Lauren Price Napier, of Hyden, Kentucky, has garnered international acclaim for her mastery of the bluegrass stylings referred to as “ancient tones” by Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys. Notably, Lauren was nominated for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) 2019 Momentum Vocalist of the Year and IBMA’s Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year for 2020.While in college, Lauren formed The Price Sisters band with her twin sister Leanna Price. Only a few years later, the band was nominated for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) Momentum Band of the Year (2019). The Sisters’ released a full-length album for Rebel Records, “A Heart Never Knows,” in the spring of 2018. Rebel states that, “The Price Sisters’ ability to grasp the complexities of Bill Monroe’s music at such a young age has led to appearances at prestigious festivals such as Bean Blossom and Jerusalem Ridge and has earned them praise and respect from a few of Monroe’s ardent disciples, including Bobby Osborne, Byron Berline, Ronnie McCoury and Mike Compton.”
Lauren was the first woman (and youngest at the time) to instruct at the Monroe Mandolin Camp, the premier event focused on teaching and promoting Bill Monroe’s music and mandolin style. She is now a five-time instructor at the Monroe Mandolin Camp and continues to be a sought-after instructor at music camps across the country. Lauren learned this skill both through mentorship from other musicians as well as her own drive to learn by herself. She writes, “I became most heavily interested in Monroe style mandolin playing as a young teenager, and from that point on spent hundreds of hours teaching myself tunes, solos, and hallmark licks of Monroe’s playing by ear, listening to and working through audio recordings.”
As part of the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program this year, Lauren will be teaching her unique interpretation of Bill Monroe’s style to apprentice, Reagan Brown. Reagan has been playing the fiddle since she was five years old, and then in 2020, transitioned to playing the mandolin as a pandemic project. She quickly fell in love with the instrument and Bill Monroe’s style, in particular. She competes in half a dozen bluegrass competitions a year and plays at local events in and around her hometown of Springfield. In July of 2023, Reagan was awarded first place in the National Championship for Country Musician Beginners mandolin contest at the Smithville Jamboree. Notably, she was also the repeated winner of the Nolan Turner Memorial Entertainer of the Year award, an honor presented to the best overall instrumental entertainer among winners in the dobro guitar, mandolin, banjo, and guitar competition. Rarely, if ever, is there another female mandolin player at a competition besides Reagan. In this often male-dominated genre, Reagan is eager to be mentored by a preeminent, female Monroe-style mandolin player, and she hopes to be a role model for future mandolin-playing generations.
