Sunday May 15, 2022

Growing up on Flint Hill Rd., musician Trajan “Tray” Wellington was destined to be attracted to the 5-string banjo. Tray’s love for music bloomed at an early age while he listened to his grandpa play diverse styles of music. This spring, he will release a new full length album, Black Banjo, on the Mountain Home Music Company label. Join PineCone in celebrating this special album release! Winston-Salem musician Sonny Miles will open the show with solo set. In Wellington's own words, “the idea of Black Banjo is to break down the stereotypes placed on banjo and black people within roots music and show that anyone can do any music they set their mind to and no demographic should be a barrier to that dream.” This album will include Wellington's unique touch and perspective on the music, with the album being mostly originals written by Wellington, including a duet song with Tim O’Brien, as well as covers honoring such jazz legends as John Coltrane and Roy Hargrove. With this wide variety of music, Wellington hopes to break down the walls within roots music, as well as lay a framework for future generations with the hopes of continuing the idea of progressing roots music further than it’s ever been. Black Banjo will be released May 13, and the producer of this project is bluegrass legend and songwriter Jon Weisberger. Wellington didn’t start playing stringed instruments until he received his first electric guitar at age 13. Soon, he became interested in learning how to flat pick guitar, which led him to hear the banjo for the first time. His interest piqued, he began practicing, and his playing and musicianship have since flourished. From learning traditional bluegrass to studying diverse genres such as jazz, progressive bluegrass, blues, rock, and more, Tray has gone on to play with some of the most accomplished musicians in the world. Before reaching the age of 21, he received a number of awards and accolades, including two awards from IBMA — 2019 IBMA Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year and 2019 Momentum Band of the Year (with Cane Mill Road). In 2019, he ventured out to start his own project, which started with recording his first EP, Uncaged Thoughts, which was recorded and co-produced by banjo legend Scott Vestal. From there he decided he wanted to start his current band. The Tray Wellington Band currently features Josiah Nelson, Nick Weitzenfeld, and Katelynn Lowe. The band has performed at many premier festivals and venues across the country, including a set at the Red Hat Amphitheater during the IBMA Bluegras Live! in Raleigh in 2021. In 2020, Tray signed to Mountain Home Music Company. Tray has been featured on several TV shows, including an episode of David Holt’s State of Music, as well as a 2022 feature on Kamau Bell’s CNN show United Shades of America. Tray is an experienced teacher of the banjo as well. Tray teaches private lessons, and he has taught at many premier camps, including MidWest Banjo Camp, Augusta Heritage Week, and as an assistant teaching at the 2019 Bela Fleck Blue Ridge Banjo Camp. Tray’s playing has drawn the attention of many greats in the business who have helped to bring out the best of Tray’s musicianship, and who have encouraged him to continue growing to become one of the best players in the industry. While many artists are touted as “genre-bending” these days, Sonny Miles embodies the ethos in a way that few others can. From the age of five, Miles, born Jordan Williams, was playing drums. By 10 he was performing at church alongside his father, who would gracefully and charismatically lead the congregation. Though he was soaking in the complex rhythms and rich melodies of gospel sounds, Miles didn’t experience much contemporary music until his early teens, and even then it was mostly because it existed within the soundtrack of the video games he was allowed to play (Clture.org).