About Us

Delmer Hackworth, better known as Bosco, is the founding member of Cedar Creek having started with the original band in the mid 90's and he plays the guitar. Bosco started his musical career at eight years old when his uncle, Darrell, started teaching him the guitar. From there, Bosco started playing and singing with the family gospel band that included his uncle Darrel and other family members. He played with the family band for over five years. His family has a long history with bluegrass music including his uncle, South Salyers, who played with the great Bill Monroe and he is also a distant relative to the Ralph Stanley family. 

As he grew older, Bosco won numerous talent shows and continues today to be known for his distinctive tenor. There aren’t many instruments he can’t play and over the years he taught himself to play the mandolin, banjo and bass just by watching others. Throughout his musical career, Bosco has played with a couple other of bands. He feels that the guys that make up the Cedar Creek band today bring together a level of collaboration and talent that will truly make listeners want to hear more of their music. 

Bosco's day job is in the oil industry and in his spare time he likes to hunt, fish, go camping and of course he's always up to play more music!

Billie Irvine is the banjo player for Cedar Creek. Billie began his musical journey at 12 years old when his grandmother took out her Gibson Hummingbird guitar and showed him the G chord. From there she began to teach Billie vocal harmony. The song was “We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds” by George Jones and Melba Montgomery. This was a magical time for Billie. Billie’s love for bluegrass and country music stems from the early influence of his family which is primarily from Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia. As Billie dove deeper into music he found himself joining a local bluegrass band in 2000 playing second guitar and singing tenor. When the bass player could not make practice one time, the leader of the band asked Billie if he could play a bass, in which Billie replied, “never tried but I’d love to”. Within one week Billie was the new bass player and has played in several bands on bass since that time. In 2006 Billie was a founding member and guitar player for Southern Explosion, a local band that specialized in Osborne Brothers style harmony. 

After a brief hiatus from the music in 2009, Billie was approached by the leader of Echo Valley, an Indiana bluegrass band that needed a bass player and tenor singer. Billie served with Echo Valley for approximately 5 years. In 2009, Billie also began to study the banjo. As far back as Billie can remember, the banjo always stood out to him. Billie’s banjo heroes in addition to many local banjo players have been Earl Scruggs, JD Crowe and Terry Baucom. 

Billie is married to his best friend Debbie and together they have 2 adult daughters and a son who also plays several instruments including the pedal steel. By day, Billie works for Michigan’s largest utility company as a Sr. Operations Manager. Recently, Billie and his family started a food truck business that they have used to serve the homeless.

Dave is the the mandolin player for Cedar Creek and he began his musical journey 40 years ago playing guitar and drums in a Pentecostal church. Dave's inspiration of music came from his father's side whom came from a family of 13 who all played and sang. His roots come from the hills of Magoffin County, Kentucky.

As time went on, Dave played Jackson County Boys, Windy Mountain, Marion Blue, Brian Tussey and Route 7. Dave and Bosco have been friends and played together for over 30 years playing mandolin and singing tenor. 

Mark Prater is the bass player for Cedar Creek and hails from Albion, MI but was raised with southern roots from eastern Kentucky. Mark has played bluegrass music for over 35 years, plays the guitar and bass and can sing any part. He's played with different local groups throughout his career. Prior to joining the band Mark has know all of his fellow band members over many years. 

Mark is married to his best friend, Charity, and has four kids. His biggest musical influences were his dad Luster Prater and Red Martin.