Ed Roland was born and raised in Canton Ga. He developed an early interest in music while listening to both his father and uncle play the fiddle, and his mother play the guitar. Ed’s first instrument was a guitar that he received when he was 10 years old. When Ed was 16, he upgraded to a Gibson J50 Gibson guitar, which he played for the next several years. In 1981, Ed decided to change instruments and began playing the upright bass.
In 1987, Ed joined the band “Ground Speed” playing bass and recorded a band project with them in 1988. After a few years, in the early 1990’s, Ed had left the band and met / became friends with Kenneth Hood. They occasionally played together whenever they could in various configurations.
Ed later played bass with “Bluegrass Incorporated” and with “Sweetwater Junction” (Gary Looper, Mike Haygood, Morris Haygood and Steve Eager). After those bands dissolved, Ed would fill-in for bands and enjoyed jamming with friends. You could often find Ed jamming or on stage at the Sharpe Mountain music barn and Everett’s music barn.
In 2020, Jug Rogers, Kenneth Hood, Tim Adair and Greg Brown called on Ed to play bass with the “Band of Brothers” , which is a configuration of Bluegrass Musicians who are also Masons / Shriners. Ed today continues performing with the Band of Brothers.
In 2022, Ed began playing with Georgia Bound filling the bass position.
Ed lives in Canton Ga with his wife Ann