Travis Stuart

Artist Biography

A Bethel native and Haywood County resident, Travis Stuart is a banjo player who has been performing old time music rooted in Western North Carolina for over twenty years. The backbone of bluegrass, old time string band music carries a legacy that is inescapable, and from his earliest days growing up, Stuart was steeped in that legacy. Brought up in a rich musical community and family, Stuart learned to play banjo from local musicians like Avery County’s Red Wilson, recipient of a 2003 North Carolina Heritage Award. Playing his great-uncle Austin Stamley’s banjo, Stuart has mastered a local old time style and shared it around the United States and Europe, touring and recording alongside his twin brother, Trevor. In 2017, he and Trevor released The Stuart Brothers, a generous collection of 23 tunes both traditional and original.

As far as his music takes him, Stuart remembers to bring it on home, working to preserve and pass down Western North Carolina’s old time music to the next generation through teaching and mentoring. He has facilitated workshops and classes for Junior Appalachian Musicians and East Tennessee State University’s Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies program. With support from the Folk and Traditional Arts Master Artist Fellowship, Stuart would like to further develop his teaching abilities by studying the methods of other traditional artists in North Carolina, Louisiana, Wales, and England.