All Bluegrass/Jamgrass Episodes

The Kitchen Dwellers are on the rise, and are quickly becoming a staple on the Bluegrass scene and within the larger Jam Band community. They recently released a new record that they funded with a highly successful Kickstarter campaign. In fact, they invited Chris Pandolfi of the Infamous Stringdusters to produce this record. It’s a solid effort so we tracked down mandolinist Shawn Swain to talk about the record, its songs and much more. For more on the Kitchen Dwellers, visit kitchendwellers.com. 

November 8th marks the release of Fruition's latest record Wild as the Night. I can say without any doubt, that this is one of my top records of the year. It is such a gorgeous presentation of lyrics, melodies, musicianship and a laid back vibe. More to the point, the record is a coming of age project for the band, which helps them shed any neo-bluegrass tags it may have had and presents a more complete aesthetic of what they've become. We've chatted with Kellen and Jay in the past, but fortunately we were able to track down Mimi Naja to talk about this metamorphosis and what it means for the band and their fans. To learn more about the band, including tour dates, visit frutionband.com. 

Old Salt Union has been making string music for about 7 years now, and what’s impressive aside from their talent is their eclectic sound even though they are a string band who play very traditional music. They blend several styles to make up their own very unique sound. Jesse Farrar is a vocalist and bass player with the band. He probably has the greatest insight into their music and place within the bluegrass and larger music community, so it was great to sit down and talk all things Old Salt Union. For tour dates at some cool videos visit oldsaltunion.com.

Jay Cobb Anderson will be releasing a solo EP August 23rd entitled, "Everything is Gonna Work Its Own Self Out". Jay as you may recall or know is part of new grass outfit Fruition, though you wouldn’t know he is in a string band if you listen to the new EP. It’s full of electricity, big riffs and more. We caught up with Jay working on a new Fruition record which we’ll get too, but our conversation started when I asked what inspired this solo effort.  For more on Jay Cobb Anderson visit jaycobbanderson.com and for Fruition updates visit fruitionband.com.

While he isn’t specifically a typical “jam band” musician, G.Love has found a home within the community. Kind of makes sense when consider this delta blues/hip-hop musician not only saw the Dead as a kid, but has been on the scene for years. He was recently in Toronto on tour with Blues Traveler and moe. and we caught up to talk about well, just about everything. For more on G.Love visit philadelphonic.com. 

Tides of A Teardrop is Mandolin Orange's latest release, and we only recently had the opportunity to sit down with them. Their last record, 2016's Blindfaller garnered wild acclaim, and I can tell you that Tides of a Teardrop should eclipse that. It's a deeply personal record, written primarily by Andrew Marlin, with some input from Emily Frantz. Together, the duo make absolutely incredible roots music, beyond the bluegrass label they've been tagged with. This interview is an intimate one with Andrew Marlin. A very intimate behind the scenes conversation with Andrew Marlin. His comments regarding Jeff Austin were so poignant and beautiful too. You can catch Mandolin Orange at several festivals and solo dates throughout the summer. For those details visit mandolinorgange.com.

Andy Thorn is set to release a new solo record, Frontiers Like These, and I can tell you its pretty amazing. In case you aren't familiar with Andy's name or work, he is the banjo player for Leftover Salmon, after joining the Emmit-Nershi band in Colorado back in 2008. This transplanted North Carolinian, is massive talent, who plays banjo like few others, and his finger picking is superb. We caught up with Andy on a break from the heavy touring that he does, back home in Colorado, high atop the sea, like 7300 feet in fact. If you're looking for that cool video for Blazing New Frontiers, click here. For more on Andy Thorn, and to pre-order the record visit andythornmusic.com. 

When you first hear Trout Steak Revival, you'll quickly fall in love with their terrific song writing, and beautiful vocal arrangements, to say nothing of their fantastic playing. They are, for all intents and purposes a Colorado Bluegrass band, but that classic sound doesn't do them justice. Trout Steak Revival are a band bigger than any specific genres, blending folk, americana, and yes bluegrass, mostly of course due to their configuration without a drummer, and the instruments they do play. We've been on their trail for a while, since our friend Chris Pandolfi of The Infamous Stringdusters produced their last two records. Aside from their sound, the other thing that hits you, is their name. Oh no, not another acoustic band named for fish... actually, when we sat down with Steve Foltz of Trout Steak Revival, I asked why there are so many bluegrass bands with fishy names, and thats where our conversation started. For more on Trout Steak Revival visit troutsteak.com.   

First Song: 00:55 - Rise Sun

Like you, I am always intrigued by cover songs. Truthfully, I'm even more interested in knowing what went into the band selecting the songs they want to play, and how they come up with the arrangements for these songs. Now, when you combine those two questions, and realize that Yonder, like other newgrass bands of a propensity to play covers likely never imagined for the instruments or audience they play these songs for, well, thats just a fascinating discussion.  So we sat down with Dave Johnston's Yonder Mountain String Bands banjo player, to fill us in on the mystery surrounding cover songs and talked about their free for streaming compilation "Hine's Finds Volume Three" Available now, on the band's SoundCloud page, full of great covers.

In late 2018, The Infamous Stringdusters released “Live from Telluride”. The 20 song album was indeed taken from an entire performance at that famed festival, and the set spans the bands 12 year and 8 album career. A Hard Life Makes a Good Song was a track off their 2017 Grammy award winning record Laws of Gravity. Though the album was released back in November, the boys have been on the road, you know, doing what they do, so up until recently we haven’t had a chance to catch up with anyone to talk about the live release, or their winter tour plans. Finally, we tracked down Dobro magician Andy Hall to talk about the live release and all the other things they have going on. Of course, you can also catch The Dusters on the road and you can check thestringdusters.com for all the relevant details and more.

The Lil Smokies are a progressive bluegrass band has been around since 2009 and has gone some personal changes but have pretty much solidified their lineup since 2015. One of the newest members of the band is Matt “Rev” Rieger, a strapping grizzled guitar player who’s stellar picking and strumming certainly adds to the band’s sound. We caught up with Rev chillin’ ahead of a gruelling tour schedule that sees the band on the road for most of January through March.

We’re big fans of the Greensky Bluegrass sound, because although they are bluegrass in name, they rock and jam pretty hard for a group that features traditional acoustic instruments like mandolin, banjo and dobro, aside from acoustic guitar and upright bass. All for Money will be the seventh album for this band that has been slugging it out on the road for 18 years. We caught up with Michael Bont to talk about All for Money and all things Greensky as they our affectionately called. All for Money is an incredible record which really should make top ten lists next year. There are so many great songs on the record, that I suspect will get lots of play on the road this winter, and well into the Greensky touring schedule. If you’ve never seen these guys, I’d encourage you to do so, and if you have you are already am sure well into their music. I mean honestly, how could you not be. For more on Greensky Bluegrass visit their website at greenskybluegrass.com.

The Kitchen Dwellers are a straight ahead bluegrass/newgrass band from Montana. We caught up with Max Davies and Torrin Daniels on a rare off day, to talk about the Reheated Vol. 1 EP, their gruelling tour schedule and the potential of a new record in 2019. Shhhh don’t tell anyone. Our conversation started though with a discussion around the inspiration to cover The Band. While there are some tribute concerts a la “The Last Waltz” revisited, for whatever reason, The Band probably don’t get their proper due in the Jam Band community… until now.

For the uninitiated, Sam Bush was a founding member of the band New Grass Revival, and as the name of this 70s outfit would suggest, this mandolin player and his cohorts including Bela Fleck, brought forth the progressive sounds of bluegrass that several of the newer bands are playing today. So it was quite a delight when a publicist sent me a streaming copy of Revival: The Sam Bush story. I knew many of the stories, but like most great documentaries, you always learn something new. The film, has been out on Amazon Prime now for a couple of weeks, and I’d encourage you to watch it, but first, have a listen to our conversation with Sam. The conversation started when I asked Sam how this film came about…

Lindsay Lou and her band the Flatbellys have been mainstays of the current neo-bluegrass revival. Her recognizable sound is both memorable and refreshing. As a woman on the newgrass scene, there are no doubt hurdles she has to overcome to be part of the gang. We recently caught up with Lindsay to talk about her tour, the band’s more contemporary sound, and indeed being a woman in a male dominated environment. Our conversation started when I asked Lindsay how the audience is taking to a more eclectic sound, that keeps much of the Bluegrass tradition, but ads new flavours and textures to her sonic tapestry.

I think you’ll agree that Sister Sparrow’s voice is absolutely incredible, and this songstress’s past efforts with her band mates the Dirty Birds have all been awesome soulful efforts. This record though, GOLD, marks a change, having written all of the songs with a team of writers including producer Carter Matschullat and not the band. The album, recorded in Brooklyn at Matschullat’s studio DOOM, is a bit of a departure with a strong pop and hip-hop influence. We sat down with Arleigh AKA Sister Sparrow to get the low down on the record and her plans moving forward. We really dig the new sound, and still find time to listen to some of her older material which you definitely check out wherever you listen to music. For more on Sister Sparrow, you can visit her website at sistersparrow.com.

Fruition dropped the EP filled with four songs a day before they were set to play Red Rocks opening for Railroad Earth. We caught up with Jay Cobb Anderson, settled and home after another amazing weekend for the band at that fabled venue. You should definitely listen to Dirty Thieves and New Colussus as money will go to both the Community Housing Project and the National Immigration Law Centre. For more on Fruition visit fruitionband.com. You can also listen to our Essential Collection of Fruition songs at tsp.show/ECFRUITION.

We’re big fans of Hot Buttered Rum, a west coast mainly bluegrass outfit for quite some time and are really impressed with their latest effort which continues to be an eclectic blend of bluegrass, americana and rock n roll. Recently we caught up with multi-instrumentalist, and one of the two voices in the band Erik Yates to learn more about their latest release, their 6th, Lonesome Panoramic and about the inner workings of “Butter”. To learn more about HBR visit hotbutteredrum.net

You wouldn’t think that great bluegrass music would come out of Austin, Texas, but as it turns out, Wood & Wire though not originally from the area, do call it home. They’re a four piece, who make great music, inspired by both jambands and country music. Like most acts these days they make a name for themselves at festivals and grinding it on the road. For more on Wood & Wire visit woodandwireband.com.

Off the top of the show, you’ll hear Evermore off of Leftover Salmon’s latest release “Something Higher”. We wanted to highlight this track, specifically, because while listening to the record in the car with my daughters, I pointed out Eric Deutch’s tremendous piano playing. Real honest playing, without any digitization. Just authentic, emotional playing. With pop culture being so inundated with plastic garbage, its so refreshing to hear this kind of music, something that the guys in Leftover Salmon have been doing for 28 years. We caught up with Vince Herman, one of the grizzled veterans of the now 6 piece band, to get a glimpse into the making of “something higher”, Leftover’s place amongst their peers and much more.Show Notes:

Hiatus is a tricky word in the music business, in some cases it marks the end, in others, it gives way to a triumphant return. In 2016, Trampled by Turtles, the acclaimed bluegrass outfit from Minnesota decided it was time for a break. As you’ll soon hear from mandolinist, Erik Berry figuring how to deal with the hiatus and subsequent return, was initially weird, but the coming back was as natural as getting back and riding a bike. With their new record Life is Good on the Open Road already out, and a tour well underway, we caught up with Erik Berry and asked how he took the news when the hiatus was announced. For more information on TbT check out trampledbyturtles.com.

As you know we’ve been toiling in Bluegrass music of late, and when we came across Billy’s music we had to get him on the show. While he is a pretty young cat, and started in the business as somewhat of a prodigy, he has a very mature sound to his voice and his playing, his flat picking in particular is off the charts. We caught up with Billy on the road, where, he spends a lot of time. Billy not only brings a maturity to his music and to the bluegrass genre with a very fresh take, but he also has a ton of knowledge about those who have come before him, and his role within that ecosystem. You’ll want to visit billystrings.com for more on his music and his tour dates. We’re pretty psyched to follow what happens with King and Strings at the Rooster Walk festival, and we’ll be sure to pass that information along from our facebook page.

The Ode is the title track from the Horseshoes and Hand Grenades latest release, and their first on Tape Time Records, the Infamous Stringduster's label. We had the very good fortune of sitting down with Adam Greuel to talk about the new record, the band's maturation process and of course being signed to a label fronted by the Infamous Stringdusters. Make no mistake about it, while this band is rooted in "old-timey" music, they, like many of their newgrass colleagues have expanded their sound. I dig Horseshoes & Hand Grenades quite a bit. Mostly because while Ode is such an eclectic  record, it does more or less stay in the pocket of newgrass, and thats a sound I am digging right now. You'll want to check out hhgmusic.com for tour dates and more. Show Notes First Song: 00:34 - The Ode Interview: 04:02  Closing Song: 28:50 - Eat the Cake