Emory Lester & Jill Jones Band
B i o g r a p h y
The Emory Lester & Jill Jones Band combines the creative talents of singer songwriter Jill Jones and multi-instrumentalist Emory Lester who is widely known as one of the most creative and influential bluegrass musicians in North America. The driving force and leader of the band, Emory's unique mandolin style is instantly recognizable.
Emory has performed across the U.S. Canada, Europe and the U.K. and has been featured on several performances with Steve Martin, most notably on the ‘Late Night with David Letterman’ show in the fall of 2012. Rounding out the band are Larry Miller and Kene Hyatt, both respected, talented and experienced musicians.
Showcasing original songs written by Jill and Emory, the band presents a mixture of upbeat, diverse and entertaining acoustic music comprised of traditional and contemporary bluegrass music.
EMORY LESTER, a life-long Virginia native, now living in Ontario Canada, is one of this day’s foremost exponents of the acoustic mandolin. The power and attack of his mandolin playing are unmatched, and his sound is infectious. His landmark recording projects ‘Pale Rider’, ‘The Emory Lester Set’, ‘Cruisin’ the 8’, ‘Reminiscing Today’ and 'At Dusk' have placed him among the elite mandolinists of our time.
Emory also performs with noted ‘Clawgrass’ banjoist Mark Johnson and their collaboration has yielded four very creative recording projects and a nomination for ‘Instrumental Recording of the Year at the IBMA Awards, 2007. Mark and Emory have toured the U.S., and have been featured on several performances with Steve Martin, most notably on the ‘Late Night with David Letterman’ show in 2012.
LARRY MILLER began playing the banjo at an early age and was a founding member of The Southern Ramblers, a bluegrass band playing on the South Shore of Montreal in the early 60’s. Their album Bluegrass Fire was one of the first bluegrass albums in Canada. Subsequently, he joined the band Cody headed up by Michael O’Reilly. Their two albums A Tale of Three Cities and Alive and Still Picking established Larry as one of the preeminent banjo players in the country. Larry was also a member of Randy Morrison and the Flatt River Band. Larry has been nominated several times as banjo player of the year by the Central Canadian Bluegrass Awards committee and has received the Pioneer award for his work in both The Southern Ramblers and Cody.
JILL JONES was born and raised in St. John’s, Newfoundland and grew up performing the traditional songs of her east coast maritime home. She moved to Halifax, NS and later Toronto, ON where she worked for several years as a singer and actress in professional theaters in and around both cities. Since embracing her love of bluegrass music, she’s played with the Simcoe County Ramblers and now with the Emory Lester and Jill Jones Band. She is an accomplished songwriter and was nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year at the 2012 Central Canadian Bluegrass Awards.
KENE HYATT originally from Pennsylvania, now lives in Barrie Ontario. A master bassist, Kene studied at the York University in Toronto, and excelled in Jazz bass. A past winner of the 'Bass Player of the Year' award at the Central Ontario Bluegrass Awards, Kene has regularly performed with Emory Lester, Wayne Taylor and Appaloosa and various other bluegrass artists, as well as branching out to other genres such as rock, salsa, and country.