Interviews

Déo Rian, President of the Jacob do Bandolim Institute with Elisa Meyer Ferreira and with Jacob do Bandolim's Mandolin No. 2.

Jacob do Bandolim with Bandolim No. 2.

Many of us started the mandolin in a fit of passion, overwhelmed after hearing a live performance or recording of a famous player. Sometimes it's just a perfect fit, where the listener has an overwhelming desire to learn how to play an instrument to get that sound. This is just such a story.

Elisa Meyer Ferreira loves the music of Jacob do Bandolim. She even uses the moniker "Elisa Bandolim" online. She's well known to regular readers of Mandolin Cafe articles as the mandolin player in the Choro band "Choro Das 3," joined by her sisters ...

About the author: Dave Berry is a mandolin player, composer, and freelance writer whose articles have appeared in Bluegrass Today, the California Bluegrass Association Breakdown, and the Mandolin Cafe. You can read his works and access his album Morning Walk, a collection of original instrumental "fiddle" tunes, on his website or all streaming sites.

Congrats on the new album. How do you feel this album is different from previous ones?

Well, I wanted to write a lot of the tunes so I wrote six of the songs either by myself or with somebody. There are two songs written by my cousin Megan McCormick and her writing partner Amanda Fields plus ...

Photo credit: Steve Levine

Back in 1969, the mandolin seemed poised to become a sustaining part of rock 'n roll and popular music. Over the next three years, no lesser lights than the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Band, the Grateful Dead, and Rod Stewart would produce one or more songs that featured the instrument. Each of the albums went platinum. And Stewart's classic "Maggie May" simultaneously topped the pop charts in the U.S., U.K, Canada, and Australia.

The instrument's future in popular music seemed bright. Until suddenly it wasn't.

Over the ensuing seven decades, the mandolin has retained its beloved place in folk, country, and bluegrass, even ...

CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA — John Reischman and the Jaybirds performed last weekend at the Irish Cultural Society in a concert put on by the Foothills Bluegrass Music Society. It's a COVID-era event with vaccine passports checked at the venue door and nearly everyone but the performers wearing masks. There are lots of foggy glasses and coats on the backs of chairs, but the excitement in the room is palpable: for most of the audience, this is the first live bluegrass they've heard since the Po' Ramblin' Boys show here January 23, 2020. It's just the second time in a year and a half that the Jaybirds have performed together, the first being a small concert ...

Sharon Gilchrist is the first person to tell you she was extremely shy and soft-spoken growing up. Hints of those earlier years linger on camera when she teaches online, but her quiet demeanor and easygoing style belie a confident, concise method of teaching that has earned her a reputation as one of the very finest on the mandolin scene. Sharon is instantly approachable and connects strongly with her students, earning her a large, enthusiastic and ever-growing audience eager to better themselves as mandolinists.

Equally adept on upright bass, her career as a professional musician has largely been in a supportive role and includes stints with The Peter Rowan and Tony Rice Quartet, John Reischman and Scott Nygaard as The Harmonic Tone Revealers, Darol Anger, Mary and Mars, Ger Mandolin Orchestra, Uncle Earl and many more.

These days Sharon keeps busy with a full schedule of courses she teaches online at Peghead Nation where founder Dan Gabel says she's their most subscribed instructor among all instruments. A recent 8-week Zoom course Sharon taught that ended in April garnered an impressive 200+ subscribers. We caught up with her after a recent move across the country to find out what she's up to and to see if we can learn some of the secrets of what makes her teaching style magical.
...

From time to time we have an opportunity to republish feature interviews that are worthy of the content. Mike Marshall was the subject of an extensive interview last month by music journalist Markus Brandstetter of the web site Hyperlocrian.com, an independent music blog based in Berlin. Entitled Talkin' Bluegrass: An in-depth conversation with Mike Marshall, the interview is unique in that the content is also present below as a video. Our thank to Markus for sharing this information.


Mike Marshall is without a doubt one of the ...

Three months ago we published Out of Stock - A Pandemic Supply and Demand Story, a story in the words of store owners that surveyed seven different retailers with differing types of inventory about how the pandemic had changed their way of doing business.

This past week we wanted to check back to ask for an update. This is their story, six retailers who weighed in with their views of their businesses in the pandemic.

Fiddler's Green Music Shop

For Fiddler's Green the inventory ...

Photo credit: Stephen Schauer

John Reischman is a Grammy award winning mandolinist whose music has helped to bridge the gap between old time music and new acoustic music within the bluegrass community. There was a time where John was most well known for being an original member of the Tony Rice Unit; a band that helped define "new acoustic music" as the combination of bluegrass, swing, jazz, and folk music on acoustic instruments along with artists such as Mike Marshall, Darol Anger, and David Grisman.

However, these days, John is likely most well known for his composition "Salt Spring," which has become a jam standard tune. It's very uncommon for tunes written after around 1975 to become standards but "Salt Spring" is inescapable in certain communities. John has a knack for writing catchy, interesting melodies that are fun to play. His tune "Itzbin Reel," originally recorded with the San Francisco based supergroup The Good Ol' Persons, was also a jam favorite, though never on the ...

For the second year in a row the Mandolin Cafe is proud to be a sponsor of Porch Pride, a month-long series of virtual, live streaming weekend performances in celebration and support of the LGBTQ+ community. As part of the festivities we snagged a feature interview with C.J. Lewandowski of the Po' Ramblin Boys put together by Nashville-based writer Abby Lee Hood. We're also proud to sponsor Maddie Witler's appearance June 27 at 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time.

Happy Pride Month, bluegrass lovers! June brings an annual celebration of the LGBTQ+
community and with it, Bluegrass Pride is over the moon to bring back our second annual Porch ...

15 months into the COVID-19 pandemic the retail stringed instrument market is in uncharted waters.

Inventory is markedly down. A sizeable increase in first-time buyers flooded the market last year and continues, as almost every retailer notes. Many manufacturers have been unable to keep pace with the demand while experiencing their own operational challenges.

Some manufacturing employees moved on and some companies downsized or restructured. In addition to new buyers, many musicians not impacted by the pandemic saw their stimulus checks as the opportunity to upgrade or expand what they owned.

In the simplest of terms, most stores have a lot more visible wall space and most music websites are rife with listings advertising "Sold Out," "Coming Soon" and "Out ...

From time to time we have an opportunity to republish feature interviews that are worthy of the content. Caterina Lichtenberg was the subject of an extensive interview last month by music journalist Markus Brandstetter of the web site Hyperlocrian.com, an independent music blog based out of Berlin launched this past December.


Whether you're a classical mandolinist, a bluegrass player or just an avid aficionado of the little, double-stringed instrument: You have most likely made acquaintance with the name Caterina Lichtenberg. Or, to be more accurate: Professor Caterina Lichtenberg.

Lichtenberg is not only one of the best known contemporary classical mandolinists, she also holds the only existing professorship for classical Mandolin at the music conservatory in Cologne. Lichtenberg, much like ...

Kentucky School of Bluegrass instructor reissues his 2010 solo album and 2016 instructional DVD

Photo credit: Bourbon & Brides

Cue up Larry Sparks' 2005 album, The Coldest Part of Winter." Take a listen to track five, Scott Napier's "Parkway Blues." Pay attention to the arc of the melody; the way it handles the road, how it holds the corners. Now, consider the fact that Napier wrote the tune one dark night on the Bert D. Combs Mountain Parkway, mandolin in hand, driving the long, isolated stretch back home with his knees.

It brings a new dimension to the concept of commitment, eh? Napier is definitely committed to the mandolin, as composer, player and teacher. Heck, he's even committed to his actual instrument, a 1939 Gibson F5 that recalls, in key attributes, the storied ...

The songs and tunes on Dreams from the Overlook are perfectly spare, sweetly melodic and, by turns, funny, ruminative and mesmerizing, with punning instrumentals like "Bread and Taxes," "The Wrong Fish" and "The Cousin Brothers" couched alongside comically-christened vocal numbers like "Ragtop Ford" and "Don't Despise a Spider."

An ambitious 31-track double disc, Overlook, seems, as the title suggests, like something you might have imagined. But here's the rub. It's not your dream; it's Jody Stecher's.
...

The first time I talked to Adrian Gross was in the fresh fruit department of my local supermarket. I spotted the young man carrying an A-style mandolin case, so naturally, had to approach. Little did I suspect he would soon be the phenomenal mandolin player for Canada's best known and probably most successful touring bluegrass band ever, The Slocan Ramblers. The band has released three albums and recently won the IBMA Momentum Award for Band of the Year.

A native of Montreal, Adrian moved to Toronto when he entered the Humber College jazz program as a guitar major. As a kid, Adrian fell in love with the sound of gypsy jazz after seeing the Woody Allen Movie Sweet and Lowdown (he thought the fictional film was about a real musician). Adrian is a highly versatile player and jazz is still an important part of his musical life but these days he rarely ...

The date was August 17, 2019 and a new podcast we'd been hearing about had launched. Mandolins and Beer, previously Daniel Patrick's ambitious "Lick of the Day" postings, took a break and shifted gears when David Benedict of Mandolin Mondays and Mile Twelve Bluegrass band appeared as Daniel's first audio interview guest. We were hooked.

A year later with 54 episodes under his belt it's Daniel's turn in the spotlight. With luminaries like Andrew Marlin of Mandolin Orange, Caterina Lichtenberg, Doyle Lawson, Adam Steffey, Sierra Hull and so many more, the queue to be a guest on Daniel's podcast has grown, and for good reason. Whether your musical interests are bluegrass, jazz, classical, Irish and all things progressive, or traditional, it's hard to beat the enthusiasm, inspiration and plain joy ...

Hawktail mandolinist has a number of new releases out now.


Dominick Leslie may not be mandolin's best kept secret, but his hardcore fans can't help but muse on why he's not better known — yet.

That may be about to change. Despite the musical mayhem wrought by the current viral crisis — from cancelled tours to shuttered venues — Leslie has been busily building his profile with a number of new releases, including Hawktail's remarkable sophomore effort Formations, which landed in January.
...

In the midst of 2020's pandemic the story of one music store stuck out with plenty of sadness, but also one of hope and a positive message. It was a story needing told.

Fiddler's Green Music shop, formerly of Austin was recently purchased by long-time employee Ben Hodges. Ben and his family toiled hard over the years to find a way to fulfill their dream of owning the store. From this point forward, the story is best told in his own words.

We wish Ben well going forward and hope you'll enjoy photos of the new store ...

Caterina Lichtenberg's newest project, aptly entitled Solo, comes at a time we can all use some joy and a breath of fresh air. This brilliant collection — some familiar, some new — is a pure delight. Her interpretations and approach to these wonderful compositions remind us how a true master can take music to a new level and beyond. It's with pleasure that we're able to help spread the word about this new recording. Get it. Listen. Then listen again and again. You won't be disappointed.

Scott Tichenor
Mandolin Cafe
...

Exclusive first-listen to "Wonderbat," from Nate Lee's Wings of a Jetliner.
...

A reprint from the Weber Mandolin blog published May 3, 2020, authored by Michael Eck.

Lady Moon with her Weber sopranino.

On November 27, 1970, British folk rock paragons Pentangle released their fourth album, Cruel Sister. The title track, a haunting meditation on an ancient Northumbrian murder ballad, was tinged with sitar from fingerstyle master John Renbourn and graced with a mournful, exquisitely detached vocal from London chanteuse Jacqui McShee.

Fifty years later, on March 24, 2020, Lady Moon posted a YouTube performance of the song, funneling history down through the ages, and, directly inspired by McShee and company, through the decades.

In the mesmerizing clip, Lady Moon begins, too, with fingerpicking, a hypnotic pattern underpinning her own equally haunting meditation. She's playing a 22"-scale mahogany-backed Weber Bitterroot octave mandolin, and when she digs in with the pick, the rendition begins to take on a certain thunder. At the midpoint, it just explodes, with notes and double stops pouring out of the instrument in a flurry worthy of Pentangle's late Bert Jansch or his brilliant contemporary ...

It's been an unusual spring in central Texas. The bluebonnets came early and the clubs closed down. Mandolinist Kym Warner has had time to contemplate, in the literal and figurative senses of that phrase — meaning he's had the hours to fill and the opportunity to think.

Between work with Robert Earl Keen's touring band and a full plate of local bluegrass pickup gigs, the Australian expatriate was looking at a packed calendar. Instead, he's hunkered down in Austin with his wife, Greencards co-founder Carol Young, and their dog, Bentley. As Warner noted in a recent Mandolin Cafe roundup of musicians sharing their pandemic experiences—he's kept busy by writing originals, arranging covers, sussing out gear and doing some remote recording.
...

While musicians saw summer tours, gigs and teaching opportunities at camps and workshops go by the wayside during the Cornavirus Pandemic, retailers and builders fared no better. Forced to close shop or operate with limited capacity — though some may soon re-open on a limited basis — the damage continues.

We asked a group of prominent retailers and builders from across the U.S. (large and small) to weigh in and share their perspective.

This is their story.
...

For now, gone are the crowds, the flights, the bus rides, the sound checks, nightly meet and greets with fans, appearances at mandolin camps, catching up with family and friends between travel and the next gig and more.

We contacted a number of mandolin players that have made this work their calling and asked them to weigh in on how they're dealing with life during these unprecedented times. One, Andy Statman, is recovering along with his wife after both contracted the Coronavirus in late March.

The experiences and changes vary widely, and serve as a reminder that the journey will be different for each of us.

We thought it important to hear directly from the artists in their own words in a world where no one has been spared a major change. Next week we hope to do a similar report from a group of retailers and builders.

This is their story.
...

Don and Sam Bush with Jethro's famed red Gibson mandolin. Photo courtesy Ronnie McCoury.

Don Stiernberg

I owe an awful lot to Jethro Burns. Everything I've done professionally in my life was either taught to me by or inspired by him. Certainly, when playing, performing and teaching I'm still trying to follow his example. He also shared generously in the realm we might call "world view," realistic guidance on what to expect, how to interact with others, the pursuit of one's own identity and self confidence. He was as much a genius in those areas as he was with music. As Mr. Dawg once said, "he taught us all what to and what not to take seriously." How does one thank a guy like that? I'm not sure we can.
...