Brothers Robert and Victor Dowdy formed the band in 1989 after both had been members of the family group
The Bluegrass Playboys. The group became well known outside of Southwest Virginia after they recorded "
The Ballad of Mark Warner" in 2001 for the
gubernatorial campaign of
Mark Warner. The Bluegrass Brothers have gotten high reviews for their 2005 album
Old Crooked Trail.2010 saw the band win instrumental group of the year at the SPGMA awards. 2010 also saw original member Robert Dowdy retired from the band and was replaced by Kevin Prater. In September 2011 Victor & Robert Dowdy were inducted into the Virginia Folk Music Association Hall of Fame, joining other Virginia music Hall of Fame members that include Patsy Cline, The Statler Brothers, Jimmy Dean, Mac Wiseman, Tony Rice, The Stanley Brothers & others. The band still tours all over the US & Canada. In 2013 original Bluegrass Brother Robert Dowdy returned on banjo and Victor's youngest son Donald returned on mandolin. Since 2013 the band line-up has been Victor Dowdy : bass & vocals, Steve Dowdy : guitar & vocals, Jamie Sparks : banjo & vocals, Donald Dowdy : mandolin & vocals, Chris Hart : dobro. In 2014 the band signed with Mountain Fever Records and in July released the album "Generations" The album has performed well on the national Bluegrass charts with songs "Memories of my Childhood", "Moonshine Man", "Grand Reunion", "Blue Ridge Mountain Man", and "When the Mountain Fell" getting national radio airplay. Since the end of 2018, there has been a change in the band members with Jacob Hensley taking over on mandolin and Caleb Shifflett taking over on guitar. Donald Dowdy, the mandolin player, died in 2021 of a heart attack. He was 34 years old. ==Musical style==