Young Eb Saunders has been introduced as the new fiddler with The Kevin Prater Band.
The son of noted bluegrass fiddle Owen Saunders, who played with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, The Gillis Brothers, and David Davis & The Warrior River Boys, Eb is a prodigy in many ways. At 16 years old, he’s been playing bluegrass professionally for several years, and is already a sophomore in college, studying Criminal Justice at Chattanooga State Community College.
Prater and the elder Saunders played a lot of music together when they were both part of the James King Band, long before Eb was born.
He started on the fiddle at around nine years of age, taking lessons from August Bruce, and has more recently been studying with Jason Carter, who Eb describes as his idol. He played a lot with his siblings before even hitting his teen years, and accepted a gig on mandolin with Barefoot Nellie & Company at 14, where he performed alongside both his dad and his first teacher. Then at 15 he joined the Landon Fitzpatrick Band, and stayed until this past fall when he left to focus on school. But young Saunders continued to pick up fill-in and side gigs close to home.
Eb tells us that even with a commitment to his education, he couldn’t turn down a gig with Prater.
“When Kevin gave me the call about joining his band on fiddle, I knew it was an offer I couldn’t pass up. My dad has always been a hero of mine, and the years he spent on the road with James King were hallmarked by Kevin’s powerful vocals and mandolin playing.
I’m real excited to start running up and down the roads with Kevin and his band.”
Saunders joins Prater on mandolin, Dalton Smith on guitar, Codie Allen on banjo, and Larry Cadle on bass.
The Kevin Prater Band starts touring in earnest next month, and you can always see when they’ll be in your area online.
