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An accomplished multi-instrumentalist, Milan often jokes that he first moved to Nashville in 1999 because he “heard they were running out of guitar players,” but with a wry southern wit and his trusty tenor voice, he has built a reputation as an adept artist, songwriter and collaborator. Traveling the world, Milan has made appearances at venues ranging from Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater to Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, California, and from the Grand Ole Opry to Symphony Hall with the Boston Pops Orchestra.

In addition to his standout solo recordings, Milan’s songs have been recorded by some of the biggest names in bluegrass, including Balsam Range, Lonesome River Band, Steep Canyon Rangers, Terry Baucom, Tim O’Brien, Buddy Melton, Sam Bush, Missy Armstrong, Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, Unspoken Tradition, the Grascals and many others. Along the way he has scored forty number one songs in the genre, over four dozen others that have graced the top twenty, two nominations for Song of the Year and was named the Songwriter of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2020.

Looking back, it seems hard to believe that Buddy Melton wasn’t bitten by the music bug until he had moved away to college. Although initially intrigued by the sound of the banjo, it was ultimately the fiddle that had been on the wall in his childhood home for years that ended up in his dorm room at Western Carolina University.

As his interest grew, weekly get-togethers with local musicians offered a relaxed atmosphere and an opportunity to dive into standards from the bluegrass songbook. After weeks of contemplation and a bit of hand wringing, Buddy worked up the nerve to sing the Bill Monroe classic Blue Moon of Kentucky. In that moment, the friends and neighbors present at the jam session were introduced to what bluegrass great Tony Rice once described as “one of the most exciting and purest voices I have ever heard.”

As a guiding force and founding member of the bluegrass power-house Balsam Range, Buddy has been the voice behind multiple #1 songs and has performed on some of the most prestigious stages in the country, including the Grand Ole Opry, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and Merlefest. The group has received countless awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), including multiple trophies for Entertainer of the Year, Vocal Group of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year. On an individual level, Buddy was named as the Male Vocalist of the Year by the IBMA in 2014 and 2018.

One of the most prevalent aspects of Buddy’s musical artistry is his love of collaboration. His recording credits cover a long list of bluegrass icons, including Sam Bush, Terry Baucom, Tony Rice, Adam Steffey, Jerry Douglas, Sammy Shelor, and John Cowan, as well as folks on the fringe of the bluegrass genre such as Chloe Agnew of Celtic Woman fame, the Atlanta Pops Orchestra, Americana renaissance man Jim Lauderdale, and the legendary Doc Watson. Over the past several years, Buddy has also released a steady stream of duo recordings with old friend Milan Miller, yielding the popular songs Adeline, Who Are You Redbird, Will I Want To, and The Last Moonshiner.

Rev. Ashley Crowder Stanley is an ordained elder in the WNCC and currently serves as pastor at Wellspring Congregation: An Inclusive UMC in Asheville, NC. A graduate of Duke University and Duke Divinity School, she is a devoted fan and alumni of the “dark blue school.”  Ordained in the Minnesota Annual Conference, Ashley began her ministry at Golden Valley UMC in a suburb of Minneapolis.  Additionally, she was a hospital chaplain at Duke Hospital, at the University of Minnesota Hospital and Abbot-Northwestern Hospital, completing two and a half years of CPE.  When she returned to the WNCC, she became an adjunct faculty member at Duke Divinity School where she taught for 8 years in the field of Pastoral Care and Counseling.  She has served other wonderful churches in the WNCC including Biltmore, Wesley Memorial in High Point, and Mills River. She was also the founding pastor of Wellspring Congregation in Asheville. She has also been a District Superintendent.

Throughout her ministry, Ashley has served our conference and the wider denomination through service as Chair of the Board of Ordained Ministry, as member of several restructuring Task Forces, as a 4-time delegate to General Conference, as a 12-year member of the Duke University Board of Trustees, as a RIOM leader, as the President of the Duke Divinity School National Alumni Association and a member of its Board of Visitors.

Ashley’s ministry passions are preaching and worship, community building and social justice work and making “good trouble.” As co-founder of Asheville’s Room in the Inn ministry for unhoused women, Ashley gives thanks for the many ongoing opportunities for ministry that living in the world offers.

She loves music, reading, playing the piano, writing prose, observing the wonder of children and being in community. Ashley and her husband, T.’s family includes their 3 adult children, their spouses, 6 grandchildren and a dog named Cooper. Her life has been immeasurably blessed by growing up in a pastor’s family, and spending childhood summers at Lake Junaluska in her family’s home on Kilgore Road.