Kurt Hobbs

Kurt Hobbs is an eastern Virginia based country and bluegrass music composer, instrumentalist, and vocalist. Born in the Rockingham County area of Virginia, he spent his most of his childhood years living in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. Hobbs' interest in music was encouraged by grandfather Chester Hobbs, a free- lance musician in the Tidewater area of Virginia, who played mandolin and guitar with such bands as The Phelps Brothers, The Virginia Rounders, Looney Luke & Roly Poly Reid, and The Tobacco Tags. While in his early teens Hobbs began playing music with his brothers Jeff and Milton, then went on to start a bluegrass band called the East Ridge Boys. In his early twenties he was hired to play banjo for Leon Best & The Tidewater Bluegrass Boys. He remained with The Tidewater Bluegrass Boys for over 25 years, filling in on banjo, mandolin, upright bass, guitar, and Dobro, as needed. In 2013 Hobbs released a full length CD of original music entitled Dirt Road Summer. The CD featured several Tidewater area musicians and vocalist including, Ritchie Dotson on banjo, Soames Newsome on tenor vocals and Roger Gray, a former member of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys, on fiddle