is the voice and creator of Down the Road on the Blue Ridge Music Trails podcast and is a member of the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame. Mike Compton, befriended and mentored by Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass Music, is a Grammy and IBMA Award-winning mandolinist, composer, singer, arranger, and teacher. He is a lifelong practitioner and interpreter of Monroe’s genre-bending style. Compton is a musician’s musician. He collaborated with legendary producer T-Bone Burnett on the Album of the Year soundtrack for “O Brother Where Art Thou?” and was a member of the Nashville Bluegrass Band and the John Hartford Stringband. The Knackered Ramblers first collaboration, “We B Ramblin” is a mix of traditional fiddle tunes, heart songs and deeply southern spirituals as well as originals penned by both Boosinger and Compton.