Tag: ross martin

LISTEN: The Jacob Jolliff Band, “Los Angeles County Breakdown”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: The Jacob Jolliff Band
Hometown: New York City, New York
Song: “Los Angeles County Breakdown”
Album: Instrumentals, Vol. 2: Mandolin Mysteries
Release Date: May 24, 2024
Label: Adhyâropa Records

In Their Words: “‘Los Angeles County Breakdown’ is the first tune we started arranging for Mandolin Mysteries. I taught it to the group while we were in LA, on the last show of our last tour before the lockdown in 2020. So I had these demos of us playing the working version that I listened to and was excited about for a couple years before we finally got the chance to finish the arrangement and perform it live. It’s a sprightly little number with a lot of different influences — I like that it features a nice section for the fiddle and guitar to stretch out on. Hope you enjoy it!” – Jacob Jolliff

Track Credits:

Jacob Jolliff – mandolin
George Jackson – fiddle
Myles Sloniker – bass
Ross Martin – guitar

Photo Credit: Aidan Grant

MIXTAPE: Bobby Britt’s Songs of Hard-Won Joy

Posted on by Editor

The songs and artists on this playlist evoke a sense of hard-fought, hard-won, deep and rich joy. It is not a simple, one-dimensional joy. It has the sound of being churned about, tried and tested again. And now, just maybe, the joy being properly vetted, can be enjoyed. I look up to these artists, as they convey a message of calm and confident optimism.

We are all faced with the dualities of a temporal world…birth and death, gain and loss, pleasure and pain.

These songs speak to the strength of the human spirit amidst that world, and give me courage to carry on regardless of what’s happening, good or bad. They also provide a glimpse at an eternal reality of peace and balance (that has nothing to do with time, space or duality) that is hard to see or believe in when I am churning in the opposites…fear of loss, a craving for more and more solidity, and the dread that I will never have or be enough.

We need artists for this very reason; to go beyond our normal, conditioned ways of thinking about life, and to give us a new perspective with which to test our old and sometimes outdated paradigms.

My area of expertise is bluegrass and old-time fiddle. Though I am not a vocalist or pop artist, I gain inspiration from all styles. The feeling and sound of the above mentioned “hard-won joy” is what transcends specific genres for me. A goal of mine is to take this base emotional element, and with it, transfuse my fiddle playing and songwriting.

My hope is that you can find some joy and something to relate to in these songs as I did. Thank you for listening.

Photo Credit Louise Bichan

LISTEN: Grant Gordy and Ross Martin, ‘Dear Old Dixie’

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Grant Gordy and Ross Martin
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Song: "Dear Old Dixie"
Album: Year of the Dog
Release Date: November 11

In Their Words: "This record has been a long time coming for us. We titled it Year of the Dog because we're dogs on the Chinese Zodiac, separated by one 12-year cycle. After many years of running in similar circles, lots of jamming, and mutual admiration, the album feels like a destined project come to fruition. (Incidentally, Ross recently found out that the dog is the 11th sign, which happens to perfectly suit our release date of 11/11!)

Ross and I are former Colorado residents who, at different times, relocated to New York City, and we've unintentionally followed our noses into some similar trajectories in life. We’re both adventurous guitarists with a strong grounding in roots music. We highly value improvisation — the dialogue aspect of making music together — and enjoy exploring the many possibilities of form and texture available to a guitar duo. This version of the classic 'Dear Old Dixie,' a tune usually associated with the banjo, was arranged by Ross and takes some interesting twists and turns, both planned and spontaneous." — Grant Gordy

Photo credit: Justin Camerer