Steve wanted to acknowledge all the great musicians who made "Appalachian Uprising" the memorable work it is:

Bob Harris

First on my list of “Thank Yous” would be to Bob Harris for long-time friendship and
musical partnership. Vassar Clements is not alone in saying that Bob is his favorite guitar player. Without question Bob is my favorite guitar player as well. Bob does things that I have never heard any other guitarist do. Watching him play guitar reminds me of going to a Yankee game and realizing that I am seeing the best of the best.

Travis Wetzel

Second: Travis Wetzel, working with Travis through all of these years, since he was a
teenager, he has never stopped amazing me with his incredible fiddle playing whether
he’s playing jazz, bluegrass, swing or my music. There is no one that I would choose over him if I could choose anybody. That’s why Jessie Mc Reynolds keeps stealing him away to perform at the Grand Ole Opry.

Three: Randy Bailey, we could not have done this album without Randy and his
immovable timing, he was truly a blessing to this project.

Ken Neill

Four: Ken Neill, a special “thank you” to Ken Neill for handling some very difficult and
complicated music, he made everything fit together just the right way.

Fifth: I was really excited to have met Noah Segal. His playing of the djembe was very
integral on the pieces, “Moondog” and “Samba in the Hills.” He did an incredible job.

Sixth: Mike Perry with all of his help in organizing this project, as well as Frank Lefebrve for the fine photography.

Creating this project was a lot of hard work. Without these musicians I could not have put this album together this way. Without the great influences of banjo players like Earl Scruggs, Bobby Thompson, J.D. Crowe, Doug Dillard, Alan Munde, John Hickman, D.W. Griffiths, Sam Shelor and Bela Fleck — they were all such tremendous inspirations to me.
Other inspirations were piano player George Winston and my brother, Kevin Lutke, jazz guitarist; Dolores Dinning-Edgin for introducing me to and opening up my ears to the best studio musicians in Nashville; and my fantastically talented mother, lead singer of the Dinning Sisters on Capitol Records in the 40s for working with me all of these years and never accepting anything less than perfection; and to Geoff Stelling for creating my Red Fox and Sunflower banjos with the wide open sound that allowed me to experiment in other forms of music. Stelling banjos are played on all but 2 pieces, which are “Hummingbird” and “White’s Creek.”

The Tunes on "Appalachian Uprising" | The Musicians on "Appalachian Uprising"