Mark Johnson grew up in Yorktown Heights, New York. He learned to play banjo from fellow New Yorker Jay Unger. Unger, though predominantly a fiddler, also played banjo clawhammer-style and taught Johnson to play that style. 

Emory Lester is an accomplished mandolin player. Originally from Virginia, Lester now lives in Ontario, Canada, and heads the Emory Lester Set band.

Johnson and Lester's collaboration spans the course of a decade; their 2006 collaboration, Acoustic Rising, was nominated for Instrumental Album of the Year in the 2007 IBMA Awards.