Copper Kettle

Copper Kettle

Copper Kettle is a group centred on mandolin player, songwriter and singer Fred Skellenger, who is born in Stuart, Florida and has lived in Independence and Kansas City, Missouri, Chicago, and Brooklyn, New York. Skellenger picks up the mandolin in 2001, is self-taught, and says his influences include Mike Compton, Ronnie McCoury and Wayne Benson, among others. He plays a 1981 Gilchrist and writes songs, drawing on old blues and country music.

Line-up

The group also features Lawrence Dillingham on guitar and vocals, Kevin Sluder on bass and vocals, and Tim Gardner on fiddle. Dillingham is from the Asheville area, plays in a very personal style, and has performed with an old-time band that opens for The Traveling McCourys. Ronny McCoury calls him the “Django of the Mountains”. Sluder is also from the Asheville area, sings tenor, and works as a furniture builder and designer. He plays with the Tipton Hill Boys. Gardner plays fiddle, has a degree in forestry, works as a sound engineer, and makes custom banjos and banjo necks with his father. He also plays with the High Windy band.