Music flows like water in some families. Down through generations with a nod to the source and another eye on new branches.
Fiddler Brian Grim and banjoist Debbie Grim Yates are two fine examples. The siblings who formed the nucleus of The Konnarock Critters, one of the most popular and influential old-time band of the 80s and 90s, learned to play from family and local music legends. Today, they are passing along those same musical traditions and life lessons to their children.
Success in old-time music isn’t Taylor Swift-level fame. Old-time musicians joke that it is more of a way of life and that one can make “tens of dollars” playing it. Old-time is the father of bluegrass and mother of country music. Players do it for love, some ribbons and an occasional paying gig or two.
That’s why even the most celebrated old-time musicians rarely quit their day job. Such is the case of the Grims from Konnarock. Both have shown incredible resourcefulness so they can live and play happily in the Blue Ridge backroads. Musically gifted, yes, and Brian and Debbie are also two of the hardest working people you’ll ever meet.
Brian and Debbie perform at the inaugural Legends of Grayson Old-Time Celebration in 2022. Photo by Kevin Combs Brian Grim leads a jam at 2024 Breakin’ Up January Jam in Elk Creek. Photo by Kevin Combs
Way Beyond Country
Old-time goes hand in hand with the mountains. The green rolling hills and pastures of the Elk Creek Valley, Grayson County, in Brian’s case. And the dense woods and steep tree farms of Konnarock near Whitetop Mountain, Smyth County, in Debbie’s.
Their music is anything but laid back. The Konnarock Critters famously play at supersonic speeds that dare you to keep up while dancing. Then on the next tune, they’ll sing a lilting ballad or waltz that’ll make you cry. Both have bucketloads of charisma and stage presence from a lifetime of competitions and performances.
Homeward Bound
Music was part of everyday family life for Debbie and Brian. Their maternal grandfather was the well-known fiddler, James Warren “Cotton” Hayes, who played frequently in their living room growing up. You could also hear his music on the radio during the WWII era.
Their mom, Lorene, was originally from the Whitetop area, but moved to Pennsylvania with her parents. There, she met her husband, John Grim. Shortly after getting married, John and Lorene decided they loved the mountains and wanted to live near family.
They packed all their belongings and two young kids into an old converted school bus carrying the homemade sign “Konnarock or Bust.” John, a skilled carpenter, then built the family cabin the Critters grew up in. Debbie and her family live in the house her father built today.
Music School Days
When Debbie and Brian were 7 and 8 years-old, Lorene bartered for their first music lessons by teaching guitar in Albert Hash’s new school at the Mount Rogers fire station. “If she hadn’t, Brian and I wouldn’t be here playing today,” Debbie says.
After a few years at the school taking lessons from some of the best old-time players around — including Emily and Thornton Spencer and Albert and Audrey Hash — the two kids got really good, really fast. Playing frequently with local musicians like renowned luthiers and pickers Wayne Henderson and Gerald Anderson helped, too.
“Debbie and I and my mom would play and she decided to start a family group called the Konnarock Country Critters,” Brian says. “We wore little band uniforms as kids and played all the festivals up at Mount Rogers and Whitetop.”
Amazingly, they still play those same festivals today.
Critters on a Roll
The Critters were soon in high demand, playing for local events and competing and often winning at nearby fiddlers’ conventions. After several years, Lorene decided to stay home, they dropped “Country” from their name and expanded the band to include Jim Lloyd, a barber from Rural Retreat, on rhythm guitar, along with Al Firth from Charlottesville on bass. They soon started a regular gig playing Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Their most memorable performances include Richmond, Washington D.C., The Carter Fold, and a tour of England.
After their father passed away, they decided to take a hiatus from touring. “We played a lot on the road. It was getting tiresome.” Debbie says. “That’s when Brian and I both started having families.”
Interestingly, around that same time, they signed a contract with Marimac Recordings. “They allowed us the flexibility needed for family, work, and music,” Debbie says. Critically acclaimed albums, Rattletrap and Cornbread and Sweatpeas, resulted. Brian and Debbie also became famous in old-time circles for holding a rollicking “Breakin’ Up Christmas” party at the Konnarock homestead.
The Critters Abide
Brian moved to his sheep farm in Elk Creek during this time and began the physically demanding sheep shearing business he continues today. At various times, he also taught fiddle lessons at three different locations.
Debbie remained in Konnarock, marrying Tim Yates of the renowned John Yates & The Yates Brothers. They soon welcomed two young girls and moved into the Konnarock cabin Debbie’s dad built.
The Critters played infrequently as a band while they raised families and pursued careers. Debbie bartered banjo lessons for pottery lessons at Magnum Pottery in Sparta, NC. Now, 35 years later, she continues a thriving pottery business out of her Konnarock home. Grim Pottery has achieved recognition by the prestigious ‘Round the Mountain tour of artisans in Southwest Virginia.
In 2000, Debbie and Tim played music as Acoustic Heritage and released the album The Mountains Are Where You Long to Be. Later, they formed the Yates Family Band after their two girls, Molly and Sadie, got a little older and played local venues and events.
Brian married Georgianna Sayers and began working as a mail carrier for the USPS out of Fries, where he continues today. Georgianna and their four daughters (Grace, Vina, Chloe and Ella) run the sheep farm in Elk Creek, while Brian focuses on sheep shearing and mail delivery. All the Grim girls enjoy dancing and attending musical events. Several have taken up instruments, including Ella, the youngest, who won youth banjo and finished third in adult folk song at the 2024 Old Fiddlers’ Convention in Galax.
Brian and his family on the porch of their Elk Creek farmhouse. Photo by Kevin Combs The Yates Family Band performing in 2026. Photo by Kevin Combs
Debbie’s multi-instrumentalist daughter Molly completed the bluegrass program at East Tennessee State University in 2021. She works with her mom and grandmother Lorene at Grim Pottery and recently joined The Little Roy and Lizzy Show, a touring bluegrass gospel band from Georgia.
Her younger sibling Sadie also works in the pottery business and is an accomplished, versatile musician with an emphasis on bass. As she completes a degree in radiology, Sadie continues to perform with family.
The New Critter Connection
In the last few years, Brian and Debbie began playing more frequently together at events, such as the Legends of Grayson Old-Time Celebration held in Independence. At its inaugural event in 2022, the Konnarock Critters reunited there for the first time since the 90s with Wayne Henderson and Jim Lloyd.
Most recently, Brian has joined forces with the Yates Family Band to compete at fiddlers’ conventions as The New Critter Connection. In 2025, Brian won the old-time fiddle contest and was named best all-around performer at the Galax Old Fiddlers’ Convention. The New Critter Connection placed second in old-time band.
While winning competitions is rewarding, there’s something bigger at play. “When we were young, my mom would take us to fiddler’s conventions and taught us that it wasn’t about winning the competitions, it was about the experience. We raised our girls the same way — to have fun, play and enjoy being around family,” Debbie says.
With the Critters, staying close to family, music and home in the mountains is what it’s all about. And that’s been a tried-and-true family recipe their entire lives.
This article was written by Mark Boyles with videography and photography by Kevin Combs.
Mark Boyles was born in Kingsport, Tennessee to parents from West Virginia and North Carolina, and has lived in Georgia since age nine. Now a semi-retired marketing communications strategist and advertising copywriter, Mark is reclaiming his Appalachian roots by playing a little guitar and co-founding the Legends of Grayson Old -Time Celebration non-profit in his home away from home, Southwest Virginia.
Kevin Combs was born and raised in the mill town of Fries, VA, and returned home after a career elsewhere, expecting retirement but instead finding a new calling documenting Appalachian music and culture. Today, he serves as Tourism Director for Fries while producing films, oral histories, and cultural projects that preserve and celebrate the musical heritage of the region.
