Ashby Frank
plays mandolin and sings lead, baritone and tenor vocals. Ashby was raised in the Winston-Salem region of North Carolina and began playing the acoustic guitar at the age of 9. By the age of 12 he also began playing the mandolin and he won the mandolin contest at the long-standing Galax, Virginia music festival several years later. At the age of 16, Ashby was one of the youngest musicians ever to win the mandolin contests at both the Galax festival and the prestigious Merlefest in North Carolina in the same year. He was a member of the award winning North Carolina-based band Southern Drive until relocating to Nashville at the age of 18. Since moving to Nashville , Ashby has appeared on many recordings of various bluegrass artists and has played with many of the most prominent nationally recognized bluegrass bands, including those of Ronnie Bowman, Jeanette Williams, Lou Reid, Gina Britt, Marty Raybon and most recently Alecia Nugent. Ashby joined The Special Consensus in 2007.