Mike Farris, born in Winchester on Nov. 30, 1968, built a career that crossed rock, blues, soul, and gospel while remaining rooted in traditional Southern music. He grew up in several Franklin County communities, drew early musical influences from his father's record collection and local AM station WCDT, and after his parents' divorce moved to Decherd, where his stepfather had a horse breeding and training facility. He attended several local schools, became a standout baseball and football player, worked on walking horse farms during school vacations, and was encouraged in performance by Broadview Elementary School principal Mike Foreman. Living in Nashville, he started the band Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies with guitarist Rick White in April 1991; signed by Atlantic Records, the band released its first self-titled album in 1994, toured with the Allman Brothers Band, the Dave Matthews Band, Meat Loaf, and Sheryl Crow, and followed with albums on Capricorn Records in 1996 and 1998, supported by arena tours with Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top. Farris later left to explore different genres and released his first solo album, Goodnight Sun, in 2003. After returning from New York to Nashville in 2007, he followed manager Rose McGathy's advice to center his career on traditional Southern music; after her death that year, he named his band the Roseland Rhythm Revue. Overcoming addiction issues led him to embrace Christianity, and his second solo album, Salvation in Lights, released in 2007 on the Christian label INO, drew on African American gospel and Memphis-style soul horn voicings. SHOUT! Live followed in 2009 and won the Gospel Music Association Dove Award for Traditional Gospel Album of the Year in 2010. He also organized the EP The Night the Cumberland Came Alive to benefit victims of the 2010 Nashville flood. With Compass Records, he released the acclaimed albums Shine for All the People in 2014, which won the first-ever Grammy for Best Roots Gospel Album in 2015, and Silver and Stone in 2017. He was honored at the 2008 Americana Music Awards as New/Emerging Artist of the Year, has performed at major festivals and at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's American Music Masters concert honoring Aretha Franklin, and has used his personal experience to work with addiction recovery programs, helping at-risk kids and young adults.