About This Song

Knee Deep in Bluegrass is a banjo instrumental by Terry Baucom, the North Carolina picker known as the Duke of Drive for his work with Boone Creek, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver and IIIrd Tyme Out. He said it was the first banjo tune he ever wrote, and he wrote it in 2000. The name also went to the radio show hosted by his wife, Cindy.

After Baucom died in December 2023, his former bandmate Ashby Frank recorded a reworked version as a tribute. It won the IBMA's Instrumental Recording of the Year award in September 2024, so many players will know the tune from that cut as well as from the original.

In the chart above, the B part opens on the 6 minor and then goes to a major 3 chord, which isn't one of the usual chords in the key. It then settles back through the 4 to home.