The Peters Principles: How Carson Peters and Iron Mountain Make the Music and Keep the Faith

Great bluegrass bands put on mileage from live performances, late-night picking circles, and road-worn camaraderie. Carson Peters & Iron Mountain understand that better than most, as the band, led by a 21-year-old fiddle prodigy from Piney Flats, Tennessee. But why Iron Mountain?

“Where my dad grew up in Elizabethton, Tennessee, there’s an Iron Mountain,” says Peters. “And the original bass and guitar players, Eric and Ben Marshall, also lived near an Iron Mountain. It wasn’t the same one, but we figured, well, we both got an Iron Mountain, so we might as well roll with it.”

Peters first picked up a ukulele at two and a half years old, and by three, his father had placed a tiny fiddle in his hands. The first fiddle tune Peters ever learned, “Boil Them Cabbage Down,” is a simple song, a staple of every young fiddler’s repertoire. “That’s where it all started,” he says. “That was the first time I felt the energy of making music, even if it was just in my living room.”

Just a few years later, he was trading licks with Ricky Skaggs on the Grand Ole Opry stage, as well as appearing on “The Tonight Show” and “The Voice.” “It was a whirlwind,” Peters recalls, crediting his YouTube presence with the initial exposure that led to those appearances. “If it weren’t for the good Lord and people being in the right place at the right time, I wouldn’t have done any of that.”

The band’s lineup has shifted since 2014, growing alongside Peters himself. Originally featuring two father-and-son duos—including Peters and his dad, Jamie—the group has since welcomed mandolinist Austin Tate, banjoist James McDowell, and bassist Taylor Parks. The chemistry is real, a mix of road-tested brotherhood and shared reverence for the music. That reverence is evident in their songwriting, a process that has become increasingly integral to their identity — even dealing with Peters’ voice changing in his teen years.

While bluegrass traditionally leans on tales of heartache and hardship, Peters and his crew push forward with original material that keeps one foot in tradition and the other in a more personal, lived-in storytelling. “We used to do mostly covers,” Peters says. “Now, it’s almost all original, except for maybe one gospel cover on the next record.” That shift was cemented after signing with Billy Blue Records and releasing Gotta Lotta Lonesome in 2023, marking a significant step in the band’s growth, as they transitioned from a group that honored bluegrass legends to one that now actively contributes with crafty tales of its own.

Faith is as much a part of this band as the strings on their instruments. No matter where they are on a Saturday night, they find a church to play in on Sunday morning. “Weekends are our workdays, so I don’t get back to my home church much,” Peters explains. “But being in church, giving thanks for what we’ve been given, that’s important to us.” It’s a testament to their grounding in faith that despite the grueling road schedule, they prioritize spiritual connection just as much as musical precision.

They work these crowds, too, whether that’s at the Grand Ole Opry, a festival in Canada (where Peters says the traditional bluegrass fans are as die-hard as anywhere in Tennessee), or in Branson, Missouri, where they usually play a Beatles-in-Hamburg schedule: four sets a day for three days straight, an exhausting but formative experience that tightens a band’s chops like nothing else.

“By the end of it, we’re playing everything we know,” Peters laughs. “But man, it keeps us sharp. You don’t get a lot of chances to take a breath, but that’s the best way to make sure you’re really on top of your game.”

Iron Mountain stokes a fire onstage that translates across state lines, national borders, and generational divides. Peters’ favorite tune to perform right now isn’t an album cut or even an original; it’s “Rain and Snow,” a haunting traditional tune dating back to 1917. “Everybody and their grandma has done it,” says Peters. As for his fiancée’s reaction to the lyrics (“Lord, I married me a wife, she gave me trouble all my life”), Peters grins at the idea: “She knows 95 percent of bluegrass songs are about love gone wrong.”

Carson Peters & Iron Mountain bridge generations with a sound that respects tradition while charging ahead with fresh intensity. Their music carries the soul of bluegrass into new territory, whether through the rich harmonies of a Sunday morning gospel set, the electrifying energy of a Branson performance, or the grit of an original track on their next album. It’s tough to pull off fresh and timeless when it comes to music, but this band does just that – with a big ole grin.