Born in Little Rock, AR. Greg has been drawn to music since he was old enough to crawl to the stereo, find a station he liked, and turn it up. It didn’t take long for him to raid his parents’ country collections, his older siblings’ rock & roll, and anything else he could get his hands on. After finding a niche in the Jr. high and high school band playing tuba (that's right, hold yourself back ladies) and sitting in with a few friends here and there in their garage bands, he made his first public appearance in a high school talent show with a punk rock band he formed just for the occasion.

In the early 90's, when he and a couple of friends started kicking around the idea of playing again, Greg formed an acoustic band to work on his developing songwriting talent. After several years of playing together, he set out on his own as a singer/songwriter, which gave him the opportunity to sit in with many local musicians, drawing from their pool of talent. Enjoying a regular schedule of performing publicly, Greg ran into Steve, an old high school buddy who was playing banjo. After being introduced to Ben and Michael, the bug had bitten once again, and this time it was bluegrass!!!
 

banjo, guitar, vocals
Ten Till Midnight Publishing ASCAP

Steve was born in Lubbock, Texas but raised in central Arkansas. His father, a fan of Flatt & Scruggs, began teaching him guitar as a youth. His performing debut was 'Freight Train' at a bluegrass festival when he was only twelve. For the next year or so he played upright bass in 'Lil Bit of Bluegrass', a band comprised solely of teenagers. During his high school years he branched out into rock and roll, but his influences remained fingerstyle guitarists, people like Jimmy Page, Cat Stevens and Paul Simon.

In college while studying for his German Literature degree, he spent his spare time listening to progressive rock bands like Van Der Graaf Generator and King Crimson. During this time he heard his first classical guitar performance and sold all of his guitars in order to buy a nice classical model. After graduating, he spent the next four years living in Germany pursuing a master’s degree in Philosophy and Linguistics (and the occasional Fraulein). Upon returning to the States he discovered his father’s old banjo along with the Scruggs book and record that had been gathering dust since his teenage years and started teaching himself the basics. After reuniting with Ben and Michael, playing bluegrass again was just a short step away.
 

mandolin, autoharp, vocals
Red Possum Publishing ASCAP

Ben was born in Kingsport, Tennessee and lived there until his family moved to Arkansas at the age of nine. He was first exposed to bluegrass and folk music while living in Batesville and convinced his parents to let him take guitar lessons. After mastering the likes of Kenny Rogers' 'Coward of the County', 'The Gambler' and Conway Twitty’s 'The Rose' the guitar was quickly forgotten and later sold at a garage sale. While in fifth grade, music reentered Ben's life in the form of a snare drum in the school band. He played percussion throughout Jr. and Sr. High School in both the marching and concert band. It wasn't until college that he picked up the mandolin.

After a few moves that took him across the country to Texas and later to Colorado he began to get hooked on the bluegrass sound and his focus moved from strumming along with Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin and Rolling Stones tunes to Bill Monroe, The Seldom Scene and New Grass Revival. It was moving back to Arkansas in 2000 and meeting up with Steve and Michael that brought about the founding of Runaway Planet…and the rest is pretty much history….
 

bass, vocals
Velvet Fender Publishing ASCAP

Michael was born in Topeka, KS, but from the age of eight was raised in the sticks of southern Pennsylvania. There he attended a small church where everybody sang like the dickens. Michael left home after high school and attended college in the northeast for a couple of years before being drawn to a college in Arkansas. It was there that he met Ben Ellis and Steve Brauer. The three began a friendship that, unbeknownst to them, would lead to the formation of Runaway Planet some ten years later. Back then they listened to lots of music and had a lot of fun but they never once played a tune together. In fact, Michael didn’t even play an instrument back then.

After graduating, Michael made Little Rock his home, earned his Masters in Social Work and developed a career in mental health. During those years he picked up the acoustic guitar, learned to play, began writing songs and getting back in touch with the singing side of things. Over the years he had developed a taste for Progressive Rock but his life was changed forever when he was introduced to The Seldom Scene and John Duffy’s haunting tenor vocals. After getting hooked on bluegrass, Michael took on the stand up bass while jamming with Steve, Ben and Steve’s old high school buddy, Greg Alexander. Finally, it was on!
 

Drawing from traditional influences like Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs and the Stanley Brothers, they are also inspired by more progressive bluegrass bands like The Country Gentlemen, The Seldom Scene and New Grass Revival. With an ever-growing schedule, Runaway Planet is winning over new fans from traditional bluegrass lovers to younger fans new to the genre.

Runaway Planet is known for their uncompromising musicianship, gripping vocal harmonies and rousing live shows.  Its members are well-versed in many genres yet the love of traditional American string-band music gives these guys the energy that has earned them a reputation for delivering a hard-driving, highly danceable show.  Runaway Planet has established an ever-growing following of fans who are hooked on their foot-stompin’ originals and distinctive flavor of traditional favorites.