Bluegrass musician Audie Blaylock was born on 18 August 1962 in El Paso, Texas, and went on to become a respected sideman and bandleader within the genre. He first rose to prominence in his late teens when Jimmy Martin recruited him as mandolin player for the Sunny Mountain Boys, a role he held for nearly a decade before working with several other prominent acts.

After leaving Martin's band, Blaylock played with Red Allen until Allen's death in 1993, then joined Lynn Morris's band, followed by stints with Harley Allen and, from 1999, Rhonda Vincent's band the Rage. He later formed his own group, Redline, in 2004, releasing six albums between 2009 and 2019, including their final record, Originalist.