Having made her hometown proud, Ashe County native, Cindy (Brooks) Baucom, is recognized today as the female voice of bluegrass music. She’s heard on 70 radio stations coast-to-coast weekly through her popular syndicated radio show, “Knee Deep in Bluegrass.” 

Cindy has come a long way since the mid-‘80s when, at the age of 17, she began producing and hosting a bluegrass show after school on Mondays and Tuesdays at WKSK in West Jefferson. Apparently, those in the business did not think she needed to go to broadcasting school as she had planned to do. In retrospect, she realizes the importance of hands-on experience and says she “owes a lot” to her coworkers from her first job who helped her and believed in her abilities.    
Fast forward to 2005 when she was named Broadcaster of the Year in Nashville by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) - “an honor of a lifetime,” she says.
 
She currently serves on the IBMA Board of Directors as member of the Education Committee and chair of the membership committee. On Oct. 2, 2008, Cindy actually produced the 2008 IBMA Awards Show at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville – the biggest and “bluest” night of the year for the industry -- showcasing every top-billed bluegrass entertainer in the business today.

“It was really neat to call people like Ricky Scaggs and ask him to be on the show and then, on that night, to see it all come together – months of planning with the highest achievers in the industry surrounded by their fans and affiliates – all in one place. Wow! I can’t describe what it all means to me! ”
 
No small feat for a country girl who says her love for the music began to take shape early in life. “My father, a bluegrass musician and instrument builder, always had the music playing in the house or in the car, and frequently had band practices at our home as I was growing up. As a child, I attended fiddlers’ conventions and bluegrass festivals, giving [me] the opportunity to hear some of the best music anywhere.” More importantly, she stresses, were the many life-long friendships she made.

Over the years, her love for and knowledge of the music, as well as her outgoing personality and public speaking abilities, won her favor in the industry. She quickly became a highly sought-after emcee for many top events including Merlefest, (she has been affiliated since its beginning, missing only one year since), Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver Bluegrass Festival, Bass Mountain Bluegrass Festival, the IBMA FanFest in Nashville, and many others. She also has been a contributor to Bluegrass Unlimited magazine as both a writer and photographer.

Cindy tells us, “I have loved to sing as long as I can remember. When I was 14, I started playing guitar and, shortly after that, I learned to play acoustic bass.” (Her “very patient” husband, award-winning musician Terry Baucom most recently has been working with her on banjo.)
Cindy has performed locally and regionally with a number of bands through the years, including Dixie Dawn, the popular Shadrack’s house band of the ‘80s, where many in the area probably saw her for the first time.

Cindy was no stranger to the stage in another way, as well, in those earlier years. A graduate of Beaver Creek High School, Cindy was the 1987 Miss High Country and represented the counties of Ashe, Alleghany and Watauga in the 1987 Miss North Carolina Pageant in Raleigh. During her reign as Miss High Country, personal appearances and performing opportunities included the opening ceremonies of High Country Host Visitor Center in Boone. A favorite memory of that event includes posing for a picture with NC Governor, James G. Martin.

After working at the Ashe radio station, Cindy moved on to North Wilkesboro’s WKBC AM & FM for eight years as program director and host of both the morning and the bluegrass shows. “At the end of 1995, I was hired at WFMX Radio 105.7 in Statesville and worked there until 2004. While there, I was offered a position with Premiere Radio producing and hosting a syndicated Bluegrass Show, "Knee-Deep In Bluegrass," which went on the air in July 2003 and is now70-plus stations strong. Distributed by the John Boy & Billy Radio Network in Charlotte, the two-hour weekly show is heard from Wilkesboro to Wyoming and everywhere in between.

Cindy is fascinated by how music has been affected by advancements in technology through the years “from vinyl to cassette and now so easily accessible on the hard-drive.” She remembers her first CD, in the early ‘80s, was a Judds’ project.

Whether chatting with “homefolks” while serving as emcee at venues like the recent High Country Bluegrass Festival in Boone, or with top executives and entertainers at the IBMA celebrations in Nashville, Cindy Baucom with her broad smile and glistening eyes is just who she is -- a country gal, a wife,  a daughter and a mother of three -- who has risen to the top and never forgot who she was along the way.

At the Boone festival, her parents, Jim and Mary Brooks, proudly watched as their middle child (and only daughter) once again had the audience wrapped around her little finger. Her husband, a musician known across the country and beyond as master of the banjo, was never far from her side.

Because Cindy and Terry both have successful careers in the music and entertainment business, much of their time is spent at concerts and festivals. “We are truly blessed to be able to make our living doing what we are passionate about,” she states, but they make sure that family time doesn’t get tuned out. “We love our time at home. Not only is Terry a great musician and husband, he’s also a wonderful stepfather to my children. We all love him.”

Those three “smart, beautiful, athletic, talented, polite and loving children” of whom she speaks every chance she gets, are Houston, Molly and Hunter. “And I love them very much.”
If you’re searching for Cindy Baucom, chances are you will find her somewhere “Knee Deep in Bluegrass” and she’s only a click away.

For more information about Cindy Baucom, visit the following website:

www.kneedeepinbluegrass.com or  www.myspace.com/kneedeepinbluegrass