Twin Tracks: How the McKinnon Brothers Found Their Place in Bluegrass

Having one musician in a family is always a good thing. Having two is even better. And when they are twin brothers, it can cause a lot of double-takes. For Kevin and Keith McKinnon, it’s normal to see a mirror image of themselves in their twin.

The brothers grew up in Marion, in the southwest part of Virginia. “It’s where the Song of the Mountains television series was filmed,” says Keith.

They grew up exposed to bluegrass music. “Our dad played guitar in the Mountain Ramblers in the 1960s,” Keith says. “He was older when he had us, and we had a half sister who was way older than us. I remember we always had music playing in our house. One of our ‘babysitters’ was watching the TNN show American Music Shop. Our parents would record it on VHS.”

When the boys were just five or six years old, their dad came home with a mandolin and a fiddle. “My brother grabbed the mandolin, and I grabbed the fiddle. With some coaching from my father, we taught ourselves how to play.” Keith recalls playing the same records over and over so they could learn the parts. Before they knew it, they were spending their summers going to fiddler’s conventions. “We went to the same three conventions each summer, with the biggest one in Galax, Virginia.”

They began playing on stage at competitions when they were around eleven or twelve years old. “We started competing and winning some ribbons here and there. That was enough to keep us going.” And of course, there were the friendships made along the way. “We made a lot of lifelong friends at those competitions, many of whom are in the business today – people like Jamie Harper, who plays with the Grascals, and Jason Davis, who plays with the Dan Kyminski Band. I’ve known those guys since I was 11 or 12 years old.”

“I don’t think either of us had aspirations of playing professionally,” says Keith. “We didn’t know what our options were at the time. I went to community college right after high school, trying to figure out my way in this world. My goal at the time was music education, but things just came together for both of us to be in the music industry.”

Kevin began playing professionally with Johnny and Jeanette Williams when he was 18 years old, before he and Keith joined Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain. “We met Jim Van Cleve, who was producing an album for Carrie,”  recalls Keith. “She needed a band, and we tried out. Josh Swift joined the band on dobro, and Josh Miller played banjo. Carrie hired us all, and that was the beginning of that phase – we got our first taste of the professional bluegrass industry. We toured in Europe and Canada, and it was a great experience for my brother and me.”

When Carrie wanted to quit touring, Josh Swift went with Doyle Lawson. “Josh called my brother and said Doyle needed a sound man. Kevin was asked to travel as the front-of-house audio engineer for Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver for a weekend in 2010 and ended up working with them for the next 12 years.”

He and Kevin also formed their band, Still-House, in 2010, and hit the road. Keith also had a knack for audio engineering and used his talents behind the controls for Lonesome River Band. Two years later, he was tapped to be the banjo player and vocalist for Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out.

The brothers ended up on stage together again in 2021 when Kevin took over bass duties from Dustin Pyrtle in IIIrd Tyme Out. For two years, audiences really did do a double-take when the twin brothers were on stage together. “It would have made my dad so happy to see us both playing with IIIrd Tyme Out. That was one of his favorite bands.”

Kevin now works as a sound engineer for Authentic Unlimited, and Keith continues to do some sound engineering. “I have been doing the engineering for Daily and Vincent since last April, when Russell started touring with Alison Krauss,” Keith says.

The brothers live in separate cities, and between music and kids, there isn’t a lot of time to get together, but they enjoy it when they do. Keith has two children, and Kevin has four. “It’s funny,” says Keith. “We don’t really have time to do any pickin’ when we get together for family gatherings.”