James Dee Crowe (August 27, 1937 – December 24, 2021) was an American banjo player and bluegrass band leader.

[1] He began playing the banjo early on and was offered a job with Jimmy Martin's Sunny Mountain Boys, a backup group in 1954.

[2][3] Before starting in Martin's band, Crowe played with Pee Wee Lambert and Curly Parker.

[7] As of 1975, the New South began to add jazz and rock influences to its bluegrass repertoire,[8] as well as country and folk elements drawn from the work of Gram Parsons and Gordon Lightfoot, respectively.

Crowe (banjo), Doyle Lawson (mandolin), Bobby Hicks (Fiddle), Todd Phillips, except 1989: Mark Schatz (bass); additional member - since 1983 (Vol 5 & 6): Jerry Douglas - since 1989 (Vol 6): Vassar Clements[27] Others sessions, among others, with: Red Allen, Ronnie Bowman, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Jimmy Gaudreau, Richard Greene, Tom T. Hall, Michael Johnathon, Phil Leadbetter, Don Rigsby, Ricky Skaggs...