FAIRBORN — Headlining the annual Bluegrass and Brew festival in Fairborn this year is the Steep Canyon Rangers, a decades-long Grammy-winning bluegrass quintet with roots in Asheville, North Carolina.

Steep Canyon Rangers was founded in the early 2000s as a traditional bluegrass band. In 2009, it rose to new heights by collaborating with comedian and banjoist Steve Martin. Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers collaborated on an album in 2012 that earned them their first Grammy nomination.

Steep Canyon Rangers then won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album in 2013 for their solo album, “Nobody Knows You.”

The group has morphed over the years, according to bassist and vocalist for the group Barrett Smith. Smith himself joined in 2018 after Charles Humphrey retired and has been one of six ever since. The most recent change for the band followed the retirement of Woody Platt, who was replaced by Aaron Burdett in 2022.

The Steep Canyon Rangers still do comedy shows from time to time with Martin, but it’s mixed with their regular bluegrass shows like the one they’ll be performing in Fairborn Aug. 2.

The collaboration with Martin has helped push them to stardom, but it’s their ability to stay true to their bluegrass roots that keeps them there.

“[Steve Martin] could’ve had any band in the world, certainly bands who are way more famous and accomplished than we are, but it’s the steadiness,” said Smith.”But then, we’ve changed a lot because of him in that he introduced us to a lot of people. More people come to see us because of Steve Martin, no question.”

Smith admitted that the band has changed since it’s inception, but that’s the case with everything.

“When the band started like 20-something years ago, for a long time the band was as traditional a bluegrass band as you could make, by design,” he said. “And then as the years went by, just being genuine and honest about who we are, we all liked different kinds of music, and those different kinds of music just started creeping into what we do. And all of a sudden there was a drummer, that’s a big no-no, just at a glance with bluegrass.”

Smith said wrestling with change is difficult, especially because you run the risk of disappointing fans, but it all comes down to being honest in music and embracing change as it comes. The traditional acoustic sound is still something Smith and the rest of the band is proud of, and the Steep Canyon Rangers will regularly warm up the old fashioned way, or perform a song or two like the band used to.

“We can do a whole [traditional] bluegrass show without blinking, because it’s in our blood so much,” he said.

According to Smith, the band has been on an ongoing “tour” for decades now, sometimes at theaters and sometimes at festivals like Fairborn’s Bluegrass and Brew.

“It’s hard to say which kind of shows are our favorite,” he said. “But if you polled the band, I’d say something where the people are just allowed to come up and enjoy music and drink and have a good time. That’s when we have the most fun.”

Smith said he and the band are looking forward to the stop, especially being closer to their roots in Asheville and being “beer people,” stemming from their bluegrass culture.

The annual Bluegrass and Brew festival in Fairborn regularly brings in talent from all over the United States, but rarely residents have a chance to catch a Grammy-winning band like the Steep Canyon Rangers for free.

“It’s so much fun, the only way to really believe that is to come and see it for yourself,” said Smith, adding that “it’s summer time. Get out and turn off the TV and leave the house and go hang out with a bunch of people from your community to see a travelling band coming through town.”

More information on the Bluegrass and Brew festival will be updated on the Fairborn Municipal Court’s social media page and website as vendors become finalized. Until then, residents can look forward to cheering for and getting to know one of this generation’s great bluegrass bands.

Contact Ethan Charles at 937-502-4532.