​THE LONG SHOTS

Picking up the fiddle at age 7, and it wasn't long before Sophie found an interest in the mandolin and guitar as well. She was fortunate to receive mentoring by Chuck and Sandi Millar (of bluegrass outfit No Grass Limit) for most of her life. Spending her childhood growing up around bluegrass festivals, it was no surprise when she decided to take it seriously at age 14 and start The Long Shots a year later.

 

Sophie enjoys holding down the mandolin parts for the band as well as handling the booking and promotion end of things. An avid writer, she has recently started putting together some of the band's material. Sophie received a scholarship to partake in the 2014 Nashville Mandolin Camp, (with instructors Roland White, Mike Compton and Ashby Frank) and enjoys the distinction of being the only female to place in the top 5 finalists in the Minnesota Guitar Flatpicking Championships. This coming fall, she'll head down to Johnson City, TN to major in East Tennessee State University's Bluegrass Music Program and minoring in Journalism. As well as picking, in the words of Greg Cahill, Sophie has been known to "sing her butt off!"