Got 'Grass?
Bluegrass stars tell their stories. We get beyond just picks and strings, as they tell their stories with eloquence, candor and humor. Hosted by Chris Wuerth from GuitartownCT concerts in Hamden, CT.
Tony Furtado: Banjo, Blues and Beyond
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A wonderful conversation with this soulful and thoughtful singer, songwriter, and virtuoso on banjo and slide guitar. He won the National Bluegrass Banjo Championship in Winfield, Kansas in 1987 and 1991.
He recorded 18 critically acclaimed albums, with master musicians like Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas, Tim O’Brien, Stuart Duncan, Kelly Joe Phelps and Mike Marshall. He has toured with Gregg Allman, David Lindley, Derek Trucks, and Sonny Landreth. Tony, also a sculptor, is married, and lives in Portland, Oregon.
A fascinating interview!
Ronnie Reno: He's seen it all in country & bluegrass
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Ron Reno retired in 2019, after 60 years in bluegrass and country music. He started at age 7, with his dad Don Reno, and Red Smiley. He recorded ten albums during his 9 years with Merle Haggard, and played five years with the Osborne Brothers. He played with everyone from the Louvin Brothers and Ray Price to the Stanley Brothers and Johnny Cash.
A prolific songwriter, producer and TV host, there's not much in the country and bluegrass world he hasn't experienced!
Heather Berry Mabe: Daughter of the Stars
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Every once in a while, I interview someone who is so natural and open that it feels like a chat with an old friend. That was the case with Heather Berry Mabe.
In 2024, Heather won IBMA's Momentum Vocalist of the Year award. In 2025, her band, Red Camel Collective, won IBMA New Artist of the Year, and she was just chosen 2026 SPBGMA Female Vocalist of the Year.
Her band, Red Camel Collective, with her husband Tony on banjo, was Junior Sisk's band for many years, but they are making huge w...
Liam Purcell: Fueling the Future of Buegrass
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Liam grew up just down the road from Doc Watson's home in Deep Gap, North Carolina. A child prodigy on several instruments, he surprised everyone by sweeping the 2022 RockyGrass instrumental contests in guitar, mandolin and banjo, the first person to ever do so.
He attended Berklee College of Music, and leads the band Cane Mill Road, which won IBMA's Momentum Band of The Year award in 2019.
Age 24, he is already an experienced bluegrass pro, thoughtful and insightful. He talked a lot about Billy Strings, Doc Watson, and the trials a...
Blake Willams: Banjo Memories of Lester & Bill
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Blake Wiliams played banjo with Lester Flatt and Nashville Grass, before his ten year stint with Bill Monroe and his Bluegrasss Boys. He was the longest tenured banjo player ever with Monore, and has some amazing stories to prove it!
During his career, Blake has toured 48 states and 7 countries, played Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and Lincoln Center. He recorded 2 albums with Lester Flatt, and 6 albums with Bill Monroe, including the Grammy winning Southern Flavor.
You won't want to miss his wonderful memories, some never told before!
Darren Nicholson: Bringing North Carolina Bluegrass Home
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Darren Nicholson has played mountain music since his youth in Western North Carolina. A great mandolinist with Alecia Nugent, and seventeen years with Balsam Range, he’s also an introspective songwriter, a harmony singer, lead vocalist, and guitarist. These days, he's a man on a mission, to bring North Carolina roots music back to the local community.
Ettore Buzzini: Re-imagining The Banjo
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Ettore Buzzini is an eighteen year old banjo prodigy from North Carolina. Winner of Fresh Grass 2025 Banjo Contest, he’s a strong songwriter, instrumentalist, and vocalist, whose dream is to "bring as much of the human experience to our music as possible.” His banjo work is very melodic and sounds like no one else in bluegrass. I think he's a force to be reckoned with. Check him out.
Tim Stafford: The Song is The Story
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Tim Stafford is a master songwriter, guitarist and teacher. From Alison Krauss & Union Station, to 30+ years with Blue Highway, he's had his finger on the pulse of bluegrass. A wide ranging intellect, with special love for Tony Rice, we could have easily talked for another hour!
Andy Leftwich: Fiddle and Faith
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4-time Grammy winner Andy Leftwich began playing fiddle at age 6, entered his first contest at 7, and won the National Championship for Beginners at 12. At age 19 he joined Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, where he played for 15 years.
He's also one of Nashville’s most sought after studio musicians, for artists like Bruce Hornsby, Dailey & Vincent, Alan Jackson, Taylor Swift, Ronnie Millsap, Craig Morgan, and many more. His third album "Aced" comes out April 17.
Andy is an amazing musician, and a man of strong faith, and we discussed music and faith at...
David Benedict: Spreading Mandolin Joy
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David Benedict is Grammy-nominated mandolinist. After 3 years with Missy Raines, he joined Mile Twelve, who were 2017 IBMA Momentum Award winners. David was also 2018 IBMA Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year, and a 2019 Grammy nominee. He might be even more well known for his You Tube channel, featuring his weekly series Mandolin Mondays, as well as his in-depth mandolin lessons.
He talked at length about his musical story, the mandolin with all its quirks, favorite artists, and lots of ideas about new acoustic music.
Brittany Haas: Fiddling "Force of Nature"!
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Fiddler Brittany Haas is "a musical force of nature" says Chris Eldridge. From The Republic of Strings at age 13, through Crooked Still, The Dave Rawlings Machine, Hawktail, and now The Punch Brothers, she is a huge talent, that covers many genres, with brilliance and boundless happy energy.
She discusses her classical upbringing, her mentors Darol Anger and Bruce Molsky, her attachment to her 5-string fiddle that is shedding its varnish, the challenges of learning the Punch Brothers' repertoire for their big 2026 tour, and even her least favorite key to play in...
Gene Lowinger: Tales From the Road with Monroe, '64 - '65
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This is a fascinating look into the realities of travelling and performing with Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys, back in the mid-60's.
Gene Lowinger, who played fiddle with Monroe, is well known for his exciting live performances of Monroe's classic "Uncle Pen". He was on the bus with Monroe and Peter Rowan when they wrote "Walls of Time", and then fought over whose song it was!
Gene has unique stories of Monroe, who respected his fiddle playing and stood up for him as he faced anti-Jewish prejudice fro...
Josh Williams: Honoring Tony Rice
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Josh Williams is one of the premier bluegrass musicians of our time. 3-time IBMA Guitar Player of the Year, a virtuoso on banjo, fiddle and mandolin, he also has one of the best voices in bluegrass/country music.
This conversation was heartfelt and emotional at times. It started with Josh talking about his family, and missing his dad Tony. Then it naturally turned to the other Tony in his life, the legendary Tony Rice, with whom Josh played for 5 years, and shared a friendship for twenty.
Josh is eloquent a...
David Peterson: High Lonesome Voice of Tradition
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David Peterson is called the caretaker of traditionl buegrass and country music for a reason. He's an independent recording artist who cherishes the early music traditions. His powerful voice has a mountain quality, that is full of Bill Monroe, Jimmy Martin and Hank Williams' blues. He needs no microphone.
A Boston native, he moved to Nashville 30 years ago, and has become an iconic and well loved performer, both solo and with his band 1946.
Dave always marched to his own drum. His more famous peers, like Stuart Duncan, Vince Gill, Da...
Russell Moore: A Voice Clear From The Heart
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Russell Moore, 6-time IBMA Bluegrass Singer of the Year, is now the guitarist and singer with Alison Krauss and Union Station, featuring Jerry Douglas. He's has an expressive, emotional and eloquent take on the music we love, bluegrass.
From 1986-1991 Russell was lead singer for Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. He left to form IIIrd Tyme Out, the band he has now led for 34 years. In late 2024 he became a member of AKUS, taking over Dan Tyminski's spot as singer/guitarist. This spring, Russell and the band embark on a huge s...
Kristin Scott Benson: Grascals' Banjo Driving Force
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When Kristin joined The Grascals in 2008, she was the first woman to hold the banjo spot in a number one, festival headlining, male bluegrass band. She has since won IBMA Banjo Player of the Year seven times, and was awarded the Steve Martin Banjo Prize in 2018.
Married to mandolinist Wayne Benson, she continues, through her teaching, performing, recording, and advocacy, to be an eloquent and positive voice for bluegrass, and especially women in bluegrass. I loved talking with Kristin!!
Sorry, for some reason the last 2 minutes of the interview...
Mark Hembree: Bluegrass Bassman: On The Road With Monroe
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Mark Hembree played bass for Bill Monroe, from 1979-1984. Mark joined the band as a long-haired 22 year old, and got a haircut very quickly!
His recent book, "On The Bus with Bill Monroe" is a fascinating description of life as a Bluegrass Boy. Kenny Baker, Burch Robbins, Wayne Lewis and Blake Williams were bandmates during those years. His stories of Bill and Charlie Monroe, Kenny Baker, Peter Rowan, the infamous bus "Bluegrass Breakdown," learning to play with Bill's rhythm, and just getting used to the long drives and meager pay at...
Jake Eddy: Guitar Lover Through and Through
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Jake Eddy, at age 26, is among a new generation of bluegrass musicians who are making a name for themselves on social media. His videos on Instagram and other platforms garner thousands of views, thanks to his technical skill, wit, and charisma.
His bluegrass roots run deep through his family in Parkersburg, West Virginia. He toured for two years as a teenager with Melvin Goins, and went on to play with the Becky Buller Band, mandolin legend Andy Statman, and banjo great Noam Pikelny.
He's a guitar lover through and th...
Greg Blake: Sings His Songs From The Heart
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Talk about a singer's singer! Greg Blake is a bluegrass singer that prepares and performs with his heart in every line of a song. In this interview, he expresses his strong opinions about singing, country music, and the traditions of bluegrass, as well as his appreciation for Billy Strings.
Greg was IBMA's Bluegrass Singer of the Year in 2023 and 2025. He's also a five-time winner of the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America (SPBGMA) Guitarist of the Year Award. He's lead singer for Special Consensus, now celebrating their 50th y...
Jake Workman: Guitar Whiz with Flash and Taste
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Guitarist Jake Workman exploded onto the bluegrass scene in 2015, when he joined Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. He not only filled the huge shoes of Cody Kilby and Bryan Sutton, but created his own take on bluegrass guitar, with great rhythm playing, and some lightning fast solos that still amaze today!
We talked about his nine years in the Skaggs band, his approach to guitar and mandolin playing, his family life in Utah with his talented musical wife, Rebekah and their four young kids, his recent jam with jazz guitarist Julian...
Trish Imbrogno: Bass With Style, From Bach to Bluegrass
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Trish Imbrogno, who plays uder the name Trish Plays Bass, is a double bassist and singer based in Pittsburgh. Classically trained, after nearly 25 years of orchestral playing she hung up her concert clothes, pulled on a pair of cowboy boots, and hasn’t looked back.
Her training in Bach, Beethoven and Mozart laid the perfect foundation to tackle the intricate counterpoint of bluegrass music. She performs with many bands, leads jams, and is also an alumna of IBMA's Leadership Bluegrass Class of 2018. Her brand new album "Bluegrass Love Songs Volume 1", features so...
Jesse Cobb: Mandolin's Musical Story Teller
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Mandolinist Jesse Cobb was a founding member of The Infamous Stringdusters in 2006, spending 5 years with the genre-bending ‘grassers before leaving in 2011. He also played with Ronnie Bowman, and the "supergroup" with Bryan Sutton, Luke Bulla, Noam Pikelny and Barry Bales. His brother Shad Cobb is one of the most sought after fiddle players in Nashville.
Jesse has lived a lot, spent time logging timber, running sled dogs, and working on the railroad. Now married and living on Vancouver Island, BC, he plays with The Unfaithful Servants.
This was a very...
Austin Scelzo: CT's Bluegrass Whirlwind!
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Connnecticut's Austin Scelzo is a fiddle player, teacher, singer, songwriter, band member, jam leader, Pete Wernick Jam Camp insructor, and an all-around positive force in bluegrass.
If you're interested in learning bluegrass fiddle, harmony singing, or just about anything bluegrass, check out Austin Scelzo's YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcTt1g2xiUfLsBysFWj6f-g
He left a secure job as a school music teacher a few years ago, to pursue his bluegrass dreams, and hasn't looked back. A fiddle playing member of bands On The Trail a...
Larry Cordle: Murder On Music Row: The Song is King
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Larry Cordle is one of the legendary songwriters and singers in bluegrass and country music. He's best known for writing #1 hits "Highway 40 Blues" for Ricky Skaggs, "Murder on Music Row" for George Strait, and "Against the Grain" for Garth Brooks. He has multiple Grammy and IBMA awards, and has written top hits for Dolly Parton, Reba McIntire, Alan Jackson, Alison Krauss, Trisha Yearwood, etc.
Larry talks about the inner workings of "Music Row", his long friendships with Bill Monroe and Garth Brooks, the demise of "real" country music, and the hard w...
Ben Garnett: Guitar Taste and Innovation
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Ben Garnett, guitarist, composer and teacher, is having a big impact on acoustic music. His new album, Kite’s Keep, features Darol Anger, Brittany Haas, Ethan Jodziewicz, Paul Kowert , and Chris Eldridge. His music ranges widely from bluegrass to pop, jazz to avant garde, folk to classical, and back.
Ben is best known in the bluegras world as the guitarist for Missy Raines, with whose band he has appeared at GuitartownCT several times. His current tour brings him to Hamden, CT on October 14.
Here we talked at length about impr...
Darol Anger: Visionary Violin Virtuoso
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Fiddler, composer, producer and educator, Darol Anger is at home in many musical genres, some of which he helped to invent. He drove the evolution of the contemporary string band through The David Grisman Quintet, The Republic Of Strings, the Turtle Island String Quartet, Mr. Sun, etc. etc. etc.
Delightful and spontaneous, he has fond memories of how The David Grisman Quintet started, the excitement when Tony Rice joined, feeling a bit awed by Richard Greene, thoughts about fiddle backup and duo playing, and the challenges of his fiddle, which he...
Wyatt Ellis: Blazing Mandolin, Following The Tradition
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Wyatt Ellis is quickly emerging as a bluegrass star. At sixteen, he's a talented mandolinist, singer and songwriter. Winner of IBMA's 2024 Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year, he's two time IBMA nominee for New Artist of the Year. He's worked with Peter Rowan, Sierra Hull, Justin Moses, Marty Stuart, Dailey and Vincent and his bluegrass hero Bobby Osborne.
He's really into songwriting, and was returning from a Nashville songwriting session when we spoke. They had to pull off the interstate because of traffic noise! A poised and focused young man, really into...
Becky Buller: IBMA Award Wins as Fiddler, Singer and Songwriter
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Becky Buller is one of bluegrass' leading fiddle players, singers and songwriters. She has won 10 IBMA awards, including 2016 Fiddle Player and Female Bluegrass Singer of the Year, the first person ever to win both awards!
She has written many well known songs, including songs on 3 recent Grammmy winning albums, by The Infamous Stringdusters, The Travelin' McCourys, and Molly Tuttle.
Becky has been upfront about her own anxiety and depression, especially during Covid. She talked in depth about her bluegrass career, the leading role of women i...
Shawn Camp: Lead Voice of The Earls of Leicester
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Shawn Camp is one of America's leading songwriters, and for the last 12 years has been playing the role of Lester Flatt, as the guitarist and lead singer for The Earls of Leicester. His new album, songs that he and Guy Clark wrote, "The Ghost of Sis' Draper", gets released Sept. 12.
Shawn wrote "Magnolia Wind", "Two Pina Coladas", and "I'm Dying for Someone to Live For". He's written hits for Garth Brooks, Gibson Brothers, Loretta Lynn, Brooks and Dunn, Josh Turner, Willie Nelson, Blake Shelton, George Strait, and...
C. J. Lewandowski: The Po' Ramblin' Boys, Leading Through Tradition
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C.J. Lewandowski sings and plays mandolin for hard driving bluegrass band The Po' Ramblin' Boys. They've won IBMA awards and a 2019 Grammy nomination.
Over the years, CJ became best friends with his mentor, bluegrass legend Bobby Osborne. "Keep on Keepin' On", with CJ and a bunch of legendary bluegrass musicians, is due for release August 22. It's the last recordings Bobby Osborne made, before his death in 2023.
In this heartfelt interview C.J. talks at length about his friendship with Bobby Osborne, as w...
David Grisman: "Dawg Music" legend still going strong at 80!
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This was a big thrill for me!! David "Dawg" Grisman just celebrated his 80th birthday, with a musical party in Seattle, with Sam Bush, Billy Strings, Ronnie McCoury, Sam Grisman, Danny Barnes, Alex Hargreaves, Dominick Leslie, Mike Marshall and more.
His musical career has spanned folk, jug band, blues, classic bluegrass, newgrass, swing jazz, Dawg Music, and world music. The David Grisman Quintet, Earth Opera, Old and in The Way. "Manzanita", "The Pizza Tapes". Tony Rice, Jerry Garcia, Peter Rowan, Vassar Clemens, Stephane Grappelli, Andy Statman, Mark O'Connor, Todd Ph...
Kyle Tuttle: Mandolin Exciter With Molly Tuttle
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Banjo master Kyle Tuttle just finished up three years with Molly Tuttle (no relation) and Golden Highway, during which time they played 250 shows, won two Grammys, and many IBMA awards. He previously played in the Jeff Austin band. Jeff was a founder of Yonder Mountain String Band.
Kyle is closely aligned with the so called "Jam Band" style of bluegrass, but also leads his own band, and performs more traditional bluegrass regularly at Dee's in Nashville, with many top players. Sometimes flamboyant on stage, in person he is thoughtful and insightful...
Chris Eldridge: Seldom Scene to Punch Brothers
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Chris Eldridge, son of Ben Eldridge of The Seldom Scene, is one of the most renowned guitarists in acoustic music. After getting a Grammy nomination as a member of The Seldom Scene, he co-founded multiple IBMA award winning bluegrass band The Infamous Stringdusters. He then joined Chris Thile and The Punch Brothers, and the rest is history.
He also tours with legendary jazz guitarist Julian Lage, played in the house band on "Live From Here" (formerly Prairie Home Companion), teaches music at his alma mater Oberlin College, and tours with his...
Pete Wernick: Dr. Banjo, Hot Rize and Bluegrass Jam Guru
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Pete Wernick, fondly known as Dr. Banjo, co-founded Hot Rize in 1987 with Tim O'Brien, Mike Scap, (soon replaced by Nick Forster) and Charles Sawtelle. Originally from NYC, he had a PhD in sociology, taught at Cornell, hosted a bluegrass radio show, and played in the progressive bluegrass band Country Cooking, with Russ Barenberg, Kenny Kosek, Tony Trischka and Andy Statman before moving to Colorado with his wife Joan.
Pete has written numerous highly regarded books on bluegrass banjo and bluegrass jamming, and founded the Wernick Method of bluegrass instruction, which has b...
Vickie Vaughn: Rock Solid in East Nash Grass
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Vickie Vaughn plays bass for the multi-awarded bluegrass band Della Mae. They will be touring soon, performing a tribute to Hazel Dickens. Vickie is an in-demand studio musician in Nashville, and fronts The Vickie Vaughn Band. Her second album gets released in November. She was classically trained as a singer, and sings lead in her band. She also toured and sang harmony for years with country music star Patty Loveless.
Vickie is an eloquent voice for women in bluegrass and real country music. She has lots to say about the role o...
Maddie Denton: IBMA Fiddle Player of The Year 2025
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Maddie Denton is a young fiddle player, singer and songwriter based in Nashville. She's been with the hot young band East Nash Grass for 7 years. During that time she taught high school biology, coached their golf team, and also played with the Dan Tyminski band for 4 years. Now she's a full time musician, touring and recording with East Nash Grass.
Lots of stories, from her youth winning Texas fiddle contests, making the somewhat difficult transition to bluegrass (tough playing in B and Bb!), finally being on the same concert bill as h...
Brenna MacMillan: Rising Bluegrass Star
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Brenna Macmillan is a young singer, songwriter, banjo player, studio musician and band leader living in Nashville. From Kentucky, her story is fascinating and unusual. Home schooled with 12 siblings, nine of whom were Liberian war orphans adopted by her parents, she and her brother performed as the duo Theo and Brenna for many years, even as she worked full time, went to college, and became a chemist.
Her first album was released to great acclaim last October. She is now devoting her life full time to song writing and plans on...
Shelby Means: Leading the Band on Bass
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Shelby Means played bass for Della Mae, and currently plays bass and sings with Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway. Her debut, self titled album comes out May 30, 2025. She sings lead, and wrote almost all the songs.
We spoke at length about her bluegrass upbringing, her love of singing and songwriting, how she gets inspiration from Missy Raines, Molly Tuttle and Bronwyn Keith Hynes, and her views on playing the bass. Her bucket list singing partner might have been Billie Holiday. She's excited to tour, leading her own band and doing a l...
Grant Gordy: Brooklyn Guitarist Breaking Boundaries
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Grant Gordy is one of the most inventive and brilliant guitarists in acoustic music. After six years with the David Grisman Quintet, he plays with Mr. Sun, as a duo with guitarist Ross Martin, and with his own group feat. Alex Hargreaves and Dom Leslie.
In our chat Grant talks about fatherhood, bluegrass, jazz, Charlie Parker and Tony Rice, his approach to soloing, the importance of rhythm, his sense of humor, and a lot in between. A unique and wonderful guy and musician.
Richard Greene: Monroe, Muleskinner, Seatrain Fiddle Virtuoso
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Richard Greene, one of the most innovative and influential fiddle players of all time, grew up in L.A. and studied classical music until his encounter with the pyrotechnic fiddling of Scotty Stoneman. With Bill Monroe, he invented the fiddle chop. With Seatrain he became the first rock musician to play electric violin. He was a member of the legendary band Muleskinner, with Peter Rowan, David Grisman, Bill Keith and Clarence White. His advanced techniques influenced every fiddle player, from Jean-Luc Ponty and Darol Anger to Alison Krauss and Stuart Duncan.
A...
