Young Nashville multi-instrumentalist Anthony Howell is one to watch

19-year-old Weber Artist Anthony Howell plays banjo, mandolin and more with bluegrass gospel upstarts Williamson Branch. His solo disc ‘Memories’ promises great things ahead.

It’s not an epic walk from the Summer NAMM show at Nashville’s Music City Center to the Two Old Hippies lifestyle shop and instrument showroom on 12th Avenue.

It feels longer if its nearly 100 degrees out—and you’re wearing a dark suitcoat.

“But I was looking good when I got there,” laughs multi-instrumentalist Anthony Howell.

Howell is shaking things up right now in Nashville, as the flint-edged banjo man in Williamson Branch, a family-based bluegrass sextet with a strong gospel feel. Howell’s forward rolls push the band, just as his baritone harmonies blend into the combo’s trademark vocal mix.

He’s all over the Branch’s latest album, the aptly-titled Classy. Sassy. Bluegrassy.

Howell headed to Two Old Hippies, where he would later record a hot trio session, after visiting the Weber Fine Acoustic Instruments booth at NAMM—the annual summer trade event for music products. There, he’d spent some quality time chatting with Weber’s Sean Morrissey and was really taken by the quality and beauty of the offerings on display.

“I love the folks at Weber,” Howell nods. “They're nice people.”

Banjo may be keeping the young picker afloat these days, but he started, at age 11, as a mandolinist, trilling his father’s old $50 box in front of a Mel Bay instructional video.

“Even earlier,” he says, “my dad would show me some stuff on the guitar, but I realized that was way too big for me. He had a mandolin laying around, too, which, in my mind, was like a guitar, except smaller, more my size.”

Home-schooled in Zama, Mississippi, Howell was inspired by his late father Michael’s simple guitar picking, but admits that at first classic bluegrass repelled him.

“I didn't like it.” he laughs now. “It's kind of a rough sound, and it really is an acquired taste. It kind of grew on me once I got to know it a little bit better, and being able to play it is what really attracted me.”

The banjo seat in Williamson Branch actually reflects Howell’s multi-instrumental skills. He earned the gig, in part, by sitting in with virtually every group at a November 2017 benefit concert in Mountain View, Arkansas, filling in, with little-to-no-notice, on five-wire and bass with this combo and that.

“I wound up playing with every band there except Williamson Branch,” he chuckles. “I guess they saw that and realized, hey, this guy knows how to work under pressure.”

“(Band patriarch) Kevin (Williamson) called me, not two weeks after that, saying they were looking for a banjo player, and asking if I wanted to crash with them at a Christmas festival in Raleigh, North Carolina."

Howell’s been playing steadily with the band since just after his 18th birthday, in February 2018, joining full time that May, after graduation.

When that Mel Bay DVD outlived its usefulness, Howell’s parents hooked him up with Alan Sibley for lessons. While not a household name, Sibley is an influential Mississippi musician who taught Howell—now no slouch on guitar either—about playing, singing and performing in a variety of contexts. The two remain close.

"Alan said, if you want to be good, you’ve got to put time into it, and so I did. Sometimes, I'd sit at the house and practice eight hours a day. He made sure I knew how to say ‘practice’ and spell ‘practice.’ He made me write down the word on a piece of paper a few times. He wanted to get it into my head, to make sure I knew I needed to do it, you know?”

That maxim paid off. At 19, Howell is, well, a monster and a master on just about everything he touches, including a recently acquired Weber Gallatin F-14F.

“It's loud,” he grins. “Being a banjo player, I like to have loud instruments. This mandolin is no exception. It's loud and it's clear and it sounds really good, no matter how you play it. The Gallatin model used to be a dark brown color, but it’s been changed to a sunburst and I love the way it looks now. The edges are beveled, which looks really sharp. I like the look of a traditional mandolin, but in this case, having no binding looks killer. And it sounds really deep.”

“I'm sensitive to setup,” he continues. “I’m really picky about it. The playability of this Weber is just outstanding. I don't like to have my action too low, but the way it's set up right now, it plays so smooth and it's super fast. I've been able to get more speed out of this instrument than I have with a lot of other mandolins that I've played, and that's a good thing.”

To hear Howell really shine, check out his 2018 solo release Memories, chock full of smart, hooky originals like the mando-centric “Road to Energy,” “Reba’s Waltz” and the sturdy hymn “Just As I Am.”

Memories should serve as a calling card for producers and other artists as Howell seeks more session work on Music Row.

His eight-string style is distinctly influenced by modern players like Jesse Brock and Alan Bibey. He’s also a fan of the legendary Jesse McReynolds and employs some similar cross-picking and split string styles, easily accomplished—for Howell—on his Gallatin.

“Whether you're playing rhythm or picking a tune, fast or slow, it's a great mandolin for anything you want to do. I thoroughly believe if you took this mandolin and beat it against a house, it would still sound amazing.”

Anthony Howell. He’s one to watch. Or maybe to watch out for if he’s approaching your house!