Ronnie Prevette was born July 24, 1948 to Vestal and Gladys Prevette in Lexington, North Carolina. He began playing mandolin, guitar, bass, and singing at the early age of seven. Even at this early age, he had a great desire to someday have a professional career in Bluegrass music. Most of his early years were spent listening to the radio and recordings of all the greats such as, Flatt & Scruggs, Bill Monroe, Ralph and Carter Stanley, Bobby & Sonny Osborne. His most favorite of all was Jimmy Martin. He spent many hours practicing the breaks and timing of every Jimmy Martin tune. He always said, “There is something special and unique about Jimmy Martin’s music that makes you want to pick. Maybe it was Jimmy’s hard driving rhythm guitar playing or maybe the good, solid playing of Paul Williams, and J.D Crowe. Whatever it was, this was the type of music he knew he wanted to play.” At age ten, Ronnie began playing with local bands and performing at local square dances, church gatherings, and fiddler’s conventions. He also won first place in almost every mandolin competition that he participated in. At age twelve, he began performing on local radio stations. These included stations such as WBUY, and WLXN in his home town of Lexington, NC, WTNC in Thomasville, NC, WPAQ in Mount Airy, NC, and WPEG in Winston Salem, NC. Ronnie’s first paying gig came at the age of 17 when Larry Richardson, a well- known banjo player and ex- Bill Monroe Blue Grass Boy, asked him to join his band “The Blue Ridge Boys”. This included a lot of show dates in North Carolina and Virginia, and a few Bluegrass festivals and fairs. There was also a daily early morning radio show on WPEG in Winston Salem, NC. There was also a weekly television show on WGHP-TV. Ronnie also recorded an album with Larry for “County Records” which is currently a sought after collectors item. In 1971, Ronnie’s long time idol, Jimmy Martin, called and said he needed a mandolin player and tenor singer. Jimmy said, “You know my music as well as anyone I know, and would you be interested in coming to Nashville to work some dates with me”. Ronnie immediately accepted the offer and left his home town of Lexington, NC, to move to Nashville to become a member of Jimmy Martin’s Sunny Mountain Boys. Ronnie performed with Jimmy on the world famous “Grand Ole Opry” as well as several syndicated country music TV shows and the“WWVA Wheeling Jamboree” in Wheeling, West Virginia. He participated in several recording projects with Jimmy for MCA records under one of the greatest producers there ever was, the late Mr. Owen Bradley, while also touring over 150,000 miles a year. While in Nashville, Ronnie did numerous recording sessions, for MCA, RCA, and various other recording companies. One of those sessions was the sound track for the movie “The Godfather”. After a few years in Nashville, Ronnie felt like he needed a change. He left Jimmy Martin and The Sunny Mountain Boys in 1974 to accept an offer from another well-known group “The Bluegrass Alliance”. While a member of The Bluegrass Alliance, Ronnie recorded one album and played many Bluegrass venues. Some great musicians passed through this group such as Tony Rice, Sam Bush, and country music superstar, Vince Gill, just to name a few. After a year with The Bluegrass Alliance, Ronnie returned back to Nashville and rejoined Jimmy Martin and The Sunny Mountain Boys for another three years. During the years of 1998-2001, Ronnie performed at many Bluegrass festivals across the country with Jimmy and The Sunny Mountain Boys. Ronnie is currently performing as a freelance musician working on recording sessions with various groups. He is and will always be credited as one of the cleanest and smoothest mandolin players and tenor singers in Bluegrass music.