Throughout his career J.D. Crowe has been in the vanguard of bluegrass musicians, first as a banjo-picker and then as a group leader. He is regarded as the quintessential Scruggs-style banjoist, a consummate craftsman with flawless timing and full ness of tone. His band, the New South, has been a proving ground for some of the leading lights of bluegrass music's third generation.