Christian Sedelmyer is a daring and diversified musician and creative entrepreneur. He’s a violin experimenter who deftly balances bluegrass and old-time traditions with innovative freedom. He’s an outstanding improvising instrumentalist who can soar and thrill in any style, and has received 2 GRAMMY nominations for his recording work.

 

Since moving to Nashville, Tennessee in 2008, Sedelmyer has been called on to be part of some of the edgiest and highest caliber instrumental projects of his time, and he’s offered deft musical support to some of today’s finest songwriters. As a composer, Sedelmyer crafts melodic and cinematic landscape music, inspired partially as an antidote to the busyness of life on the road and high-octane decision making that occurs in his real estate investing businesses.

 

Sedelmyer grew up in Erie, PA and after learning the ropes of the violin as a student of the Suzuki method from a young age, had his first stage time with his father’s folk rock band, and later, a rock band of peers. He honed a quick mind at Wake Forest in NC, where he was a competitive debater. He lasted a year in a post-college corporate consulting job and followed a calling to Nashville in 2008. There, he became an integral part of the weekly jam at East Nashville’s 5 Spot and an avid student of bluegrass, old-time and other roots genres. As an integral member of The Farewell Drifters from 2009 to 2011, he developed a new take on string band pop, which the band took all over the country. In 2012, he shifted focus to 10 String Symphony, a duo with fiddler/banjo player and songwriter Rachel Baiman. Conceived as a side experiment, the project lifted off with two charting albums and bookings in France, the UK, New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong.

 

Christian has collaborated and toured with 16-time Grammy award winner Jerry Douglas in his namesake band since 2014, during such tenure earning 2 Grammy nominations himself for albums recorded with the Jerry Douglas Band - 2017’s What If, nominated in the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album category, and 2021’s Leftover Feelings, nominated in the Best Americana Album Category, a soulful collaboration between the band and iconic songwriter John Hiatt.

​

Sedelmyer has dedicated a portion of his craft to becoming the best possible collaborator, learning to support a song with taste and touch. He has recorded on Grammy winning albums by Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle, and performed with Kacey Musgraves, Bela Fleck, Watchhouse, Tim O’Brien, Billy Strings and Steve Martin & Martin Short. He’s recorded on hundreds of projects, as a collaborator, session musician and producer. He has toured in the bands of Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull, Alison Brown, and Robbie Fulks. And even more indicative of his stature as a modern bluegrass player are the special collaborations for which he’s been tapped. That includes the 2018 recording of the classic fiddle tune “Squirrel Hunters” by Special Consensus (w/ 10 String Symphony, Alison Brown & John Hartford), which won the IBMA Award for Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year; a late-night appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2025 with Steve Martin & Alison Brown featuring Tim O’Brien; the “Reunion” set at North Carolina’s MerleFest with Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Bryan Sutton and Mark Schatz; a founding member role in “The Ringers,” conceptualized by Jerry Douglas, featuring Douglas, Sedelmyer, Ronnie McCoury, Dan Tyminski and Todd Phillips; and, the annual Green Mountain All Stars set at the Green Mountain Bluegrass & Roots Festival in Vermont. He has regularly collaborated and toured with Andrew Marlin of Watchhouse (formerly Mandolin Orange) and began a recording spree of original instrumental music that began with Marlin’s album Buried in a Cape, released in 2018. 

 

As a composer and recording artist, Sedelmyer attempts to take you on a dynamic journey, telling complete stories without words. These tapestries come directly from the heart, woven together with diverse colors and textures to guide the listener’s ear along with the way. Sedelmyer released his debut solo instrumental album Ravine Palace in 2020. This collection of 13 original compositions was recorded live in one room, with a string band of close musical confidants - Andrew Marlin, Eli West and

Clint Mullican. The resulting landscapes take the listener to a place of cinematic reprieve.

 

The old saying “he’s just getting started” applies here. Sedelmyer is established as a first-call musician and admired by music watchers as a leader with limitless potential. Asked about his personal mission statement, he offers six highly refined words: “Protect your inspiration at all costs.”