Taylor Farley, Jr. has been playing the 5-string banjo since the age of ten, after first hearing Earl Scruggs play "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" on the radio broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry. That was a long time ago down in Newport, Kentucky, and now he has blended his unique style of pickin' with almost every genre available.
Taylor has performed in concert with some of the most well-respected names in music; The Charlie Daniels Band, The Earl Scruggs Revue and Willie Nelson, just to name a few. He has performed at "A Taste of Chicago," Cincinnati's "Riverfest" and "Tall Stacks" events, as well as Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta and all the old country music clubs of Nashville. In 2000, he won the Cammy Award for "Best Folk/Bluegrass Instrumentalist."
Taylor plays a Custom Specification Gibson Custom Specification Earl Scruggs Standard Banjo equipped with a McIntyre Banjo Pickup, played through a Crate CA125DG "Telluride" Acoustic amplifier. He uses Monster Acoustic Cables, Gibson Earl Scruggs medium gauge banjo strings, and National NP2 Picks.
Taylor Farley III, affectionately known as "Spud," has naturally enough spent his entire life surrounded by music and musicians, and has met such luminaries as Earl Scruggs, Charlie Daniels, and many others.
Spud has gravitated to the acoustic guitar, which he plays with an ease and grace uncommonly seen while supplying the rhythm. He's co-written songs with his dad, and has arranged many of the numbers in Blue Rock's current playlist. He has an excellent grasp of technique and has a well-tuned ear for detail. Some of this is inherent talent, some of it is practiced skill, and all of it is critical to the Blue Rock sound.
Spud plays a Blueridge BR-160 equipped with a Fishman Natural 1 Acoustic Guitar Pickup with a Switchjack Active Jack. That runs through a Boss TU-2 Tuner, PH-3 Phase Shifter, and a CH-3 Chorus, then into a Crate CA125DG "Telluride" Acoustic amp. He uses Monster Rock Cables, D'addario Medium Gauge Phosphor Bronze Strings and Jim Dunlop Nylon Picks.
No band can stand without a foundation, and Jerry provides the bass (pun intended). He grew up in Loveland, Ohio, in a family where bluegrass is undoubtedly king! Playing along on a variety of instruments with his dad, siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins, friends, distant relatives, and probably the family dog as well, Jerry has acquired and honed a style that comes from deep down inside.
In high school, Jerry performed regularly at Paramount's Kings Island, and has made several appearances at the Renfro Valley Music Park. Since then he's been appearing frequently with other bluegrass bands, and has now settled into Blue Rock. He mixes solid backbass with slap leads and lends his mellow baritone to the vocals.
Jerry plays a Carruthers electric upright bass stick piped through a Crate BX1000.
A native of Maineville, Ohio, Eddie officially began drumming at the age of 9, and by the time he was 11 was playing professionally, backing up his father's and stepfather's bands as they played the dance and lodge circuits.
Over the next 25 years, his musical repertoire covered a wide range of genres, including honky-tonk country, blues, jazz, rock, and big band. He is notorious for throwing in an unexpected twist at any time during a performance.
When on the road, Eddie plays on Mapex ProM 5875 Micro shells, mounted with Evans G2 batter and EMAD kick drum heads, or his vintage 1967 Ludwig set, also mounted with Evans heads. Cymbals are Paiste 802s and he uses Vic Firth American Classic Hickory drumsticks in a variety of sizes and weights.