Two weeks ago, the Ebony Hillbillies had no idea they’d be a surprise hit at Wintergrass. Until then they had no idea they’d even play during the Tacoma bluegrass and roots music festival’s 15th annual run.

But the New York quartet – fiddler Rique Prince, singer and multi-instrumentalist Norris Bennett, upright bass player Bill Salter and a cowboy washboard player who simply goes by A.R.– got the call after the Carolina Chocolate Drops canceled just days before kickoff.

And there they were on stage Thursday night at the Hotel Murano pavilion with new fans twirling in the aisles as they delivered the foot-stomping sounds of old-time string band music.

Friday, they found themselves crammed into a cozy hotel room just big enough for the four of them, their bulky gear and a gaggle of journalists and handlers.

During a radio interview, the line of questioning soon turned to race, not unusual since the four Ebony Hillbillies are black and play music many associate with white performers.

But part of the Hillbillies’ mission, as Prince explained, is to keep alive a Southern black string band tradition that predated the likes of Bill Monroe.

“Do you guys find that you inspire young people when they see this, (since) it’s a little bit different to see black folks playing this music?” local radio personality Tom Wilson asked. “Do you find some of the kids get inspired to pick up some of these old instruments?”

“Kids don’t see color if they’re young enough,” Prince said. “They just see you and they get it.”

Prince tied his answer to another aspect that sets the band apart from other Wintergrass performers. For the past decade, they’ve cut their teeth not on the bluegrass circuit, but through regular performances at New York’s Times Square subway station.

“One of the things about playing the subways,” Prince said, “you can play to 176,000 people. You get groups of kids. They may or may not have had any exposure to the music. They come by and they immediately get it. They start dancing around and linking arms and spinning around. (They do) the steps they know. Kids are dancing like Michael Jackson to this. So it’s a hoot.”

They answered more questions and played a few songs before being whisked off to sound check for Friday evening’s show.

Salter, who has won two Grammys and co-written hits for Roberta Flack and Bill Withers, is a newcomer, having joined the Hillbillies last summer. As he lugged his bass through a mezzanine teeming with festivalgoers and impromptu jam sessions, he reflected on how his career had come full circle.

By 17, he’d been on the road with Pete Seeger.

“And now that I’m almost 72, I’m back to the real core of this,” he said. “I never expected that I would be doing this. But once I got with these guys, I couldn’t let go and they wouldn’t let me go.”

As he turned his fiddle, Prince reflected on what the surprise gig meant for his band’s exposure.

“It’s sort of nice to play in front of a traditional crowd that listens to this kind of music and to hear their reaction to it,” he said. “It makes us feel good about what we’re doing, from the sense we’re isolated from the mainstream of the string band community.”

Wintergrass, one of America’s premier roots music festivals, will continue through Sunday at Hotel Murano, the Varsity Grill, Urban Grace Church and the Courtyard by Marriott downtown.

Organizers expect 4,000 over the weekend, bluegrass fans attracted by a lineup that includes the Infamous Stringdusters, Michael Cleveland, the Duhks, Vasen and Nickel Creek mandolin player Chris Thile’s new band, the Punch Brothers.

Betty Forrester came from Tennille, Ga., to watch her grandson play mandolin during a pickup jam session Friday in the Murano lobby.

“This is my first bluegrass festival, and I absolutely love it,” Forrester said. “There are so many younger people playin’ – you know, just small kids playin’. I think that’s wonderful, that they’re using their talent.”

Volunteer Rachel Eskesen, 25, of Tacoma, was back for her second Wintergrass. She cited the dance stage, at the Varsity Grill this year, as her favorite part of Wintergrass.

“Everybody takes off their shoes and goes crazy until they can’t walk, basically,” she said. “It’s a great way to end the night.”

Ernest A. Jasmin: 253-274-7389

Hear the Ebony Hillbillies talk about reviving old-time black string music and see photos from the 15th annual Wintergrass festival on The News Tribune’s pop music blog, Bring the Noise (blogs.thenewstribune.com/ej).