Four five decades, Three on a String, has taught Alabama how to love Bluegrass
- Katherine Armbrester
- Mar 1
- 4 min read
At the Mentone Fall Festival last October, exuberant Bluegrass melodies floated on the mountain breeze. When not browsing the colorful artist’s booths, visitors to the festival made their way to an outdoor amphitheater with dogs and small children in tow. Three on a String was on stage, and their audience knew they were listening to something special. Few bands or friendships last fifty-four years, but this is what the talented men behind one of Alabama’s most cherished Bluegrass bands have accomplished. With each performance they deliver rousing music and boisterous jokes, and draw longtime friends from across the state, all while turning younger audience members into Bluegrass fans due to their artistry and wit.Three on a String was founded in 1971 by Jerry Ryan and Bobby Horton. Jerry sang and played guitar when he was not coaching high school basketball. Bobby was a college student who loved banjo music. The organizer of a Bluegrass festival at Horse 40, near Steele, AL, asked Jerry to help with the inaugural festival.
Interest in the Bluegrass genre had spiked due to the success of the long-running television series “The Beverly Hillbillies” and the Oscar winning film Bonnie and Clyde, which featured the song "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" in some of the chase scenes.
“Jerry asked Bobby to join him to do a set,” explains Jerry’s son Brad. “They played about sevensongs, because that's all they had time to learn.” It was a steep learning curve as Jerry took on emceeing and playing in the first Bluegrass festival he had ever attended. “From there they added a bass player to kind of fill out the sound,” says Ryan, “and Three on a String was born.”
“They kind of had perfect on-stage chemistry,” explains Ryan. “And in those years any band that had a decent banjo player could get bookings at festivals.”
An early influence on Three on a String was The Kingston Trio, and Horton and Ryan blended their love of Bluegrass music with folk as they gravitated towards sing-along songs, which Alabama audiences enjoy. “As the years go by you kind of become your own thing, or hopefully you do,” explains Brad, who eventually became the permanent bassist. “That way you can kind of do more original stuff or take some other influences and try to make it your own and put it in your style”After the gifted multi-instrumentalist after Andy Meginniss joined the group, they ventured into more original material as well as continuing to cover standards in the Bluegrass genre such as “Rocky Top,” “Rollin My Sweet Baby’s Arms,” “Mountain Dew” and “Dueling Banjos.” “People still love those tunes,” Brad states. “Many bands don't like to play them, but we love to.”
Some of their most popular original songs are “Best of Friends,” written by Meginniss, and Horton crafted “Baroque-Down,” an instrumental piece gently pokes fun at classical musicians.
“We like to tell little stories throughout our show that folks can identify with,” Brad explains."Still Kicking,” is another audience favorite, partly due to performing for five decades. “We have reached ‘senior status’ as has a lot of our crowd,” Brian says. “So, they can identify with that song, and us,” he laughs. But they also draw young listeners with every concert.VIDEO: Three on a String performing their signature song
“They seem to always come up and tell us how much they enjoyed the show, which makes us feel so good that we still connect with all generations,” Brad says. “If you move people in some kind of way, with music, stories or jokes, they appreciate it and they will come back to see you.”
Three on a String’s distinctive sound—due in part to Jerry’s choice to not attempt imitating their extremely popular contemporary Bill Monroe—has wrought some unusual audience feedback over time.“It's kind of funny but someone once said, 'Ya'll don't sing like a bluegrass band’. We think it was meant as a negative comment, but we always thought of it as a compliment,” Brad explains. “Jerry’s thinking was, ‘let's just sound like us.’”
Three on a String has either opened or performed with musical luminaries such as the Statler Brothers, Red Skelton, Barbara Mandrel, Jeff Foxworthy and Ray Stevens. “We recently did a Christmas tour throughout the south with 'Sean of the South', who has a huge following,” Brad says of the humorist and musician Sean Dietrich.
A particular thrill for the band was their induction to the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 2023. Brad says that everyone appreciated the recognition for their accomplishments over five decades in the music business. “We just walked around on cloud nine for a year or so,” he laughs.
In addition to his contributions to Three on a String, Horton—who plays an astonishing twenty instruments—has collaborated with the renowned filmmaker Ken Burns. Horton’s musicianship has been featured in more than ten documentaries for PBS, including the most recent The American Revolution.
Bobby Horton performing in the Ken Burns documentary The Civil War:
“Bobby's work with Ken Burns has been incredible,” Brad says. “We like to brag on that fact. He is a history nut, so he has been able to combine his love for music and his love for history into a very rewarding career.”
When a band performs together for fifty-four years changes are inevitable, and Jerry Ryan’s decision to retire as leader of the band, which led to an outpouring of appreciation from devoted fans.
Today, when Horton, Meginniss and Brad Ryan get together, they are just as stoked to perform at small community shows as they get excited for a large concert. “We love to perform and just be ourselves,” Brad states. “We love to see old friends and make new ones. We just feel very blessed to be able to do this. And we still appreciate every minute of it.”
Learn more about Three on a String online at https://www.threeonastring.com/
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