Tag: banjo music

Wes Corbett’s Banjo Needs: 10 Songs That Make Him Happy

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Wes Corbett is a banjo player who wears many hats. The self-described “musically omnivorous bluegrass musician” is a true multi-hyphenate: 5-string aficionado (having released his solo album Cascade back in 2021), producer, former professor at Berklee College of Music, and musician with the likes of Joy Kills Sorrow, Molly Tuttle, and most recently Sam Bush Band.

Before hitting the road again with Sam Bush, the Washington native shared an exclusive playlist for BGS of “Wes Corbett’s Banjo Needs,” or as he puts it: the official home of all the songs that take him to his “happy place.”

“Fortune” – Adam Hurt

“Sliding Down” – Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Mike Marshall

“Saint Elizabeth” – Kaia Kater

“The Hunt” – Kristin Scott Benson

“Milford’s Reel” – Noam Pikelny

“Your Love Is Like a Flower” – Flatt & Scruggs

“Come Back Darlin’” – The Bluegrass Album Band

“Poe’s Pickin’ Party” – Alison Brown

“The Over Grown Waltz” – Béla Fleck

“Goodbye, Honey, You Call That Gone” – Jake Blount

We’re giving away a Recording King Songster Banjo in honor of Banjo Month! Enter to win your very own RK-R20 here.

10 Bluegrass Songs Ready for Retirement

Posted on by Editor

Let’s blow up some balloons, get everyone’s signatures on the card, buy a Costco sheet cake, and send each of these bluegrass songs into their golden years with a loving swat on the rear. Buy that motorhome! See the country! Spend more time with your family!

10. “Man of Constant Sorrow”

Why is this bluegrass staple ready to be put out to pasture? Because, right now, you’re imagining George Clooney with Dan Tyminski’s voice.

9. “Ashokan Farewell”

Fiddle contests, weddings, funerals, jams destined to be busted … this interminable waltz has been everywhere! Except retired. It’s often touted as an old Civil War tune, but the truth is, it was made popular by a 1990s PBS miniseries, then promptly played into oblivion.

8. “Big Spike Hammer”

If you know what “mash” is, you know why this one made the list. Also, it doesn’t really mean what it once did now that Della Mae has appropriated the lyric. RETIRE IT.

7. “Raining in L.A.”

This one will live on forever, reverberating off the walls of IBMA and SPBGMA’s host hotels. It no longer needs us to sustain it. “Raining in L.A.” doesn’t make me wanna stay, I’ll tell you what.

6. “Blue Moon of Kentucky”

For all of the thousands of times it’s been performed and the hundreds of times it’s been covered, somehow collectively we still can’t remember when it goes into 4/4 time and how the split breaks are divvied up. And if there’s a single Kentuckian in the audience, they’re going to request it. Let’s cut our losses on this one.

5. “Rawhide”

We already have “Back Up and Push.” Bluegrass only needs one tune in C without a distinguishable melody, right?

4. “Little Maggie”

There comes a point in the lifespan of a popular song where it’s more often butchered than homaged. Therefore, “Little Maggie” privileges have been unilaterally revoked. Listen to this recording and think about what you’ve done.

3. “Dueling Banjos”

“Where two or three are gathered …” with banjos out of the cases, there some dumbass requesting “Dueling Banjos” will also be. Can we retire the “Paddle faster, I hear banjo music!” t-shirts with this one, too?

2. “Wagon Wheel”

If your knee-jerk reaction to this song appearing on this list is “That ain’t bluegrass!” let’s quibble over that detail after we’ve relegated this torturous, Frankenstein-esque, pseudo-grass, I-just-bought-a-banjo-at-a-flea-market earworm to that pearly Johnson City, Tennessee, in the sky.

1. “Rocky Top”

On the 50-year anniversary of the Osborne Brothers’ release of “Rocky Top,” it seems fitting that we should take this stalwart of a song out of the greater bluegrass repertoire and put it in a safe place, where it can no longer be abused, taken for granted, or interrupted with loud shouts of “WOOOO!” If you anticipate going into “Rocky Top” withdrawals, just head down to the Grand Ole Opry. You can still hear Bobby Osborne & the Rocky Top X-press perform it — and they are the only ones today really doing the song justice. And at tempos not every 85-year-old could sustain.

3×3: Pert Near Sandstone on Northern Lights, Flaming Lips, and Flooding Rinks

Posted on by Amy Reitnouer

Artist: Pert Near Sandstone — Nate Sipe (mandolin, fiddle), Justin Bruhn (bass), Kevin Kniebel (banjo/lead vocals)
Hometown: Minneapolis, MN
Latest Album: Discovery of Honey
Personal Nicknames: 
Nate: Sonny, Truck Stop 
Justin: DJ RageMouse 
Kevin: Kevin "good vibes only" Kniebel, K-scribble, or Kibbles

If you had to live the life of a character in a song, which song would you choose?

Nate: I guess I tend to relate more to the songwriter than the character in the song. But if I could choose a character, it would be based on my current mood. I would right now relate most to the character in Dave Bromberg’s “I Like to Sleep Late in the Morning.” That has an attitude toward life I can get down with. It is the first song in that I recognized fingerstyle guitar, but also the first song I recall singing with my father while driving down a northern Minnesota country road, who turned to me afterward and said, “Don’t let your mother know you sang that.” Music captured me with its rebelliousness ever after, especially with American blues and folk music. However, I never lost the Lutheran conservativeness.

Justin: Quinn the Eskimo. Everybody gonna jump for joy. 

Kevin: Yoshimi from the Flaming Lips' "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots"

Where would you most like to live or visit that you haven't yet?

Nate: I would like to visit Japan

Justin: I'd love to visit/live in Alaska or northern Canada for a while. I just watched a bunch of grizzly bear film footage and the scenery was amazing. I always want to see natural beauty and wildlife when I can. It's one of my favorite things about going on the road.

Kevin: Hawaii, Italy, and Outer Space

What was the last thing that made you really mad?

Nate: Donald Trump. I despise that guy.

Justin: Kevin not helping load in.

Kevin: Eavesdropping on a couple people talking about politics after a recent show. It is so hard to get good clear information these days, and misguided passion and misinformation often suffices for compelling logic.

 

Caught a deer tonight. Good job Vanderson! #pertneartour #iowa #VandersonCooper

A photo posted by Pert Near Sandstone (@pertnearsandstone) on

What's the best concert you've ever attended?

Nate: Leo Kottke’s Thanksgiving show in ‘97. I went by myself because I didn’t know anyone else who was familiar enough to spend lunch money on the ticket. I told everyone about it for the next month or more. 

Justin: Tough question. Sooo many to choose from … Neil Young with Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders opening up in Milwaukee on Neil's Silver and Gold Tour.

Kevin: Buddy Guy headlining the Winnipeg Folk Festival during the most expansive and intense display of Northern Lights I've ever seen. I feel like I never need to see the Northern Lights again after that, but I'd love to see Buddy Guy again.

What's your go-to karaoke tune?

Nate: The Gilligan’s Island theme song

Justin: Carly Simon's "Nobody Does it Better"

Kevin:  "Yellow Submarine"

What are you reading right now?

Nate: Ranger Confidential: Living, Working, and Dying in the National Parks by Andrea Lankford

Justin: Vonnegut and a Bill Monroe Biography

Kevin: Moby Dick and Love Warrior

 

Nate is excited to be back at @firstavenue tonight! with @yondermountain! @themcouleeboys kicking it off at 8pm.

A photo posted by Pert Near Sandstone (@pertnearsandstone) on

Whiskey, water, or wine?

Nate: Somewhere between whiskey and water. Usually beer — a Czech-style pilsner or IPA.

Justin: Whiskey

Kevin: Scotch Whiskey

North or South?

Nate: The compass points North. The Great North. Northern Star. North by not-north. Northern else matters.

Justin: North! Flood the rinks …

Kevin: The far North

Facebook or Twitter?

Nate: Facebook is a better way to promote shows, but also more easy to interact with family and fans all in one swift motion. I also like Instagram for the visual rabbit hole of hash tags to get lost in. I’ve discovered and explored things in my own backyard with that device, including some amazing music, art, and hiking trails. 

Justin: Not on the Twitter, so I guess Facebook.

Kevin: Facebook and Instagram

STREAM: We Banjo 3, ‘String Theory’

Posted on by Editor

Artist: We Banjo 3
Hometown: Galway, Ireland
Album: String Theory
Release Date: July 30

In Their Words: "Our music playfully explores the deep tapestries and intertwined cultures of Irish, bluegrass, and American folk. Our new album, String Theory, is a journey along that path — it's virtuosic, technical, joyous, and full of heart." — Martin Howley