Local bluegrass community loses a stalwart champion

Pammy Lassiter, 79, of West End, passed away on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, following a month-long battle with multiple health issues.

Known affectionately in music circles as “the Queen”, Pammy was a driving force in the NC bluegrass music community.

She was a founding member of the Charlotte Folk Music Society. In July 1997, she founded the Triad-based High Lonesome Strings Bluegrass Association, which currently has in excess of 250 members.

A dobro player, she ran Resogat, a gathering of resophonic guitar players, in Wilkesboro, for the past 18 years. In 2018, she received the annual special award for her contributions to bluegrass music at the Granite Quarry Fiddlers’ Convention. 

Her beloved husband, Big T Lassiter, whom she married in a bluegrass wedding on June 11, 2016, shared, “I am so sorry to inform everyone that my dear sweet Queen, my whole world, my everything, went to be with the Lord. Pammy fought so hard to stay here with me. The Scheerhorn resonator guitar has fallen silent. She was compassionate, especially about bluegrass and bluegrass people. She was responsible for so many kids receiving the gift of music.”

Pammy was instrumental, no pun intended, for helping launch the careers of many now-professional musicians from our region including Zeb and Samantha Snyder, Nathan Aldridge, Jake Goforth, Ettore Buzzini. and rising artists Truett Wagner and Elliot King, among others. She has performed on stage with numerous A-listers and jammed with a host of others.

Pammy also worked hard spreading music throughout NC with the annual HLS Bluegrass Festival held in May at Hagan Stone Park in Pleasant Garden, Picking for Clyde on Monday nights at Circle M City in Sanford, and during various times at the Lassiter residence.

She competed and won at numerous fiddlers conventions and served on the Seagrove Fiddlers’ Convention Committee. The Lassiters’ hotel rooms and campsites were gathering places for all levels of musicians from beginners to professionals. 

Pammy had a special heart for youth, encouraging them to play, compete and apply for scholarships.

Pammy was a dear friend to this writer. We initially met when the Hatley Family performed for the Charlotte Folk Music Society. Since then, we have cordially competed against each other at many fiddlers’ conventions including Star, Seagrove and Highfalls. We sat together and jammed at festivals, and worked to promote bluegrass music. 

Elizabeth Greeson, president of HLS, stressed, “May we all be grateful for our dear friend, Pammy, as she spent endless hours to share her love and resources with the bluegrass community. Her devotion to High Lonesome Strings Bluegrass Association was more precious than any silver or gold. We will miss her terribly and we will do all we can to carry on her legacy.”

Lorraine Jordan, performer and promoter, stated, “This is a hard hit for the North Carolina bluegrass community. Pammy did so much to keep the music alive. She will be missed.”

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, Jan. 24, at 1 p.m. at the residence of the Lassiters, 310 Tram Road, West End. Guests are encouraged to bring a finger food to share and an instrument to jam in her memory.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to High Lonesome Strings, PO Box 482, Pleasant Garden, NC 27313. Contributions can also be made to the Pammy Davis Lassiter Dobro Scholarship at East Tennessee State University through the ETSU Advancement Office at etsu.edu. 

The first annual Pammy Fest will be held June 12 and 13 at the Lassiters’ West End home. Darin & Brooke Aldridge will headline the memorial event along with Denton’s Caroline Owens, Starlett & Big John, Steve Dilling & Friends, and the Bluegrass Brothers.