BONUS TRACKS: Steve Martin Banjo Prize Winners + Remembering Dualtone Records’ Paul Roper

The Steve Martin Banjo Prize announced its two winners for 2024 — Tray Wellington and Allison de Groot. With a board chaired by banjoist and Compass Records co-owner Alison Brown, as well as sponsors including the FreshGrass Foundation (the nonprofit publisher of No Depression and Folk Alley), Compass Records, and the International Bluegrass Music Association, the mission of the Steve Martin Banjo Prize is “to recognize excellence across the spectrum of banjo styles.” Each winner will receive an unrestricted financial prize of $25,000.

Both of these artists have been covered in No Depression regularly. The Wilkesboro, North Carolina-based Wellington is a three-finger picker who performs as a solo artist (ND review) and with the new Black stringband The New Dangerfield. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada, the clawhammer playing de Groot as known also a solo artist, as well as a collaborator with musicians like fiddler Tatiana Hargreaves (ND review) and dancer/percussionist Nic Gareiss (ND review).

To celebrate the announcement, Martin himself introduced the two winners on a livestream presented by Deering Banjo Company, co-hosted by Brown, and featuring the two winners performing and discussing. Fans can now watch the entire video below.

And in tragic news, Dualtone Records president and partner Paul Roper passed away on Tuesday after a battle with cancer. He was just 45 years old. Roper began at the Nashville-based record label as an intern in 2002 and worked his way up to the top, helping discover, support, and champion roots musicians like The Lumineers, Gregory Alan Isakov, Mt. Joy, Shakey Graves, Shovels & Rope, and many more.

The Lumineers’ Jeremiah Fraites said in a statement, “When we started touring in our 15-passenger van, we used to park at the venue and bide our time until it was time to load in. We didn’t have money for hotels and we’d usually be splitting Subway sandwiches or Clif Bars between us. I’ll never forget when Paul Roper showed up to the parking lot behind the venue in Nashville and met us with beer and pizza. It was a small gesture on his side, but a massive one to us. I’ll never forget that.”

No Depression and Dualtone Records and have enjoyed a long, friendly, and mutually respectful relationship for decades, and our entire team is keeping theirs in our thoughts. Back in the early aughts, the two companies collaborated to release a pair of compilations called No Depression: What It Sounds Like, Vol. 1 and Vol.2 (Surveying The Past, Present, And Future of American Music). Additionally, No Depression published a feature story about the label in honor of its 20th anniversary for the Winter 2021 issue “Good News.”

Roper is survived by his wife and their four children. The family requests that any donations in his memory be made to the Nashville nonprofit Corner To Corner.

WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO

Here’s a sampling of the songs, albums, bands, and sounds No Depression staffers have been into this week:

Zonder Kennedy – “Joyful Noise”
Lambrini Girls – “Company Culture” (from their forthcoming album Who Let The Dogs Out, due out January 10)
Father John Misty – Mahashnashana
Randy Newman – “She Chose Me”
Los Campesinos! – All Hell
Sarah Shook & The Disarmers – Revelations
Songhoy Blues – “Gara” (from their forthcoming album Héritage, due out January 17)