Effective period / Period of releases: 2015

Members: Nellie Smith (3), Corey Smith (14), Eli Smith (5), Allen Smith (14)

American Bluegrass Band from Moore County, North Carolina. Formerly known as The Smith Family Band, featuring dad Allen Smith (bass) and his four kids: Nellie Smith (vocals and fiddle), Corey Smith (guitar), Eli Smith (mandolin) and Luke Smith (banjo). The band members were classically-trained as children but gravitated to bluegrass. Their name comes from a sailing term referring to the ability to row a sailboat when there’s no wind (oars are typically made of ash.) “Sailing by ash breeze” is a major theme (overcoming struggle) in the book Carry on Mr Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham, a Smith family favorite.