Ben Helson

The young talented guitarist and singer Ben Helson, from Brownsville, Kentucky, grew up surrounded by music.  Ben was influenced by his dad, who plays guitar and sings and by his mom, who grew up playing bass in various gospel groups.  It was natural, then, for Ben to set aside sports and pick up his guitar after surviving cancer discovered when he was just eight years old. Ben was 13 when he asked his dad to show him some chords on the guitar. He stayed up all night practicing, astounding his father the next morning with a flawless performance of the old standard "Home Sweet Home".

While forming a rock band with his friends, Ben also played with his father in a local bluegrass group, on guitar as well as mandolin. This background made him a perfect match for the Bethel College "Renaissance " program, an eclectic group that enabled Ben to play guitar in the group's rhythm section as well as in its bluegrass ensemble. Renaissance director Peter Jeffrey, himself a Dove winning songwriter, recognized Ben's talent and willingness to work hard at improving his skills, and opened the door for him to explore the world of professional music.

Ben broke into the professional bluegrass world in July of 2007 by joining The Larry Stephenson band.  Soon after, he was hired on as a member of the highly esteemed Kentucky Thunder, led by 13-time Grammy award winner Ricky Skaggs. After touring the world, making multiple network television appearances, and performing countless times on the Grand Ole Opry, Ben has moved on once again, this time to contribute to the unique and renowned sound of The Rage.  Ben is in his last year at Bethel College in McKenzie, TN and will graduate with a degree in Music Business in May 2009.

Aaron McDaris

Aaron McDaris was born in Hartville, Missouri. The son of a preacher. His father got together with his fellow pastors and formed a group that performed in local churches. At the age of 11, Aaron picked up the guitar. His love of music further peaked this interest in other instruments, learning bass, and later borrowing a banjo from a musician in his father's group.  Banjo became his instrument of choice.  

He joined his father, mother, and sister; as they performed in churches and local gatherings. After his high school graduation, he attended Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri; and joined his first official touring band, The Ezells; a family band from the Missouri boot hill.  After several months, he moved to another Missouri band, First Impression.  Aaron eventually joined with other members of the group to form their own band "Second Exit". "Second Exit" won the 1997 Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America (SPBGMA) Band Championship in Nashville, Tennessee.  

Also in 1997, Aaron made a big decision, and moved to Nashville, joining the popular gospel group "New Tradition".  

In the year 2000, he became the banjo player for The Larry Stephenson Band, where he was a member for 6 years, until he became a full partner of the 2-time International Bluegrass Music Awards - Entertainers of the Year, "The Grascals."  

Married 10 years to Amy, with son Ethan 3, and a new baby, due any day now.2009 begins a new adventure for Aaron, as he becomes the official banjo player for Rhonda Vincent & The Rage.

Aaron joins with Ben Helson to begin their first year, as Hunter Berry and Mickey Harris begin their 8th season with The Rage.

Mickey Harris

Mickey Harris grew up with a family rich in Bluegrass heritage. His Grandfather is a dobro player with which Mickey began playing with at the age of nine. He also joined The Tipton Family that included his Grandmother Louise, her sister Sophie and her husband Carl. They had a long running TV show in Nashville, TN for around 25 years, of which Mickey had always been a part of since he was a baby.

Growing up around Nashville gave him a great chance to meet and play with Bluegrass and Country Music legends. In his teens he started playing at contests around the Middle Tennessee area. This is where he met numerous young musicians and started a band with them called High Lonesome. This band included Cody Kilby (who now plays with Ricky Skaggs) and Brian Blaylock (who was with Larry Stephenson). From there he joined Tim Graves and Cherokee for about a year, then went onboard with Larry Stephenson for 4 1/2 years. After leaving that band, Mickey, Kristin Scott Benson and Sally Jones started the group Sally Jones and the Sidewinders. He stayed there for 2 years and they were nominated for Emerging Artist of the Year at IBMA. During this time he became known not only as a harmony singer, but a lead vocalist as well.

Mickey joined Rhonda Vincent and The Rage in August 2002 playing Bass and singing harmony. He is also featured on lead vocals as well during the shows.

Mickey is a Two Time SPBGMA Bass Player of the Year and was nominated for IBMA Bass Player of the Year in 2007.

Hunter Berry

Hunter Berry is a young musician of extraordinary talent, enthusiasm, and dedication. He hails from the beautiful hills of upper East Tennessee, known as the birthplace of country music.

Hunter's interest in the music of his fathers was manifested as a mere child in his native Elizabethton, Tennessee. He learned to play the spoons at age four, and at the age of nine he took up the fiddle. Under the tutelage of the noted old-time bluegrass fiddler Benny Sims and local musician and teacher David Yates, Hunter's prowess and intense dedication soon revealed that he was no ordinary kid with a fleeting fancy to become a professional musician.

Incredibly, by the time Hunter reached the eighth grade he had become a powerful fiddler. The nationally acclaimed Doyle Lawson, an icon of bluegrass gospel and old-time music, asked Hunter to join his band, Quicksilver. Because of his school commitment, Hunter and his parents, Clarence and Sherry, reluctantly turned down the offer. Soon thereafter, however, arrangements were made which enabled Hunter to continue his studies, and he spent a year with Melvin Goins. Once again Doyle Lawson approached the young Hunter, who this time accepted.

In 2002 the teenage fiddler joined Rhonda Vincent and the Rage, one of the most celebrated bluegrass bands in the country. He's won the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America honors for Fiddle Performer of the Year four consecutive years, and he has twice been nominated International Bluegrass Music Association's Fiddle Player of the Year.

Not only is Hunter a masterful old-time bluegrass fiddler, he is a student of the music, its history, and its roots. He is doing a remarkable job of carrying on a most basic and important part of our culture-the old-time fiddle tunes and traditional songs which were the soul of early country and bluegrass music.

The legendary John Hartford once told me of an old mountain fiddler who said, “I may not be a good fiddler myself, but, by God, I know one when I hear one.” That phrase comes to mind when I think of Hunter Berry. When his parents first brought him to play at the Museum of Appalachia's Tennessee Fall Homecoming, he captured the audience as few have ever done-and we all said, “Now, there's a fiddler  John Rice Irwin - Founder and President Museum of Appalachia, Norris, Tennessee.

Hunter is the Seven Time SPBGMA Fiddle Player of the Year and in 2007 was nominated for the IBMA fiddler player, instrumental CD and Recorded Event of the Year awards.