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

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.

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway Make Room for Everyone on ‘Crooked Tree’

Crooked Tree is Molly Tuttle’s third full-length album and her first officially fronting a bluegrass band, but the 29-year-old-picker has been pushing the genre forward for the better part of her life. She started playing guitar at 8 years old and playing live onstage by age 11, often performing alongside her father or as part of a family band. In 2017, she released a debut EP, Rise, and became the first woman to be named (or even nominated as) IBMA’s Guitar Player of the Year; she then promptly turned around and took home the award again in 2018. She’s collaborated with Buddy Miller, Béla Fleck, and Bobby Osborne, and participated in a supergroup with fellow trailblazers Alison Brown, Sierra Hull, Missy Raines, and Becky Buller.

So it’s no surprise that Tuttle nabbed an impressive roster of guests for the new project, including producer Jerry Douglas. Ketch Secor, with whom Tuttle has toured and collaborated frequently, co-wrote eight songs on the album and joins Tuttle with his band Old Crow Medicine Show for “Big Backyard.” Gillian Welch offers a clever duet on “Side Saddle,” a song that makes an apt metaphor for busting up Nashville’s old boys club. Billy Strings—once a roommate of Tuttle’s—appears on standout track “Dooley’s Farm,” while Hull, Margo Price, and Dan Tyminski also join the party.

Even as the new collection demonstrates a close-knit music community coming together, its takeaway is just as much about the beauty of setting yourself apart. “I named the record Crooked Tree because I want it to be about embracing your differences,” says Tuttle.

Here, BGS catches up with the Nashville-based musician about the bluegrass voices that inspired her, the long road to embracing her own perceived imperfections, and why it felt right to dedicate this latest work to her paternal grandfather.

BGS: Were there any bluegrass artists that you turned to for inspiration, either for the first time ever or the first time in a while?

Tuttle: I did go back to people like Peter Rowan, John Hartford, Gillian Welch. Those were some of the people who influenced the songwriting on this record. I think those artists have a way of telling stories that you don’t always hear. I wanted this album to feature a lot of different perspectives, ones that maybe you don’t always hear in Bluegrass songs. John Hartford in particular has such a playful way with his lyrics. He obviously was a master of bluegrass, but with his songwriting and with his albums, he took it in new directions that were maybe a little more folky sometimes. He definitely pushed it into new territory.

Hearing what an influence Gillian Welch had on the record, I imagine it must have been wonderful to have her collaborate with you on a song. How did “Side Saddle” come together?

It was so exciting to have her come into the studio. I sent her a couple different songs—I knew that it would just be amazing to have her voice on something, but we wanted to let her choose and she chose that one, and I was so happy. We wrote that song from the perspective of a cowgirl who wants to be taken seriously, and that’s how I felt a lot, as a guitar player, especially. I’ve often been the only female guitar player around, and Gillian Welch is one of my biggest heroes. She’s been such an amazing role model for me, as an incredible musician and also just such a strong woman who writes amazing songs.

Hearing the lyrics to that song, I wondered: Is there any moment or memory where you felt like you were metaphorically asked to “ride side saddle” when you didn’t want to? How did that impact your path as a musician?

When I was a kid, I had so many amazing female role models in the Bay Area, like Laurie Lewis and Kathy Kallick, who both lead their own bands. It really felt like there were so many women who played music that I could be friends with and who could be mentors to me as a kid. But when I went to music school, I realized I was the only female in a lot of my guitar classes—it did feel like I was often the only woman in a room. Sometimes I had teachers making weird comments—one time a teacher told me that I “played really feminine”—so I just feel like people were often singling me out for that reason. I found that in jam sessions too: I remember one jam, in particular, when I knew most of the people in the circle. But there was one person I didn’t know, and he specifically skipped my solo every time I came around. The only woman in the jam circle, and I’m like, “Really? You’re going to go out of your way to skip my solo?” So yeah, I think there are times like that where I just feel like, “Come on!

There’s a line in “Grass Valley” that I really love about a shy kid with a mandolin, and it feels like an overt comparison to your own story as a young child excelling at music. Are there any things that you wish you had known when you were first starting to play?

I definitely knew as a kid that I had to work really hard, and I think I did work really hard at music. But I didn’t always know to believe in myself—to just feel confident. I felt like I always had to critique myself and always push to be perfecting my playing and singing. But really when I gave that up is when I made the most progress; when I felt more confident in myself.

What do you feel was your biggest challenge in getting this record together?

Well, I probably spent the most time on the songwriting, but that part felt pretty natural to me. I think the challenge came when we were cutting the album. We were doing it in a really short amount of time and wanted to keep everything really spontaneous and live. But it’s like we were saying before—you have to let go of perfectionism. It was hard for me to sing my vocals live and not want to critique every little note that I sang, go back in and overdo them a billion times. Jerry was really cool about that. He didn’t want us to have too much time where to go in and try to change everything afterwards. That was a new experience for me.

You co-wrote all of the songs on this album, several of them with Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show. One that stands out in particular is “San Francisco Blues,” which has plenty of modern-day references but feels somewhat timeless. How did that one come together?

We both love the old-school bluegrass sound and old-time music, and we both care a lot about songwriting and stories—and updating old stories. On “San Francisco Blues,” Ketch kind of helped me figure out how to incorporate some of those old song forms. That was probably like that song took the longest to totally finish… When I brought in the old format of a blues song or a song about having to leave home, that’s when it really clicked. I kept some of the current stuff, but also incorporated more old-school language into it. It really helped the song live in both worlds.

There’s a lot of rural imagery on this album. Was there any place or trip that specifically inspired those scenes?

Right when I was in the middle of writing the album, I drove up from Nashville to visit my grandma in Illinois. My dad grew up on a farm in a town called Yorkville. My grandma still lives on some farmland that my family owns, and while they don’t own the house where my dad grew up anymore, it’s still just down the road from her house so we drove out there one day. We probably technically weren’t supposed to be walking around but we walked around the old farm: All the buildings are all boarded up and it’s a little overgrown and the house is kind of run down now. It was a little sad to see, but it got me thinking about where bluegrass started for me. My grandfather was a farmer, but he also played the banjo, and he taught my dad how to play and my dad taught me how to play. That rural landscape really has influenced me, even though I didn’t grow up there.

You even dedicated the record to your grandfather, Gerald Tuttle. Are there any qualities that you feel that you inherited from him?

He was just such a hard worker. That definitely influenced my dad, and I think my dad tried to instill that in me and my brother. And then, of course, just seeing the farm and the music that he loved. And I think it’s cool that he worked so hard at his farming, but he also had this other side to him. He’d always show me videos of Elizabeth Cotten playing guitar and he loved Hank Williams. He just had such a strong passion for music—I don’t know if I would playing music if it weren’t for him. I thought that he would be happy that I finally made a bluegrass album.


Photo Credit: Samantha Muljat

Bluegrass Returns to Bourbon & Beyond

Bluegrass is back at Bourbon & Beyond! We’re so excited to once again curate and host a stage at the bourbon, food, and music festival in Louisville, Kentucky. To add onto the already stellar main stage headliners like Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, Yola, and so many more, this year’s bluegrass stage will feature Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Sierra Hull, and Hogslop String Band, as well as Gary Brewer & Kentucky Ramblers, Jon Stickley Trio, Missy Raines & Allegheny, Jake Blount, Bella White, Tray Wellington, Tyler Boone – and more to be announced! We can’t wait to gather with all of our bluegrass friends for a weekend of stellar bourbon, delicious food, and incredible music.

You can grab your tickets and learn more about Bourbon & Beyond here.

BGS Top 50 Moments: The 50 Greatest Bluegrass Albums Made by Women

March is #WomensHistoryMonth (although, let’s be honest, shouldn’t we be celebrating 51% of the population’s history every month?!) so it seems like a fitting time to revisit our comprehensive — but by no means exhaustive — list of the 50 Greatest Bluegrass Albums Made By Women.

Published five years ago as an unofficial extension of NPR’s Turning the Tables project, our list included a wide array of female talent from over a century of bluegrass, old time, string band, and other traditional styles of recorded music, from Ola Belle Reed to Laurie Lewis & Kathie Kallick to Molly Tuttle and everything in between.

“We dare not be so bold as to claim that every important bluegrass album created by women is included. We are simply striving to illustrate the far-reaching, undeniable influence that these incredible artists have had on the music, as a whole. Each contributor, many of them groundbreaking, trail-blazing artists themselves, has chosen albums that are personally impactful. Glaring omissions and oversights are almost guaranteed, but therein lies the beauty of this conversation: This collection is merely a starting point, a springboard for a greater dialogue about the place of female creators, artists, musicians, and professionals in the telling of the history — herstory — of bluegrass.”

There’s no question that there are plenty of amazing albums that should be added to the canon since 2017, but each new addition wouldn’t have been given an inch of foothold in the genre without the strength, determination, heart, and amazing music of the women who came before them.

Revisit our list of the 50 Greatest Bluegrass Albums Made By Women here.

BGS Top 50 Moments: A Tribute to Jerry Garcia

 

If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine
And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung
Would you hear my voice come through the music?
Would you hold it near as it were your own?

On a warm spring evening in Los Angeles, a revered mix of musicians gathered to lift up the legacy of Jerry Garcia and “to hold the music near as it were their own.”  JUBILEE: A Celebration of Jerry Garcia was a very special, one night only benefit concert paying tribute to his 75th birthday, produced by BGS, Goldenvoice, and the Garcia Family.

With an all-star lineup that included the likes of Hiss Golden Messenger, Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Margo Price, Stephen Malkmus, Chris Funk, Sam Bush, David Hidalgo (Los Lobos), Jamie Drake, Josh Ritter, and Amos Lee, supported by a house band lead by Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell (of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) and Sean and Sara Watkins (of Nickel Creek and Watkins Family Hour), the evening was a love letter to the man whose influence has continued to reach far beyond the confines of the Dead.

Relive some of the amazing collaborations in the photo gallery below:


Photo Credit: Elli Lauren

WATCH: Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, “Dooley’s Farm” (Live)

Artist: Molly Tuttle
Hometown: Palo Alto, California; Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Dooley’s Farm”
Album: Crooked Tree
Release Date: April 1, 2022
Label: Nonesuch Records

In Their Words: “When I was a kid I loved ‘Dooley,’ a song about a moonshiner whose daughters helped him run the family still. In ‘Dooley’s Farm’ I decided to recast Dooley as a modern-day outlaw, writing from the perspective of his granddaughter. I wrote this song with Ketch Secor and brought Billy Strings in to lend his amazing voice and playing [on the album]. I had fun updating this classic bluegrass character while taking some inspiration from my real grandfather who was a farmer (but not that kind of farmer).” — Molly Tuttle


Photo Credit: Samantha Muljat

LISTEN: Molly Tuttle, “She’ll Change”

Artist: Molly Tuttle
Hometown: Palo Alto, California, and Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “She’ll Change”
Release Date: November 17, 2021
Label: Nonesuch Records

In Their Words: “I’ve always loved the rare bluegrass songs that are sung by women about women. Songs like ‘It’s Hard to Tell the Singer From the Song’ by Hazel Dickens, and ‘Ellie’ by Kathy Kallick. I wanted to write my own bluegrass song about a badass woman who lives by her own rules. ‘She’ll Change’ is my homage to the strong musical women who helped me find my own voice.” — Molly Tuttle


Photo Credit: Samantha Muljat

WATCH: Tristan Scroggins, “Seneca Square Dance”

Artist: Tristan Scroggins
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Seneca Square Dance”
Album: One-Ring Circus
Release Date: October 15, 2021

In Their Words: “The Seneca are a group of Indigenous Iroquoian-speaking people who historically lived south of Lake Ontario. Many were moved to Oklahoma after the War of 1812 which might explain why this tune has been traced to the Southwestern Missouri/Oklahoma area. I learned this tune from Molly Tuttle and we would play it together a lot. Its simple melody makes it easy to experiment with different harmonies and picking techniques. I had already experimented with a solo arrangement of this tune for mandolin, but when I started playing tenor banjo I was really excited about the possibilities that the extra sustain of the banjo presented. This particular arrangement utilizes crosspicking techniques to present melody and rhythm at the same time similar to three-finger banjo playing.” — Tristan Scroggins


Photo credit: Natia Cinco

The BGS Radio Hour – Episode 220

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 have John Prine’s final recording, a BGS exclusive performance from Americana duo Jackson+Sellers, a playlist in 3/4 time, personally curated by Dori Freeman, and much more.

APPLE PODCASTS, SPOTIFY

John Prine – “I Remember Everything”

The Americana Music Association was able to celebrate the works of its community in-person last week, for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, with the 20th Annual Americana Honors & Awards held at the historic Ryman Auditorium. And one of the night’s biggest awards, Song of the Year, was given posthumously to none other than John Prine for his final recording, “I Remember Everything.” Watch below to see John perform the song himself, followed by a tribute from Brandi Carlile, Margo Price, and Amanda Shires at last week’s awards ceremony.

Martin Sexton – “Riding Through the Rain”

New York’s Martin Sexton spoke on performing at Madison Square Garden, his pre-show and pre-studio rituals, the influence of artists and performers from Black Sabbath to Looney Tunes, and more in a recent edition of 5+5.

Rod Gator – “Out Here in Echo Park”

Rod Gator wrote “Out Here in Echo Park” during his last year living in Echo Park, when every evening he’d walk down to the L.A. River and sit along the bank. Take a listen, and you might start missing Echo Park, too.

Jackson+Sellers – “Hush”

Jackson+Sellers’ debut album, Breaking Point, comes out next month, but until then, we’re listening to the song that brought the pair of songwriters together as a duo. Jade Jackson initially reached out to Aubrie Sellers about singing harmonies on a new song she had written, and the rest is history! On their partnership, Jackson says, “Collaborating with someone who’s so energetically strong, it gives you even more creativity and license to explore.” Watch the duo’s performance of “Hush” from our Yamaha Artist Sessions below.

Dori Freeman – “The Storm”

For a recent Mixtape, our friend and songwriter Dori Freeman crafted us a playlist celebrating waltzes –her favorite type of song — which always touch her heart in ways other songs don’t.

Kirby Brown – “Ashes and Leaves”

“Ashes and Leaves,” the latest from singer-songwriter Kirby Brown, is a meditation on acceptance: “Sometimes, we are the ones being left — by lovers, friends, family, etc. At other times, we are the leavers. Maybe this is one of the inevitable arrangements of life…”

Brad Kolodner – “Foggy Mountain Special”

Old-time musician and radio host Brad Kolodner was a recent 5+5 guest, speaking about his new album, Chimney Swifts, his earliest on-stage memories, the soul-nourishing experience of the Appalachian String Band Music Festival, and more.

Béla Fleck featuring Sierra Hull & Molly Tuttle – “Wheels Up”

No matter how far afield he may roam, with his new album our Artist of the Month Béla Fleck wants the world to know his bluegrass heart will always call bluegrass home. And this rip-roaring number is about as bluegrass as it gets. The studio recording features the talents of Molly Tuttle and Sierra Hull, while this live performance below features Fleck’s current all-star live lineup: Sierra Hull on mandolin, Michael Cleveland on fiddle, Mark Schatz on bass, Bryan Sutton on guitar, and Justin Moses on dobro.

The Barefoot Movement – “Back Behind the Wheel”

“Back Behind the Wheel” is ultimately a song about hope and the idea of letting yourself feel what you need to feel, but not allowing that to be the end of the journey. “When it comes to this, I don’t know what it means to quit…”

Tammy Rogers & Thomm Jutz – “I Surely Will Be Singing”

“I Surely Will Be Singing,” a new release from songwriter Thomm Jutz and The SteelDrivers fiddler Tammy Rogers, was written at the beginning of the pandemic, as a hymn to nature and to the spirit of human resilience in the face of adversity.

The Secret Sisters – “Dust Cain’t Kill Me”

A new Woody Guthrie compilation from Elektra Records isn’t just a tribute album, it’s a reimagination. Home in this World: Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads features a host of compelling modern artists — like John Paul White, Colter Wall, and Chris Thile – offering their takes on Guthrie’s seminal Dust Bowl Ballads. One standout is The Secret Sisters performing “Dust Cain’t Kill Me.”

With such passion at the heart of it, Home in This World brings new life to music that has shaped American culture in the 20th and 21st centuries. “Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads is as relevant as ever,” producer Randall Poster states. “While profiteers exploit our natural resources, there is a growing sensitivity to the harsh farming practices that put our well-being at risk, and a concerted movement toward regenerative agriculture that can reinvigorate the soil and push back on climate change. I asked some of my favorite artists to help render these songs, hoping that this collection will reinforce the enduring power and prescience of Guthrie’s music and reveal the power of song.”

Caleb Lee Hutchinson – “I Must Be Right”

Caleb Lee Hutchinson teamed up with Trey Hensley on a new song, “I Must Be Right,” as he tells us: “I have been a fan of Trey for quite some time and was very excited to write with one of my favorite guitar pickers… It’s one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written as a result.”

Abby Posner – “Low Low Low”

Los Angeles-based musician and songwriter Abby Posner is joined by Constellation Quartet on a new video for “Low Low Low,” a beautiful, contemplative song about depression, anxiety, and learning how to live with the darkness within.

Colin Linden – “Honey On My Tongue”

“Roots music and blues do speak to a lot of people right now. Much of the healing and release you get from listening to this music… has shown itself to be so vital in these times… I hope the memories of every soul who has loved and been loved are like honey on our tongues,” says Linden of his track, “Honey on My Tongue.”


Photos: (L to R) Dori Freeman by Kristen Crigger; John Prine by Danny Clinch; Jackson+Sellers by Ashley Osborn

Béla Fleck Explains How ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ Set Him on a Bluegrass Path

Béla Fleck came to the banjo in quite possibly the oddest way imaginable — via The Beverly Hillbillies when he was a kid. Hearing Scruggs-style banjo on “The Ballad of Jed Clampett” while watching television, he was instantly smitten and fell in love with the sound. But he chose not to tell anyone.

“It would have made no sense to anybody else why I liked it so much, but it just took my breath away,” Fleck remembers. “It was this odd moment at my grandparents’ house, watching TV with my brother even though he doesn’t remember it at all. I never thought I could actually play that. It seemed impossible, not within human grasp.”

Afterward, Fleck got his mom to teach him enough guitar to play folk songs casually. He liked playing guitar, although it did not fire his imagination. But after his grandfather saw him playing guitar, he came upon a banjo at a garage sale and bought it for his grandson, who was 15 and about to start high school.

“Just this flukey thing,” Fleck says with a laugh. “’Here, you like stringed instruments, this was at a garage sale.’ I would never have had the nerve to buy one myself, and he bought it for me not even knowing my interest in it. Bringing it home on the train, I ran into a guy who asked if I knew how to play. I didn’t, so he tuned it in G, handed it back to me and I never put it down. Got a Pete Seeger book and got to work. It was a really profound thing and I became Type-A obsessed. Still am. I’m always thinking about it.”

That work ethic never changed, either. Bob Burtman was an early roommate of Fleck’s in Somerville, Massachussetts, in the late 1970s and recalls Fleck as the perfect roommate.

“Either he was off making money, or he’d be there endlessly practicing,” Burtman says. “He was so dedicated, you just knew how good he was gonna be. There was a mattress on the floor and he’d sit there playing scales for hours. Not typical scales, either — diatonic, weird Eastern European, just everything. Up and down, up and down. Word got around and people started hearing about him and dropping by to jam — people like Tony Trischka, Mark Schatz. I got to hang out and listen, which was fabulous. Béla soon moved on to bigger and better things, like his own apartment.”

Over the decades, Fleck has covered a lot of ground both literally and figuratively. He traveled to Africa to explore the African origins of banjo with the 2008 project Throw Down Your Heart and has also played jazz and classical as well as bluegrass with groups including New Grass Revival and his own Flecktones, winning 14 Grammy Awards. His most recent Grammy Award came in 2015, claiming best folk album for Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn, made with his spouse and musical fellow traveler.

Strangely enough, however, he actually hasn’t done all that much straight-up bluegrass over the years. His latest album My Bluegrass Heart is a star-studded affair featuring notables old and new including Sam Bush, Michael Cleveland, Jerry Douglas, Billy Strings, Chris Thile, Molly Tuttle, and Sierra Hull. It’s just his third bluegrass album, and first in more than 20 years. But the timing does not feel coincidental.

“I always thought there’d be a time when I would want to do more bluegrass,” he says. “Growing up, it’s a great training ground before you spread your wings. Any great bluegrass musician has done that, pushed the edge, but they tend to want to come back when they realize how special the basic root is. Well, we had some family issues, my son got sick and we almost lost him. Once we knew he’d be okay, what to do then? Maybe it was feeling a lack of control, but I wanted to play music where I knew what to do rather than explore the unknown. I needed to connect with where I’d started, and the bluegrass community is one of the most beautiful things. You’re never alone when you play it.

“You know, I remember seeing Ricky Skaggs after he’d become a big country star, coming back to a bluegrass festival,” he adds. “He was this legit big star, and he played with eight bands that day. Bluegrass was still a part of him and servicing that part of himself and that community was important to him. That made a real impression. It’s important to me, too.”

Editor’s note: Read about more about our Artist of the Month, Béla Fleck, here.


Photo credit: Alan Messer