Georgia Mountain Bluegrass performs primarily traditional bluegrass music. You will hear the influence of Flatt & Scruggs, Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, Stanley Brothers, Ricky Skaggs and many other greats of bluegrass. You’ll also hear original songs with music and lyrics by Mel Bennett. We do mix in a little gospel, folk, Americana and classic country to round out our sets. All the songs we perform reflect our love of American “roots” music which connects us to our past.

We are a husband-and-wife duo based in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia near Hiawassee. Mel Bennett is a talented banjo picker, guitar player and vocalist. Cathy Bennett gives us a driving bass and vocals. Together we’ve shared a love and passion for bluegrass since the early 80’s.

"Back in the day" Mel and Cathy played in several bluegrass bands in the Charleston, SC area, eventually forming our own band, Carolina Bluegrass. We played shows throughout the Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester tri-county area, as well as performing several times at the annual Piccolo Spoleto Festival in downtown Charleston.

The notion for a Georgia Mountain Bluegrass band came about in early October, 2021, and we began practicing later that month. The band began as a trio and remained so for 3 years. Our third founding member was Jim Nicola, playing rhythm guitar and assisting with vocals. Jim was also the BEST roadie ever! 

Sadly for us, at the end of 2024 Jim made the decision to focus more on family and enjoying retirement. While we hated to see him go, we wish him and his lovely wife Diane all the best. Diane, thank you for sharing your husband and your support with us. Your patience and understanding are appreciated more than we can express. Thank you for the hundreds of hours the two of you gave to this endeavor. We are proud to call you friends.

With Jim’s departure we decided to continue Georgia Mountain Bluegrass as a duo for now. We are dedicated to sharing with you the bluegrass experience that we love. We want you to have a toe tapping, hand clapping, grinning from ear-to-ear good time. We love when people share with us how a song made them think of their momma or grandmother or how they remembered a song from their childhood. That is what we want to do…take you back home, transport you to a simpler time, take you back to your roots.

“That Appalachian music soothes my soul.”