Richard Hefner is a founding member of the Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys, West Virginia’s longest-running bluegrass band. Hefner’s bluegrass banjo playing and tenor vocals have contributed both continuity and much of the “high lonesome” sound for which the band has become so well-known. He has displayed his banjo skills many times as a victor in contests and at the Vandalia Festival.
The group was first organized in 1968 around the foursome of Richard Hefner (banjo/tenor vocal), his brother Bill Hefner (guitar/mandolin/baritone vocal), their late uncle Glenn “Dude” Irvine (mandolin), and the late Harley Carpenter (guitar/lead vocal). They took their name from Black Mountain in their native Pocahontas County. For five years the group worked a weekly radio show on WVAR, in Richwood. They also made regular appearances at local events and regional bluegrass festivals. They recorded their first album in January 1971, “Pure Old Bluegrass”, and in the mid-1970s they followed up with a pair of albums: “Million Lonely Days” and “Talk of the County.” More recent albums include “Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys 1968-1973,” “Live at Midnight,” “Live at The Opera House,” and “Live at Greenbrier Valley Theatre.”
Richard currently lives with his wife Maddy in Renick and often hosts informal music jams with some of the best musicians in the region at his home place in Mill Point.
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