James Kee has signed with Mountain Home Music Company for his first solo album. The collaborative project centers on a remarkable piece of bluegrass history: Earl Scruggs’ restored 1955 Martin D-18 guitar.
Recording is underway, and the first single is expected in January 2027. Several guests will join Kee in the studio. Each musician will have an opportunity to play the guitar Scruggs used through much of his career with Lester Flatt.
A James Kee solo album with a historic voice
Scruggs is inseparable from the three-finger banjo style that transformed bluegrass. However, he was also an accomplished fingerstyle guitarist. His guitar playing regularly appeared alongside the quartet harmonies of Flatt & Scruggs.
According to Mountain Home, Scruggs used the D-18 almost exclusively from 1957 until Flatt & Scruggs separated in 1969.
“I wanted to record an album that is a tribute to that side of his musicianship,” Kee said in the announcement.
Kee acquired the instrument in 2024 after years of road use had left it unplayable. Nashville luthier Hugh Hansen later completed an extensive restoration. Fretboard Journal documented the process in 2025.
Rather than keep the guitar behind glass, Kee wants the album to put it back to work. The planned guest performances should give the instrument more than one musical setting. They should also make the project a conversation among players rather than a solitary tribute.
A new chapter after East Nash Grass
The James Kee solo album arrives at a turning point in his career. Kee helped found East Nash Grass and spent nearly a decade as a guitarist, vocalist and principal songwriter. He stepped away from touring with the group in spring 2026 but remains involved behind the scenes.
A Chattanooga native, Kee began playing bluegrass after learning from his banjo-playing grandfather. He performed with Newtown and the Hamilton County Ramblers before moving to Nashville in 2016.
In Nashville, Kee helped turn a weekly residency at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge into East Nash Grass. The group later developed into a nationally touring band. He also hosted a weekly bluegrass jam at American Legion Post 82 and developed a reputation as a singer and multi-instrumentalist.
Mountain Home’s Jon Weisberger has known Kee for nearly 20 years. In announcing the signing, Weisberger pointed to Kee’s musicianship and his work building East Nash Grass.
Mountain Home is part of Crossroads Label Group. The company recently expanded its team and moved into new offices in Arden, North Carolina.
Mountain Home has not announced the album’s title, guest roster or release date. For now, the first single is anticipated in January 2027.