Ep. 168 - Tony Trischka

Music Makers and Soul Shakers with Steve Dawson

Banjo legend Tony Trischka joins me on the show this week. I first saw Tony playing with his band Psychograss back in the 90’s at a bluegrass festival in Vancouver, and have been following Tony’s music ever since. Tony is from Syracuse, and has spent most of his career in the New York area. His early bands included The Down City Ramblers, Country Cooking and Breakfast Special. He also started making really cool solo records in the early 70’s that are pretty out-there in the context of what was going on in those days in bluegrass. Those albums definitely nod to traditional bluegrass, but they are also very progressive and experimental. He did alot of touring and recording with his various projects and collaborations over the years, while continuing to teach and compose (he taught a young upstart named Bela Fleck a thing or two in some lessons). After working to progress the banjo and its role in music through his entire career, Tony suddenly has dropped this amazing new project on us that is as traditional as it gets, and has allowed him to mine the depths of the greatness of Earl Scruggs. The new record is called Earl Jam, and was made after he was given hours and hours of tapes of Earl and John Hartford jamming. Unheard stuff that is like a portal into the brain of the greatest banjo innovator of all time. Tony transcribed a hours of that playing, and those transcriptions are what you hear, along with guests like Molly Tuttle and Billy Strings. So let’s dive into all this history and hear about the new record - you can get all the latest info on Tony and his upcoming gigs at tonytrischka.com - Enjoy my conversation with Tony Trischka!

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