Higher Ground Bio's

Duke Weddington, a former
Navy and Marine Corps
Strike-Fighter pilot, plays the
banjo, guitar, mandolin and
sings both lead and harmony
vocals. Raised in Burlington,
North Carolina, Duke began
playing the banjo in 1972. The
majority of his early years were
spent with the Earl Scruggs
instruction book as well as
learning songs and licks from
LPs. His influences included
Doug Dillard and of course Earl
Scruggs. Duke has a solid right
hand that provides a traditional
rhythmic drive to each song, as
well as a natural vocal style that
adds feeling to each song. He is
also a prolific songwriter,
penning the majority of the
material performed by the
group. His original songs are
always fresh and interesting to
the ear, and contain lyrics that
capture life's emotional ups and
downs. He and Diane began
co-writing songs for their 2nd
CD "People, Places, Memories",
and co-wrote 5 of the songs on
their 3rd CD, "Miles and Miles".
Duke's instrumental "Alamance"
won the 2004 New Mexico Music
Industry Award for Best
Instrumental. Check out the clip
on the Sound Page.

Diane Sena, born and raised
in Santa Fe, New Mexico, sings
lead and harmony vocals . She
has performed locally for many
years. Throughout her life, she
has been influenced by the
distinct voices, harmonies and
styles from Barbara Streisand to
Alison Krauss, and from James
Taylor to Ricky Skaggs. Diane
has a unique ear for
contributing interesting and
dynamic harmony vocals, and
her clear, ear-pleasing voice is
well-suited to bluegrass music.
She also serves as the band's
part time manager, booking
performances. Diane is also a
talented song writer, co-writing
2 songs with Duke, "My Heart is
Here to Stay" and "The Home I'd
Come to Know", from the band's
second CD, "People, Places,
Memories." Her song writing
skills were a major influence on
the band's 3rd CD "Miles and
Miles", serving as the spark that
generated the songs "This Love
is Real", "Thinkin' About You",
and "I Can't Make You Love Me."
Check out the clips on the Sound
page, they're great, great
tunes.

Fred Bolton, raised in Oak
Ridge, Tennessee, plays guitar
and sings lead and harmony
vocals. His early years began as
a lead singer in a rock and roll
band while in high school, but in
the mid-80's, Fred discovered
Doc Watson and other
contemporary players, such as
Norman Blake, Tony Rice, and
Tim O'Brien. Since that time his
musical interest has shifted to
Bluegrass, Irish and Celtic music
as well as a strong interest in
Gospel. Fred also plays
traditional and contemporary
British Isles music. His rhythm
guitar skills are a backbone of
the band along with fine lead and
harmony vocals. Fred has
written several fine tunes for
Higher Ground, including
"Tonight My Sleep Will Be
Restless", based upon a
traditional Aire melody from a
collection by the 18th century
tax collector and song writer
Capt. Simon Fraser. Fred also
wrote the Gospel tune "Bottle of
Tears" and "Big Nose Kate"
(based upon the gunfight at the
OK Corral) for our 2nd CD. His
efforts continued with the
Gospel tune "O Judas", written
for our 3rd album, "Miles and
Miles."

Dave Devlin, on mandolin,
dobro, guitar (just about
anything with strings), was born
and raised in the bluegrass
country of Long Island, New
York. He began playing electric
guitar in his early teens and
played in local rock and roll
bands. In high school he heard a
Flatt and Scruggs recording and
was instantly enthralled with
bluegrass music. He took up the
banjo and later in college played
with a local bluegrass band. Dave
taught himself how to play the
mandolin and dobro after
relocating to New Mexico in
1992. He has played with a
variety of local musicians over
the years. His musical influences
include Matt Flinner, John
Reischman, and Jimmy Gaudreau
on mandolin, and Mike Auldridge,
Rob Ickes and Jerry Douglas on
the dobro. Dave has written
some great instrumentals for the
band to include: "Pass the Salt",
"Tatnuck Hill", "Backburn",
"Coffee Talk", and also wrote the
music for "My Heart is Here to
Stay" (lyrics by Duke and Diane)
on our 2nd CD. Check out the
sound clips on these solid tunes.
Dave is the king of adlib on
instumental breaks.

Mark Smith, on bass and
guitar, hails from the
Appalachian foothills in
Knoxville, Tennessee. Wanting
to see the Soutwest, he
relocated to New Mexico in
1984. Mark has played bass
since 1981, studying music at
the Berklee College in Boston
and at the University of
Tennessee. He is well versed in a
variety of musical styles from
bluegrass and country to jazz
and R&B. Mark possesses an
innate ability to set the perfect
bass tempo, feel and
progression for each and every
song performed by the band. In
addition to his work with Higher
Ground, Mark is in high demand
and active with many other
local jazz, pop, and folk groups
in the Albuquerque and Santa Fe
areas. Mark is also a song
writer, creating the music and
lyrics for "A Broken Man", from
our first CD "Black and White,
Faded and Torn." Gifted on
several instruments, his lead
guitar skills shine on his original
instrumental "Maynardville
Stagger" from our 2nd CD
"People, Places, Memories."
Have a listen on the Sound Page.