Imagine your industry voting your team its highest award every year for seven years straight. That is what IIIrd Tyme Out did, winning the IBMA Vocal Group of the Year from 1994 to 2000. This deep dive traces the bluegrass and gospel powerhouse from its 1991 founding in Cumming, Georgia, through decades of industry upheaval and roster changes to a commercial peak more than 20 years into its career.

We look at how the band shipped three albums in three years on Rebel Records, anchored its sound in Russell Moore’s lead vocals, used live records like Live at the MAC to escape the trap of perfection, and made the risky 2009 decision to rename itself Russell Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out. Then we examine the 2013 album released exclusively through Cracker Barrel that hit number one on the bluegrass chart and cracked the Billboard 200 at 161.

• The 1991 tug of war between Bill Monroe purists and progressive newgrass
• Russell Moore’s IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year wins in 1994, 1997 and 2010
• Why the Cracker Barrel label was a brilliant closed-loop distribution strategy in the digital era
• Losing banjo player Steve Dilling and bassist Edgar Loudermilk in November 2013 and debuting a new lineup by January 2014
• The band as a ship of Theseus and an elite finishing school for bluegrass musicians