Meet the Porch Pickers

Paul Pitts fronts the group and is the lead singer and rhythm guitar player. He gets the call for the occasional work on claw-hammered banjo, dulcimer and autoharp. According to David Powell, a fellow band member, Paul is credited with naming the band. "He wanted to stress that this kind of music has been kept alive, not by radio play and huge arena concerts, but by people who love it. They have passed it down through the years, playing on their porches and other informal settings."

Merle King also handles the upright bass duties and vocals. Merle began playing guitar when he was fourteen and has played in bands since he was sixteen, most often playing bass. His father, J.P. King, was a fiddler and sometimes professional musician. His fathers influence gave Merle a love of old-timey and swing music, and made sure that all the kids in the family could pick or sing. "Everyone at my house was expected to play, sing, or keep time. We made music all the time. And it wasn't just one kind of music...we played it all. Being a Porch Picker is a lot like that. We are drawn together by our love and respect for old-timey music and for the sheer joy of making music."

David Powell does vocals and honors on the guitar and mandolin. David began playing guitar when he was 13 years old and he's been hooked ever since. "I've played all kinds of music in all kinds of bands," said Powell, chairman of the English department Darlington School, located in Rome Georgia. "I became interested in traditional American music in college when I first heard Doc Watson play." Powell joined Paul Pitts and the Porch Pickers in 2000.

Phil Helton is the banjo picker. Phil has been active on the bluegrass circuit in North Georgia for over 20 years. An extradordinary singer, Phil's vocals usually close the show.

Renowned old-time fiddler James Bryan, who hails from Mentone, Alabama, joins the four Pickers who all call Rome, Georgia home. James Bryan is the son of a fiddler and guitarist. James' first musical memory at the age of four was seeing Bill Monroe perform in Boaz, Alabama. (A few decades later, he would play with Bill and James Monroe.) At twelve, he won his first fiddlers' competition and at 13 played his first dance in a two room school house. At 16, he was awarded the prestigious title of Tennessee Valley Fiddle King.