After helping found the band Dusty Miller, which was the 1990 SPBGMA International Bluegrass Band champion, and being a member (1990–92) of Alison Krauss & Union Station, Kingsport, Tennessee native Tim Stafford helped organize Blue Highway with Wayne Taylor in 1994.
Ickes has won numerous awards for his playing,[1] and after a 21-year run with the band he announced his departure on November 18, 2015.
[3] Vocalist, fiddler, and mandolin player Shawn Lane joined the group as a founding member after cutting "his musical teeth" in the bands of Ricky Skaggs and Doyle Lawson.
Lane's songs have also been recorded by Ricky Skaggs, Ronnie Bowman, Mountain Heart, Blue Ridge, and other groups.
[1] Lead singer Wayne Taylor, who plays bass, hails from Southwest Virginia and is also a founding member of the group.