Jerry Sutton hails from a family with musical roots that run deep in the mountains of Western North Carolina. He is in the middle generation of a multi-generational family of musicians. Jerry’s father was the well-known Asheville fiddler Grover Sutton and his son is one of the nation’s best young guitar players, Grammy-award winning Bryan Sutton, who first came into the spotlight as the guitar player in Ricky Skaggs’s band, Kentucky Thunder. Family and friends alike cite him as an important musical mentor.\

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Jerry says, “I learned [back-up guitar playing] from my dad and other local fiddlers at jam sessions,” beginning in the late 1950s. He grew to be an accomplished flatpicker in lead and solo roles as well, and also sings and plays banjo and bass. Jerry’s guitar and bass playing has picked up awards at Fiddler’s Grove, Transylvania Halloween Fest, the North Carolina Mountain State Fair, and many other regional contests. Jerry Sutton can be heard on recordings with his father, Grover Sutton, with the Hominy Valley String Band and the Pisgah Pickers, as well as with his son Bryan on Sugar Hill Records. An educator of many years, Jerry taught U.S. history. Now retired, he enjoys teaching lessons at AFTA.