Tag: John Reischman

The BGS Radio Hour – Episode 214

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Welcome to the BGS Radio Hour! Since 2017, this weekly radio show and podcast has been a recap of all the great music, new and old, featured on the digital pages of BGS. This week, we bring you a modern classic instrumental bluegrass tune, new music from Tim O’Brien, and much more! Remember to check back every week for a new episode of the BGS Radio Hour.

APPLE PODCASTS, SPOTIFY

Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters – “New York”

“New York” a song Amanda Anne Platt wrote about leaving the house that she grew up in, and kind of saying goodbye to that younger version of herself. We recently premiered a video for the track.


Rachel Sumner – “Lose My Love”

Singer-songwriter Rachel Sumner first wrote and recorded “Lose My Love” for the bluegrass group Twisted Pine, but now that she’s branched out as a solo artist she decided to reclaim and reimagine the tune in this new context.

Cameron Knowler – “Done Gone”

“Done Gone” is something like a mission statement for musician Cameron Knowler’s album, Places of Consequence. It’s an example of how he examines fiddle music thoughtfully and renders it meditatively — while paying homage to his hero Norman Blake, too.

Aaron Burdett – “Hard Hand”

We sat down with singer-songwriter Aaron Burdett for a 5+5 — that’s five questions and five songs — about his inspirations, his mission statement, and more.

Brad Reid – “Northumberland Shores”

For Cape Breton fiddler Brad Reid, “Northumberland Shores” has become almost a meditation, bringing a sense of calm and grounding while symbolizing Reid’s Scottish ancestors’ journey to America.

Son Volt – “Living in the USA”

This song didn’t start out as an homage to Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” or Neil Young’s “Rockin in the Free World,” but in retrospect Son Volt see the track as a nod to both — while questioning the mythology of the American dream.

Tim O’Brien – “I Breathe In”

Tim O’Brien’s latest album, He Walked On, explores the many realities and histories of what it means to be American. With his well-known ability to tell a story through song he shares intimate and intriguing tales that reflect on the political turmoil of the past few years through both modern and historical lenses. O’Brien was our Artist of the Month for July of this year, and we spoke to him in a two-part interview.

John Reischman – Salt Spring

Mandolinist John Reischman wrote a modern classic instrumental tune, “Salt Spring,” which is now available for the first time digitally and streaming. The track features a roster of young pickers who grew up playing the song in jams and on stage.

Margo Cilker – “Tehachapi”

Singer-songwriter Margo Cilker didn’t write “Tehachapi” to be an exuberant song, but it certainly became one — both in her live shows and on her upcoming, Sera Cahoone-produced album, Pohorylle.

Pat Byrne – “I Woulda Done It For You”

The quirky, upbeat energy of the latest single from Austin-based Irish singer-songwriter Pat Byrne belies the song’s tragic content, which is all about a breakup and a plea for one more chance.

Grayson Jenkins – “Mockingbird”

Grayson Jenkins wrote “Mockingbird” inspired by a noisy, singing songbird and a recent break-up: “When a bird was chirping nonstop by my van while I was trying to sleep. I couldn’t get it to leave, kind of like her memory.”

Tylor & the Train Robbers – “Lemonade”

Everyone has heard the saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Tylor & the Train Robbers turn this phrase on its head, because when you don’t find a way to bring some good out of the bad, you’re just stuck with the same old lemons.

Photos: (L to R) Rachel Sumner by Hannah Cohen; Margo Cilker by Matthew W. Kennelly; John Reischman, courtesy of the artist.

John Reischman’s “Salt Spring,” Tune of a New Old-Time Generation

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

The “bluegrass songbook,” a suitably vague though well-known concept in bluegrass and old-time circles today, is a phrase that references the collective of songs and tunes most popular and most played by the community that makes up bluegrass and old-time music. Most of the melodies included in this informal — though often gatekept and debated — canon have well established origins, from source recordings, legendary writers and composers, famous performances, and so on. Even so, it’s difficult to trace each and every Bluegrass Album Band hit or Del McCoury favorite back to the beginning, when it was first being adopted and popularized among jam circles, as fiddle tunes, by and for laypeople as much as the performing professionals. 

With material by forebears like Flatt & Scruggs (“Foggy Mountain Breakdown” to “It Ain’t Me Babe”) or Bill Monroe (“Muleskinner Blues” to “Monroe’s Hornpipe”) or the Stanley Brothers (“Ridin’ that Midnight Train” to “Little Maggie”), the Osborne Brothers, Hazel & Alice, Reno & Smiley, and on down the line, it’s not so much a question of why or how their charming, archetypical songs made it to open mics and festival parking lot jams. But in modern times, as in bluegrass days of yore, just as many new, contemporary tunes, songs, lyrics, and melodies are being translated from professional studio recordings, radio singles, and on-stage hits to sing-alongs, play-alongs, and day-to-day jam fodder. And the process by which this happens is, part and parcel, what bluegrass and old-time are all about.

How did “Rebecca” become an almost meme-level instrumental in the past fifteen years? How did Frank Wakefield know that we needed a “New Camptown Races?” How many millennial and Gen Z pickers learned “Ode to a Butterfly” or “Jessamyn’s Reel” note for note? Each modern adoption into the bluegrass songbook, into that unflappable canon, is an idiosyncratic marvel unto itself — and perhaps no modern, original instrumental tune encapsulates this phenomenon better than John Reischman’s “Salt Spring.”

Being a picker myself, I first learned “Salt Spring” in Nashville in perhaps 2012 or 2013, taught to me by fiddlers who encountered the melody from John himself — and through the bluegrass and old-time camp scene in which he’s pretty much a ubiquitous figure, especially on the West Coast, where he lives and grew up. At that point, the song was regarded as a Colorado-grass staple, transplanted east by a regional genre phenotype that celebrates and capitalizes on timeless, sometimes ancient-sounding aesthetics played with chamber music-level intricacies and techniques. The forlorn, winsome — though simple — chord progression in the A part give way to a longing, pensive, and momentum-building B part — and no matter how “Salt Spring” is rendered, as an “everyone play at once” old-time jam song, or a thoughtful chamber-grass slow burn built to a raucous, defiant end, or as a no-holds-barred SPBGMA style MASH number, it’s a chameleonic composition, allowing itself to fit into every single context in which it’s applied. 

“Salt Spring” is truly the instrumental song of the post-Nickel Creek, post-Crooked Still, post-grass generation. As string band genre aesthetics dissolve in the global music marketplace, songs like “Salt Spring” typify this generation’s longing for music that feels honest, true, and real as much as it’s approachable, whimsical, and joyful; songs that celebrate the traditions that became the bedrock of these musics, without being predicated upon militaristic and arbitrary rules to “protect” or propagate those traditions. 

And, though modest to a fault, unassuming, and generally pretty subdued as a person and performer, Reischman has felt this phenomena metamorphosing his composition all along. With his first recording of “Salt Spring” available digitally and writ large, he’s communicating to everyone who loves the song that yes, he knows what it means to us, what it’s become, and what it could grow into still. It’s no wonder then, that when putting together the roster for this new recording and iteration of the track, that he didn’t simply call on his band, the Jaybirds, but he looked to the very generation that’s chosen “Salt Spring” as its own with Molly Tuttle on guitar, Alex Hargreaves on fiddle, Allison de Groot on clawhammer banjo, and Max Schwartz on bass.

A veteran of The Good Ol’ Persons, the Tony Rice Unit, and many other seminal acts of his own generation and time, Reischman knows firsthand the value of cross-generational knowledge sharing and his new album, New Time & Old Acoustic demonstrates this ethos in both conscious and subliminal ways. “Salt Spring” is a perfect distillation of these values and it’s truly fitting, as the tune will forever be enshrined and ensconced in the indelible, if not somewhat squirrelly and subjective, bluegrass and old-time songbook and canon.

(Editor’s note: New Time & Old Acoustic is available for pre-order now.)

Photo courtesy of the artist.

MIXTAPE: The Foreign Landers’ Transatlantic Story

Posted on by Editor

Each of us having grown up on either side of the Atlantic, our common interests and musical influences could not have been more similar. All of these tracks hold sweet memories in our years of being a couple, and each artist has definitely influenced our sound as The Foreign Landers. David and I thought we’d share some of our transatlantic story together through a few of our favorite songs. — Tabitha Benedict, The Foreign Landers

Paul Brady – “The Lakes of Pontchartrain”

This is one of our favorite tracks of all time. This version of the popular ballad is from Paul’s album Nobody Knows: The Best of Paul Brady rereleased in 2002. With Paul’s flawless storytelling ability and tasteful guitar playing, it makes it a joy to come back for a re-listen.

Crooked Still – “It’ll End Too Soon”

David and I have been big Crooked Still fans for a long time and they will often be our first choice of car music on any long journeys. Here’s a beautiful song written by banjoist Greg Liszt for Aoife O’Donovan that is just so sweet to the ears. This was one of the last songs they recorded before the band stopped touring in 2012 and it appears on their EP Friends of Fall.

Tatiana Hargreaves – “Foreign Lander”

This is where the inspiration for our band name “The Foreign Landers” was drawn from. Aside from having more of a story behind our name than just that, we both love this old song and especially love this version from Tatiana Hargreaves debut album Started to Ramble released back in 2009.

Alison Brown – “Fair Weather”

This title track of Alison Brown’s album Fair Weather released back in 2000 is a common favorite of ours. Vince Gill features on lead vocals and guitar, Alison on banjo, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, mandolin, and vocals and Gene Libbea on Bass and vocals.

Ron Block – “Ivy”

Well, we knew we had to involve some of Ron’s writing and performing in this mixtape. We love this track, “Ivy,” off his album Walking Song. This is a perfect album for all year round, with guest appearances from a host of our favorite players.

The Weepies – “I Was Made for Sunny Days”

I first was introduced to The Weepies through hearing them on the radio back in Northern Ireland many years ago. My family instantly fell in love with their songs and sound, so I was so delighted to introduce David to their catalog when we were dating. Another favorite for long drives and singing along in the car. Here’s a real feel good song of theirs called “I Was Made for Sunny Days” from their album Be My Thrill released back in 2010.

The Boxcars – “You Took All the Ramblin’ Out of Me”

We just had to stick some good bluegrass in this mix of songs, and we’re so glad we chose this one. When David and I started dating, we would sing this to each other, and it has to be one of our favorites from the Boxcars album It’s Just a Road released in 2013.

Hot Rize – “You Were on My Mind This Morning”

At one of our first-ever performances about three years ago at the well-loved Cantab Lounge in Cambridge, Massachussetts, David sang lead vocals on this track written by Hot Rize. They recorded this on their 2014 release When I’m Free.

Dori Freeman – “If I Could Make You My Own”

We are big fans of Virginia-based singer-songwriter Dori Freeman, and especially love this track of hers from her 2017 release Letters Never Read. We recorded a cover of this song on our honeymoon on the Isle of Skye about two years ago now, so it holds a sweet spot in our relationship!

John Reischman – “Little Pine Siskin”

One of our favorite tunes off John’s album Walk Along John! John had been touring with the wonderful Greg Blake in Ireland back in January/February 2018, right when David took his first visit to Northern Ireland, and right when we started dating. We went to see them at a wonderful show at the Red Room in Cookstown. It was just a couple of days prior to making things “official.” I remember David playing this tune on that visit and it brings back happy memories!

The Foreign Landers – “I’m Not Sayin’”

We discovered this Gordon Lightfoot song from the late great Tony Rice on his album Tony Rice Sings Gordon Lightfoot. We have both loved this song for many years, and knew that when he would start a duo we would definitely be covering this one. We recorded this version on our EP Put All Your Troubles Away that we released in May 2021. We’re so thankful we did and hope you enjoy it!

David Benedict – “Colonna & Smalls”

David released this tune on his solo project The Golden Angle in 2018, named after the specialty coffee shop in Bath, England, back when we were dating. He has the amazing David Grier and Mike Barnett playing on this track with him.

Cup O’Joe – “Till I Met You”

David and I also tour and record with my two brothers in Cup O’Joe, our band based out of Northern Ireland. I wrote this song back in 2018, and recorded it on Cup O’Joe’s most recent album, In the Parting. I wrote this one with David in mind, not thinking that he would be playing mandolin on it a few months later!

Photo courtesy of The Foreign Landers

Nick Hornbuckle, “Cleo Belle”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

There’s a sort of primitive beauty within the patchwork techniques that have informed and filtered into each individual instrumentalist’s approach to the five-string banjo. Styles rapidly morph and change, aided by the instrument’s relative youth (when compared, in roots music, to all but perhaps the resonator guitar) and its absolute refusal to nestle into any one distinct vein of pedagogy. Scruggs-style, clawhammer and broader frailing, ragtime, picking (i.e. with plectrum), strumming, and even more avant garde approaches such as Greg Liszt’s four-finger banjo all lend themselves to the machine in their own alluring ways. 

Enter Nick Hornbuckle, banjoist at large and member of John Reischman’s Jaybirds, who’s just released his second solo album, 13 or So. Hornbuckle’s right hand method defies categorization even by the rule-eschewing standards mentioned above. His two-finger style is decidedly distinct from the eponymous Appalachian, old-time frailing approach, combining aspects of clawhammer, Scruggs-style, and the ethereal, impossible-to-replicate quirkiness of just making your hands do what the music requires without being exactly sure how that works. I.e., playing the banjo. 

The resulting aesthetic, which anchors each of the twelve original tunes on 13 or So, falls somewhere within an equilateral triangle whose vertices would be Mark Johnson (of clawgrass fame), Steve Martin, and Noam Pikelny (if he had one finger tied behind his back). “Cleo Belle,” as all of Hornbuckle’s compositions, confounds with its combination of sheer musical athleticism and acrobatics — while remaining absolutely intuitive and organic. With his crew — on “Cleo Belle” that would be Trent Freeman (fiddle), John Reischman (mandolin), Darryl Poulsen (guitar), and Patrick Metzger (bass) — Hornbuckle wholly incorporates vernacular musical vocabularies while still pushing string band boundaries into more art music or chamber music spaces. The arrangement reminds that the western-most communities of bluegrass and old-time acolytes in this country have truly, effortlessly combined the best parts of each, while retaining that rustic, back-porch timelessness that makes the banjo beguiling to all of us.

Britain’s Got Bluegrass: May 2019

Posted on by Editor

Get off your couch and go hear some live music with Britain’s Got Bluegrass! Here’s the BGS-UK monthly guide to the best gigs in the UK and Ireland in May.

John Reischman & The Jaybirds, May 12, Green Note, London

Look, we know you haven’t really made plans for this Sunday night. No one has. So instead of staying in and watching Game of Thrones, why don’t you pop out to Camden and check out a Grammy Award-winning mandolin player? John Reischman is one of the most respected players of the instrument in the world today, and his band The Jaybirds are coming to the end of their UK tour, meaning you’ve only got one last chance to catch them. With all the style and flair you’d expect from someone who used to play with guitar legend Tony Rice, this stylish West Coast ensemble mixes old-time and bluegrass with a modern feel. Catch up with Jon Snow and his dragon queen another day.

Kaia Kater, May 10-14, nationwide

The Guardian described Kaia Kater as “where bluegrass meets Nina Simone”. Who wouldn’t want to hear that? The Grenadian-Canadian (trying saying that three times quickly) will be in Milton Keynes, Gateshead, York and Bristol next week. Her most recent album, Grenades, exploring and celebrating her paternal ancestry, has been nominated for a 2019 Juno Award. (Read the BGS interview.)

Mark Knopfler May 18-30, nationwide

Football, Deptford, greasy spoon cafes — it’s fair to say that the Dire Straits man’s songs don’t exactly cover the usual subjects of Americana music. But arguably no British singer-songwriter has done more than Mark Knopfler to advertise and contribute to US roots music. His mastery of everything from Celtic rock to country to blues has helped shape the musical landscape of the last four decades and the fact that his band includes celtic legends John McCusker (on fiddle) and Mike McGoldrick (on whistle) is enough to have us shouting the word “QUALITY.” Leeds, Newcastle, Dublin, Glasgow, Manchester, London, Birmingham — consider yourselves very, very lucky.

Amos Lee, May 19, Union Chapel, London

His first night at Union Chapel has already sold out, so you’ll need to move fast if you want to hear the soulful stylings of Amos Lee. We can only imagine how perfectly the acoustics of that beautiful old church are going to suit his fabulous voice — a voice that’s captured the heart of almost everyone who hears it, including collaborators Norah Jones and Adele. And if you can keep a dry eye during his new song, “Little Light” — inspired by a seven-year-old friend who’s been treated for kidney cancer — you’re a better person than we are, Gunga Din.

Milk Carton Kids, May 28 and 29, Dublin and London

Listen to Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale and it’s hard not to have the words “Simon and Garfunkel” leap instantly to mind. With their beautiful close harmonies and thoughtful, all-too-honest lyrics, The Milk Carton Kids are the kind of musicians who’ll leave your heart scattered all over the floor. Their latest album, All The Things That I Did And All The Things That I Didn’t Do, made critics excited, not least because of the 10-minute epic, “One More For the Road.” This is indie-folk at its most meaningful — come see them at the height of their powers.

LISTEN: Pharis & Jason Romero, ‘Old World Style’

Posted on by Amy Reitnouer

Artist: Pharis & Jason Romero
Hometown: Horsefly, BC
Song: “Old World Style”
Album: Sweet Old Religion
Release Date: May 18, 2018
Label: Lula Records

In Their Words: “This song is how our love for old roots music makes us feel — free to roam in a wide-open world full of possibilities, and also a little heartsick at times. It’s a love song to the cowboys working alone in the back country, the desert country, the open country, any country. We always imagined mandolin and bass on it with us, and John Reischman and Patrick Metzger came along on this gentle gallop through the rolling West.” — Pharis Romero

CONVERSATIONS WITH… John Reischman

Posted on by Editor

Following our exclusive song premiere of John Reischman’s ‘Itzbin Reel’ (featuring fellow mando great Chris Thile), Sitch columnist Chris Mateer gives us his in depth conversation with Reischman…

Can you briefly discuss your musical experiences before forming John Reischman and the Jaybirds?

John Reischman: In 1978 I joined the Good Ol’ Persons, who were based in the San Francisco Bay-area. The band played traditional bluegrass and other styles of acoustic music. We also featured a lot of original material written primarily by Kathy Kallick, but also by Paul Shelasky. It was in this supportive environment that I first started writing original tunes.

After I had been playing with the Good Ol’ Persons for a few years I heard that Tony Rice was starting a new group having recently parted ways with David Grisman. I auditioned for the job and ended up playing with Tony for the next 3 or 4 years. Needless to say, this was an exciting situation for me to be in and I really worked on my playing during this time. I continued playing with the GOP (Good Ol’ Persons) during my time with the Tony Rice Unit.

In 1992 I moved to Vancouver BC and started to work as a freelance musician, performing and recording with several Canadian based musicians including Cindy Church, Celso Machado, and Sal Ferreras. I also still toured and recorded with US based musicians like Kathy Kallick, Kate McKenzie, and Tony Furtado.

It was also around this time that I started to perform with John Miller as a duo.

How and when did you form the Jaybirds? Can you give us a rundown of the players and what you believe are their attributes?

John: I formed the group in order to play some shows to promote my CD called Up In The Woods. Some of the players I knew from California and some I met after my move north.

I met banjo player Nick Hornbuckle at a music camp and we immediately hit it off. He is a huge fan of Earl Scruggs, but is also influenced by the time he spent playing bass in a rock band, and he writes great original tunes in a variety of tunings. Nick is one of the most original banjo stylists I have ever heard. He can affect an old-time sound without playing claw-hammer or any of the more common traditional approaches. He also plays three-finger style using only two fingers!

Bassist Trisha Gagnon is the only true Canadian in the group. I met her when she was performing in a BC based band called Tumbleweed. Trisha has a wonderfully distinctive singing voice with a beautiful tone. She also plays punchy, right on the money, bass. To top it off she is a prolific songwriter and has contributed some of the bands most requested numbers.

Greg Spatz is an incredibly versatile fiddler. He can play everything from swing Jazz to Traditional Irish styles, but he excels at Bluegrass fiddling. He’s got all the most important aspects of the style down, from bluesy double stops backing a vocal, to up-tempo fiddle breakdowns. I first met Greg in the late eighties when he used to come to hear the Good Ol ‘ Persons perform.

I’ve known Jim Nunally the longest of all the Jaybirds. When I first subbed with his band in California twenty-five years ago I was knocked out by his sense of time. He is one of the best rhythm guitar players I have ever heard, and his solos are clear and clean at any tempo. He finds the right approach to any style of tune, and plays in a supportive complimentary way that makes the soloist sound better. His vocals have an authentic bluegrass quality to them, and he writes great songs.

Can you briefly take us through the band’s recordings? 

John: Sure. The Jaybirds have recorded five CDs over our 12 year career, and I am proud to say that they all feature the same five musicians. They are: John Reischman & the Jaybirds (Our debut recording, released in 2001), Field Guide (nominated for a Juno Award in 2003 for Best Roots and Traditional Recording), The Road West (nominated for an IBMA award for Best Graphic Design and released in 2005), Stellar Jays (nominated for a Juno Award in 2008 for Best Roots and Traditional Recording and also nominated for two Canadian Folk Music Awards), and Vintage & Unique (2011).

How would you say the band has evolved over time?

John: I think we essentially have the same overall band sound as when we started, but the familiarity with each other’s playing has only made us tighter. All of the band members now contribute original material, which was not initially the case.

How and when did you connect with John Miller?

John: John and I met in Seattle in the eighties, but did not play music together until a few years after that. I had been a fan of his playing before I ever met him. Our first gig together was at the Edmonton Folk Festival where I had been asked to perform. I needed someone to play with and thought of John. That was in 1994, and we are now working on our third release. Hopefully it will be out this summer.

How do your experiences with the Jaybirds and with John Miller connect most for you?

John: Even though stylistically the two groups are very different, they share some of the same core elements. Rhythmically it is rarely a struggle in either group. John plays in a creative and supportive way, as do the Jaybirds, and the original material is heavily featured by both. They are all great people to spend time with. Traveling with John Miller and the Jaybirds is always enjoyable. I feel incredibly fortunate to have these two groups as my primary performing outlets.

How collaborative are these two outlets?

John: In the Jaybirds, I am the musical director as far as what material we record and perform. All the band members realized early on what sort of sound I was going for, so consequently they only present tunes that fit stylistically. When it comes to arranging a given song, everyone has input, with maybe the writer having a bit more say. Even though it is called John Reischman & the Jaybirds, the presentation is not me and my “back up” band. Everyone is featured.

With John Miller it is a fairly simple process. He has a seemingly endless supply of great original tunes, so it is just a matter of choosing the right ones. I also contribute some tunes, but the sound of the duo is best represented by John’s originals. Our arrangements are usually not too complex. The melodies stand on their own.

What would you say these bring into your own solo work/ playing/ performing?

John: Because the two groups are so solid and supportive rhythmically, it makes soloing very easy. I found it was the same way with Tony Rice and Todd Phillips as the rhythm section. When the group creates a smooth rhythmic bed I can just relax and not think about it.

Did you have a preconceived vision for the new album?

John: For some time I had wanted to make a new solo album and had enough original material in the old-time and bluegrass styles. Because I had made some trades for studio time I decided the time was right to start. I did not know every musician I wanted to play with, and had not chosen every tune I wanted to use, but I had a few ideas. One idea was to record some duets with Bruce Molsky. He was touring on the west coast in the summer of 2011, so that was the first session. It was incredibly fun playing with Bruce. We recorded a few traditional tunes and a couple of my originals. One of those, “Side By Each”, I just just finished writing the day before we recorded it.

Was there a tune(s) that set the course for the album overall?

John: Not one particular tune. Some of the tunes were written fairly recently, while some were many years old. My main objective was to match the right players with the right tunes.

You have a number of fantastic guests on the new album. Can you talk about how you connected for each and how/ why you decided to bring in them in for specific tunes?

John: Sure. “Itzbin Reel” was one my first original tunes and I recorded it with the Good Ol’ Persons in 1983. Chris Thile was a fan of the band when he was very young and learned the tune. We used to play it together at various California festivals in the late eighties. I ran into Chris at the Hardly Strictly Festival a few years ago and we played some tunes. I proposed the idea of a recording Itzbin as mando duet and he was right into it. I couldn’t be happier with the job that Chris, Jim Nunally, Sam Grisman, and Mike Barker did on that number. It has a buoyant, joyful quality.

“Joe Ahr’s Dream” had the same group, but with Tony Trischka on banjo instead of Chris on mandolin. Tony was perfect for this up-tempo, cross-tuned, mandolin piece.

“A Prairie Jewel” and “Indian Arm” both feature Trent Freeman on fiddle, Patrick Metzger on bass, and Eli West on guitar. These guys are all very creative and expressive players. They really adapted well to these two slightly Celtic sounding numbers. This was also the core group, with the addition of Ivan Rosenberg on resophonic guitar, for “Gold Mountain Blues”.

The Jaybirds were the logical choice for “The Deadly Fox” with its old-time meets Bluegrass groove and we recorded it on a day off during a Jaybirds tour.

One ensemble that is featured on the recording had never played music together prior to the session. We recorded in Denver after a Jaybirds tour; the group featured Kenny Smith on guitar, and Eric Thorin on bass with Annie Staninec on fiddle for two tunes, and Sally Van Meter on resophonic guitar for the third. This group also was fun to play with… almost like a spontaneous jam session with great chemistry.  I added banjo players Nick Hornbuckle for the old-time sounding “Little Pine Siskin”, and Patrick Sauber for the bluegrassier “Side By Each”, which also features the harmony fiddle of Alex Hargreaves. Greg Spatz plays fiddle on the final number for that session, Anisa’s Lullaby.

Annie Staninec is a great west coast fiddler who blends classic, fifties-style Bluegrass with old-time fiddling. She has played some with the Jaybirds, so I got to know her playing and knew I wanted to include her on the project.

All of the musicians played brilliantly and it was a thrill to have them help bring these tunes to life.

How collaborative/ directed were these experiences? Can you give some examples?

John: I mostly had arrangement ideas going in to the sessions, but for some I was able to rehearse with the musicians more beforehand. On the duet I played with Chris Coole, we just met at my house and played through the tune a few times, and decided what chords would sound best. With the Eli, Trent, and Patrick group we actually had a few rehearsals.

The arrangement for “Gold Mountain Blues” took shape from just jamming on the basic tune. Eli came up with an interesting accompaniment on his bouzouki, and Patrick added a very minimalist but perfect bass part.

For the group with Kenny, Eric, and Annie I was not completely settled on the arrangements before hand, and things changed in the studio. Kenny suggested a way of ending one of the tunes. I am open to others input, but it’s a more efficient use of time if I had a basic outline of the arrangement in mind.

Can you discuss your writing process?

John: Well, I have written in different ways. For my previous solo recording called Up In The Woods, many of the melodies came to me while I was out for a walk. Something about the rhythm of walking would suggest a tempo. For one tune called “Nesser”, I was walking, but consciously decided I wanted to write a tune that would lay out nicely on the banjo.

For these walking tunes it was always a challenge to remember them till I got home. Now I just sing them into my phone.

Most of the tunes for this new recording came from playing the mandolin or mandola. “The Deadly Fox”, written on the mandola, came together very quickly as did “Joe Ahr’s Dream”. Others, like “Little Pine Siskin”, I worked on over several days. I had begun to learn a traditional tune called “Chinquapin” and when I started writing “Siskin” a few days later I realized it was a bit similar to “Chinquapin”, so I worked on making it it’s own tun

What were you listening to during the writing and recording processes?

John: I got the basic idea for recording the album with several musicians in different places from Mike Seeger’s Annual Farewell Reunion records. The difference was that I mostly recorded a few tunes with each ensemble rather than different players on each tune.  I think listening to Cahalen Morrison and Eli West’s first record inspired “The Deadly Fox”.

What are some of your biggest non-musical sources of inspiration?

John: Being in nature is very inspiring to me. Living in BC we are surrounded by forests, the ocean, and mountains. A Prairie Jewel was written in Grand Forks BC, in the West Kootenays, while staying with friends in a cabin in the woods. It was very quiet and peaceful with just the sound of the wind in the pines.

I also read a lot of fiction. I was inspired to write several tunes after reading Guy Vanderhaeghe’s books The Englishman’s Boy, and A Good Man. They take place on the border between Saskatchewan and Montana, near the Cypress Hills. He writes beautifully about the natural world, with strong stories and characters.

Could you give us a rundown of some of your favorite mandolin players and some ‘essential’ albums by these artists?

John: Here is a list of some mandolinists I was inspired by and their recordings that were influential

Andy Statman: Flatbush Waltz and Andy’s Ramble

David Grisman: The David Grisman Quintet (kalaidescope F5)

Bill Monroe: The High and Lonsome Sound

Sam Bush: the first New Grass Revival recording, and his playing on Tony Rice’s Manzanita

Jethro Burns: Homer & Jethro, Playing it Straight

I’m also a fan of Mike Compton, Ronnie McCoury, Chris Thile, Roland White, Aubrey Haynie and many others.

What’s next for you?

John: John Miller and I are working on finishing our third CD. About half features just the two of us, and the rest of the tunes have bass and/or percussion on them.

We will start planning a new Jaybirds CD before too long too. Maybe a live recording… I am also thinking of doing an instructional DVD.

I think I will make another solo cd in a few years, rather than waiting 13 years! It will likely have a more modern than old time sound. I hope to get Tony Rice & Todd Phillips to play on it and my old friend Scott Nygaaard. I had hoped to get them on Walk Along John, but the scheduling did not work out. I also hope to feature Alex Hargreaves on it. I think stylistically it will be similar to some of the new acoustic music I used to play.