The Bluegrass Community’s Utility Artist
Photo by Brad Holbrooks
Baseball has a player dubbed utility infielder. Such athletes are typically substitute players who can be used at more than one infield position and are useful members of a roster as they allow a manager to replace several different players on the team to either give them a rest, or because of in-game strategy. Such a person in the bluegrass community is Anthony Howell.
Anthony is a young bluegrass artist with many talents and skills who is mature beyond his years. An IBMA 2022 “Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year” nominee, Howell is one of those versatile people who can fulfill a variety of roles in a musical setting.
Anthony was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi and grew up in Zama, a few miles southeast of Kosciusko. His dad played guitar and Anthony says that’s what his dad thought he was supposed to do in life—he was a serious amateur. His dad played classical guitar but played in his own style. Sadly, his dad, Michael J. Howell, died in 2019. Anthony observed, “I thought playing guitar was cool. I didn’t know anything about what style was, and I didn’t know what kind of music I wanted to play.
Howell’s first interest in music as a child was the guitar, and it was taller than he was. There was also a mandolin in the house, purchased by his mother for his father, but Michael Howell never touched it, Anthony said. So, Anthony picked it up since it was more his size, learning a few chords from a Mel Bay mandolin instruction book. He recalled learning everything in the book fairly quickly.
In their area of Mississippi, the Howell family learned of Alan Sibley (leader of the Magnolia Ramblers), who was close by and teaching 60 to 70 students per week. Anthony became one of Sibley’s early students, taking about a year of lessons on the mandolin and six months of guitar. “I didn’t know what bluegrass was until I started with Alan and heard ‘Foggy Mountain Breakdown.’ I don’t like this one little bit. I hated it. Alan loved it. So, I listened to CDs over and over and found myself listening all the time,” said Anthony. “I also listened to the Bill Gaither Bluegrass Homecoming recordings, both volumes. I heard Little Roy Lewis singing ‘Honey in the Rock’ and realized I had been hearing it all my life but didn’t know it,” he recalled. Music doesn’t run in Howell’s family per se. He thinks his great, great grandfather played some banjo. He smiled, noting his sister doesn’t like bluegrass at all, but his neighbors talked about him playing all the time on the porch.
“Bill Emerson was a big influence in terms of writing music,” Anthony remarked. He describes his style as in between Scruggs/Crowe and Bill Emerson/Larry Wallace. Melodically he prefers Jens Kruger. Howell goes for tone rather than fancy licks.
Alan, host of The Bluegrass Trail on RFD-TV started his career with the Sullivan Family, followed by alternating stints with the Larry Wallace Band and Jerry & Tammy Sullivan, speaks highly of Howell. Sibley recalls, “I was teaching at the French Camp Academy in French Camp, Mississippi. The students started a little band, playing at the New Hope Baptist Church in Kosciusko, and Anthony’s parents were there. They asked me to teach him, and I agreed to work him into the schedule. I remember his little mandolin and the chords he had learned out of a book.”
Sibley began working with Anthony, using closed chords on the old fiddle tune, “Rest in the Homeland.” He says Anthony would learn a song in a week’s time and could soon “play as well as I could.” Alan also recalls “starting guitar lessons with Anthony for a year or so and finally starting with the banjo. I let him borrow a cheap banjo until he got his own.”
Howell was a particularly good student according to Sibley. Anthony was home schooled and therefore had time to invest in music. Sibley thinks Howell was around 11 years old at the time, and at age 14 Anthony went on the road with Sibley. Howell remembers going to Missouri with Sibley and began learning the songs played in Sibley’s band. This was his training ground to become a professional musician.
Sibley recalls, “Anthony didn’t understand bluegrass, but he liked music and had a natural inclination to learn to play, and he liked those instruments. I’m a die-hard traditionalist; that makes me tick. So, Anthony had to learn traditional music.” Sibley went on to say, “You’ll be hard pressed to find an instrumentalist out there than can play on the edge of progressive like he (Howell) can and then flip a switch and play old-time and traditional with us.” Sibley views Howell as a quick learner and has even learned the audio technology aspects of music as well. Alan taught Anthony some aspects of Pro Tools.
It was years before “we got him to sing,” Sibley said. He has a good ear for music but was reluctant to sing in front of folks. We played one night in Philly (Mississippi) and had no baritone singer that night, but he stepped up and sang for the first time in front of an audience.” Sibley and Howell got to a natural break whereby Anthony could teach himself. Sibley remembers his daughter coming along on some gigs, and Anthony would ask him why Alan didn’t teach him what he taught his daughter. Sibley chuckles that Anthony did not stick around after that.
Sibley and Howell recorded an instrumental album during the COVID 19 lockdown. The project is titled Time to Pick, and it is still available from some of the streaming services. Alan summarized his experience with Anthony as a remarkable story. Howell grew up in a wide spot in the road, which provided a wonderful place to learn music, and Anthony’s dad was a terrific guy. Alan said, “Anthony’s parents did all they could for him to succeed in this music and Anthony knows that. I’m looking forward to seeing the musician he’s matured into.”
Howell moved on from travelling with Sibley to playing with a local group, Tyler Carol and Pineridge. Tyler was known for being the best Lester Flatt style guitar player in Mississippi. Anthony said, “This is where I really got my feet wet with Tyler; I heard and learned the Scruggs and Reno stuff. Those were my early years before joining Williamson Branch.”
The family band Williamson Branch saw Howell playing a benefit concert with Tyler Carol in Mountain View, Arkansas. The Baker Family, Dalton Gang, Williamson Branch, and Southern Flavor were there, and Anthony filled in with all of them except for Williamson Branch. Anthony thought, “They decided this guy can get on stage and go. I played with those bands without any notice and played with confidence.”
Kevin Williamson, patriarch, vocalist, and guitarist for Williamson Branch, recalls the first encounters with Anthony. “Our girls were involved with Tomorrow’s Bluegrass Stars (TBS). Our daughter Caroline was the youngest member of TBS at one time. John Colburn, originator of TBS, was trying to give kids a chance to network and meet other pickers. (Colburn launched TBS in 2009 when he noticed that most of the performers in bluegrass were older, and the audience was mostly older as well.) We had seen Anthony at a couple of TBS events. I believe Anthony’s first festival was in Leakesville, Mississippi, hosted by Bertie Sullivan. We saw Anthony wandering around the picking in the parking lot. He was just a kid at the time, but you could tell he was very excited to be there and interested in the event.”
Williamson continued, “We went to TBS events, primarily performing with just the five of us without a banjo. We went to Arkansas for an event and saw Anthony playing with about four of the bands, but not with us. He played different instruments with each band.”
In 2015 the band decided to hire a banjo player and around 2017 Anthony came on board after a Christmas event in Raleigh in 2017. Williamson Branch had recorded an album using several guests, such as Barry Crabtree and Scott Vestal on banjo, before hiring Anthony.
Howell was learning more from Vestal and Crabtree. Williamson remembers the band was working on another recording titled Classy. Sassy. Bluegrassy, and Howell was free to develop his own parts and style on that project. Kevin said, “Anthony’s really a sponge as far as the music is concerned. He learned our material and would teach it back to us months later if we had not played it in a while. He’s definitely an intelligent kid.”
Anthony plays most of the bluegrass instruments quite well. He tried to play the fiddle on his first weekend in Nashville with Williamson Branch. Kevin said, “Anthony asked our daughter Melody about the fiddle, so she fixed him up with one to use. About six months later he brought it back! I also tease him about learning the Dobro.”
On the Heritage and Hope project, Anthony played mandolin. When Kevin asked producer John Bowman about who should play guitar on the project, Bowman said, “Let the hired gun play.” “So that’s how that recording was made,” Williamson said.
As versatile as Howell is, there was no need for vocals from him in Williamson Branch since the band already had five singers. Anthony can sing lower than Kevin, but there wasn’t much need for that. Kevin reports that Anthony can hear all the parts very well.
Howell stayed with Williamson Branch for approximately four and one-half years (February 2018 to October 2022). After that much time Kevin thought Anthony was ready to have “a change of scenery. We hated to see him go. There was no animosity either way. He practically lived with us in Nashville in 2018–2019. He was the first band member who was not a member of the family. We wish him the best,” says Williamson.
Anthony’s next move was to the Edgar Loudermilk Band in October 2022. Edgar remembers, “I first met Anthony at the Canadian Bluegrass Music Awards event. We were playing there, as was Williamson Branch. We hung out and enjoyed his playing and got to know him. Anthony and Zack, our mandolin player, became buddies. We saw him again in Texas and other places and loved his playing. We talked on the phone and stayed in touch and when the banjo position became open in my band, I talked with him more. He was excited about the position from the beginning.”
Loudermilk says Howell brings a lot to the table. “We need him primarily for the banjo, but he plays all the instruments, and we can use all that at some point. Zack also plays fiddle, and we can be creative with that. Plus, Anthony is a great singer,” Edgar remarked. “We can open things up and have quartets with four singers in the band. He’s a hard worker. Anthony has even used his business contacts to help book a show or two already. He brings more than just his banjo playing. He’s a really good young man and has a good head on his shoulders. He’s always trying to do the right thing, and I like that in our camp. To be honest, I couldn’t ask for a better fit. He’s versatile and I like how he can play more. He plays traditional banjo but can reach out in some of our other stuff, and he can grasp that really well. He’s already started recording with us. He’s just getting started, and I remember being in that same spot on my first record.”
One can appreciate Howell’s work ethic. If all this experience with several bands and making recordings is not enough, take note he also has a sideline in making custom leather instrument straps. He takes orders and makes them one at a time. He uses no dyes and has no standard design or pattern that he uses all the time.
His first endorsement was with Banjolit (maker of wooden arm rests in Slovakia). He is also an endorser of Deering Banjos, Skinner Guitars, Paige Capos, Reunion Gig Bags, and Weber mandolins. He found time to win 1st place at the 2015 Mississippi State Bluegrass Championships for Flatpicking Guitar and Banjo and won 2nd place with mandolin. He was also 2017 and 2018 Magnolia State Bluegrass Association Banjo Player of the Year.
Howell’s discography is growing. He was on three albums with Williamson Branch (including a complete Christmas project), a single with Alan Sibley – “Christmas Time Back Home,” and two solo albums Memories, and the new Hold Back the Dawn. Look for more of Anthony with the Edgar Loudermilk Band.
Anthony is an excellent ambassador for the bluegrass community and wants to go as far as he can. He is no longer the youngster just starting his career. He has grown into a solid musician and displays a professional attitude in all he undertakes. He hopes to make people happy in the process and would like to have his own studio someday. He’s making his mark with reputable bands, writing exciting banjo instrumentals, honing his skills in audio recording and mixing, and handling himself in an impressive, and mature manner on and off the stage. Keep your eyes on this artist. With a combination of talent, hard work, versatility and preparedness, Anthony Howell is one of bluegrass music’s most promising, rising stars.
