Betsy and The Bears

the bluegrass bear 

award-winning Mandolinist 

A native of Graysville, IN, Solly Burton is a Four-time National Mandolin Champion - winning that prestigious award at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas in
2007, 2010, 2018, and 2024. Solly has also won first prize in many other picking contests
including the Tennessee State (flat pick guitar), the Kentucky State, and the Indiana State Mandolin contests, and the Rocky Grass contest in Colorado where Newgrass Pioneer Sam Bush himself handed Solly a Gibson Sam Bush signature model mandolin as his First Prize award. 

Solly has appeared on NPR’s “From the Top” program which features brilliant young artists from across the nation. Over the past 16 years, Burton has performed in a duo with B.G. McPike for events from Wisconsin to Louisiana to Maryland to Massachusetts & Maine. They performed the wedding music for IndyCar driver, Charlie Kimball, and have performed for many national conventions in Indianapolis including those for firefighters and mayors from across the nation.