Twenty-three-year-old multi-instrumentalist Jesse Blue Eads has forged his own career path as an artist in the truest sense. While most widely known as east Tennessee’s up-and-coming innovator of jazz and progressive music on the five-string banjo, most of Jesse’s career was spent as a versatile and charismatic bassist and guitarist in Los Angeles before moving to Pigeon Forge in 2021.

Jesse’s reputation for marrying complex and diverse musical ideas with a strong sense of soul, spontaneity, and intuition has led him to play multiple instruments on stage with titans such as Joe Craven (Jerry Garcia, David Grisman), Kory Caudill (Tyler Childers, Justin Moore), Chris Blue (The Voice), and bluegrass band Water Tower. He has also worked extensively as a mandolinist, vocalist, producer, and keyboardist.

Eads has been known among his peers as a passionate listener and jack of all trades with a uniquely diverse range of influences beyond his years. From the jazz, funk, R&B, and soul that characterized his Los Angeles upbringing to the bluegrass, old-time, and folk colors of his banjo career, Jesse seamlessly blends cultural boundaries with grace.

Some of the countless acts with whom Jesse has performed or recorded include: Wyatt Ellis, Warren Wolf, Water Tower, Bar Jay Bar, Tommy Drinkard & the Remedy, Chris Blue & Crockett, Ikes Creek, Max Huggins, Casey Freedom, Brad Brownfield, Kaleb Baize, Olivia Pucci, Ben Eaton, and Carson Moore.

Achieving the praise and appreciation of bluegrass heroes such as Gary “Biscuit” Davis (Dolly Parton, 5-time National Banjo Champion), Noam Pikelny (Punch Brothers, Mighty Poplar), Jack Tuttle (Molly Tuttle), Tony Trischka, Jens Kruger (Kruger Brothers), and numerous others, Willow & Jesse are exceptional ambassadors of American music, combining a rich knowledge of the history of Appalachian, jazz, and popular American traditions with a fresh and original musical identity. The two are highly influential artists each in their own right with a deep technical mastery of their craft and a passion for connecting to audiences through an outstanding breadth of musical styles.

Willow Osborne was the first bluegrass artist to “go viral” in the modern age of social media, inspiring countless new banjoists to pick up the instrument since her breakthrough YouTube videos in 2012. She remains universally known and appreciated both in the world of bluegrass and among music lovers of every genre for her effortless musicality, elegant touch, and distinctive singing voice.

Jesse Blue Eads has developed a wide reputation as an emerging innovator of the five-string banjo with a pioneering approach developed from years of experience as an in-demand Los Angeles sideman for various instruments and genres. Jesse’s agility and complex vocabulary are balanced with his interactive, sensitive playing style and simple yet evocative singing,

Notable appearances by Willow & Jesse have included Appalachia Sessions w/ Chris Blue (Seasons 2 & 3), Dollywood’s Harvest Festival, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country at the Caverns, Smoky Mountain Tunes & Tales, IBMA World of Bluegrass Festival, and an extensive list of individual appearances.

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Willow Osborne is a 23-year-old musician and vocalist from Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. She was taught by her inspiration, Gary “Biscuit” Davis, starting at the age of four.

She started performing professionally at the age of eight with lead roles in Dollywood’s “Babes in Toyland”, “Sha-Kon-O-Hey” and “Twas’ the Night Before Christmas”. From there, she moved onto a local theatre called Country Tonite and was a featured performer for 9 seasons. During these years, she traveled as much as possible to bluegrass festivals across the nation. In 2017, she represented the Nashville segment in the IMAX documentary called “America’s Musical Journey” featuring Aloe Blacc and narrated by Morgan Freeman. In the summers of 2020 and 2021, she went out to Medora, North Dakota to be a musician and vocalist in the Medora Musical.

In November 2021, she hit the road with Honky-Tonk band, Bar Jay Bar traveling to 13 different states in a month! Since then, she’s been playing across the nation as a double banjo duo with Jesse Blue Eads. They are billed simply as Willow & Jesse, exploring bluegrass with a twist and taste of jazz, folk and everything in between.

In December 2022 & 2023, she joined Daniel Donato for his Cosmic Country Christmas Jam at the Brooklyn Bowl in Nashville with other musicians including Sierra Hull, Duane Trucks, Grace Bowers, Brent Mason and many other talented musicians.