Born in Norman, Oklahoma, Munde learned banjo from a well-regarded Oklahoman banjo player, Ed Shelton. He frequently played amateur gigs around the state where he first met Byron Berline at the University of Oklahoma. Shelton introduced Munde to three Dallas bluegrass players: Mitchell Land, Louis "Bosco" Land and Harless "Tootie" Williams. The four of them joined to form The Stone Mountain Boys in 1965. Munde moved to Kentucky in January 1969 after he had graduated from college to play with Wayne Stewart and Sam Bush in a group called Poor Richard's Almanac.
Wayne Stewart had this idea for a group with this kid he knew in Kentucky named Sam Bush, who was probably 15. So I moved to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and we formed Poor Richard's Almanac. Not long after, I got my draft notice, but before I left, Sam, Wayne and I made this tape, later released by Ridge Runner Records, called Poor Richard's Almanac, that was a lot of the instrumental things we were doing. I then went back to Oklahoma, was rejected by the Army, and worked in Norman that summer.
— Pamm Tucker, Bluegrass Today, October 28, 2022 [2]
Munde joined with bluegrass musician Jimmy Martin in 1969. He played with Martin as one of the Sunny Mountain Boys from October 1969 to October 1971, and in the meantime earned his living by working as a school teacher in Nashville.
In 1972, Munde became a member of the Flying Burrito Brothers, performing with Byron Berline. After a European tour, the Burritos split up and Munde joined Country Gazette, then consisting of Roger Bush on bass, Kenny Wertz on guitar, and on the fiddle, Byron Berline, who had formed Country Gazette earlier in the year. Country Gazette went on to record their first album Traitor In Our Midst in 1972. For the next twenty years Munde remained a central figure in Country Gazette, playing with notable musicians such as Roland White, Clarence White, Joe Carr and Gene Wooten.
In 1977, Munde and mandolinist Sam Bush recorded Together Again for the First Time with Roland White, Curtis Burch and John Cowan (both members of New Grass Revival with Bush).
Munde wrote and hosted a monthly five-string banjo column for Frets Magazine during the 1980s.
His current[when?] band is called Alan Munde Gazette. The band features Munde on banjo, Elliott Rogers on guitar and vocals, Bill Honker on bass and vocals, Steve Smith on mandolin and vocals, and Nate Lee on fiddle vocals.
In 2021, Alan won the Steve Martin Banjo Prize.[5]
Discography
As leader or co-leader
Sam Bush & Alan Munde, "Poor Richards Almanac", American Heritage AH401-25 (1968),reed. Ridge Runner, RRR 0002 (1976)
Alan Munde, "Alan Munde Plays Bluegrass", Cambridge 8607 (1971)
Alan Munde, "Banjo Sandwich", Ridge Runner, RRR 0001 (1975)
Sam Bush & Alan Munde, "Together again for the first time", Ridge Runner, RRR 0007, (1977)
Alan Munde, "The banjo kid picks again", Ridge Runner, RRR 0022 (1980)
Country Gazette, "Out to Lunch", Flying Fish, FF 027 (1976)
Country Gazette, "What a Way to Make a Living", Ridge Runner, RRR 0008 (1977)
Country Gazette, "All This, and More Money, Too" Ridge Runner, RRR-0017 (1979)
Country Gazette, "American and Clean", Flying Fish, FF 253 (1981)
Country Gazette, "America's Bluegrass Band", Flying Fish, FF 295 (1983)
Country Gazette, "Bluegrass Tonight", Flying Fish, FF 383 (1986)
Country Gazette, "Strictly Instrumental", Flying Fish, FF 446 (1987)
Alan Munde & Country Gazette, "Keep on Pushing", Flying Fish, FF 70561 (1991)
As sidemen or participant of an ephemeral group or compilation
Jimmy Martin & the Sunny Mountain Boys, "Fly Me To Frisco", MCA Records MCA-435 (1970) - 2 tracks
Jimmy Martin & the Sunny Mountain Boys, "Singing All Day And Dinner On The Ground", Decca, DL-75226 (1970) - 6 tracks
Jimmy Martin & the Sunny Mountain Boys, "Jimmy Martin Sings I'd Like To Be Sixteen Again", Decca, DL-75343 (1972) - 5 tracks
The Flying Burrito Bros Live In Amsterdam" Netherlands : Philips 6641 144 (1972), reed. Ariola 86 439 XCT (1973) (Country Gazette + Rick Roberts, Don Beck & Eric Dalton, recorded on January 14, 1972 at The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Netherlands)
The New Kentucky Colonels, "Live in Sweden 1973", Rounder, 0073 (1976); reed. Roland White Music, RW0003 (2016) — Live at the Mosebacke Club, Stockholm, Sweden May 28 and 29, 1973.
Roland White, "I Wasn't Born to Rock 'n Roll" Ridge Runner RRR0005 (1976)
Country Store (Jimmy Gaudreau), "Country Store Live!", Ridge Runner RRR0012 (1977) Recorded at Bill Grant's Salt Creek Park Bluegrass Festival, Hugo, Oklahoma 1973
Various Artists, "Knee Deep in Bluegrass: The AcuTab Sessions", Rebel Records, (2000)
Various Artists, "Long Journey Home: Bluegrass Songs of the Stanley Brothers", Rounder Records, ROUN0349 (2002)
