At the age of 26, Aaron Ramsey has been immersed in playing music for over half his life. Bass was his first instrument, but mandolin is his musical love. Aaron began playing mandolin at the age of 12 and by 13 was participating in his Dad's Gospel group, Damascus Road. Then, he won the MerleFest mandolin competition at the age of 17 in 2002. He was a founding member of The Linville Ridge Band, playing mandolin and guitar from 2002 through early 2006. In March of 2006, he became a member of Randy Kohrs' band, the Lites, playing bass. Later that year, he moved to the mandolin and recorded mandolin and bass on several cuts of Randy's two most recent recordings, I'm Torn and Old Photographs. As a member of the Lites, Aaron also got to contribute his mandolin playing to the 2006 IBMA Album of the Year, Celebration of Life: Musicians Against Childhood Cancer.
In the fall of 2007, Aaron was called on to fill-in for Adam Steffey with Mountain Heart. Later, Barry Abernathy said given the short notice, he could not have asked for Aaron's playing to have been any better. Barry was impressed. In December of 2007 Aaron followed Josh Shilling's lead, from earlier that year, as he played his first official gig with Mountain Heart, on the stage of the Ryman Auditorium.
