My name is Steven Moore. I’m a banjo player, currently touring with the David Mayfield Parade, and live in Saint Clairsville, Ohio.

JED: Oh cool man I didn’t realize you were touring with DMP. You’re an Ohio native, correct?

Yessir – well, I was born in Wheeling, WV, but have lived just across the river in Ohio my whole life.

JED: Gotcha. Tell us a little bit about your beginnings. Your origin story, so to speak. How did you get into music, and what made you choose this path over others?

My mom is a huge fan of the Statler Brothers, and I first heard a banjo on their Christmas album with the Jimmy Fortune song “Christmas Country Style.” I asked my mom what that sound was, and she told me that it was a banjo. I told her then that I wanted to play one from the sound alone, having never seen one or ever listened to bluegrass before. I guess the banjo sort of chose me. I started taking banjo lessons, got pretty decent at it, shared some videos online back in the early days of YouTube, won a few contests like Winfield (National Championships), RockyGrass, RenoFest, MerleFest, FreshGrass, etc., and earned some notoriety amongst other banjo players.

JED: When did you post your first videos on YouTube? I feel like my first few were back in the late 2000s. We met for the first time at a contest didn’t we?

I believe it was early 2007 – shortly after Google acquired YouTube – that some of my first banjo videos were posted to YouTube. My dad would run the camera and take clips of Butch Osborne (my banjo teacher) and me jamming on tunes after we’d finished a banjo lesson, usually with some harmonies or arranged sections thrown in. It was fun and a lot of people recognize me from those early double banjo videos. You and I first met at Winfield, maybe in 2006 or 2007, I believe at the Deering banjo booth. We picked a little bit then, but then re-met at Merlefest in 2012. We jammed most of the night there with your friend Clint Alphin (guitar) and a guy I knew David Watson (mandolin) from somewhere in WV.

JED: Dude those are great memories. I was at Winfield in 2007 – gosh that feels like a lifetime ago. What are some of your favorite albums, and how do they influence your work?

From an early age, my playing was largely influenced by other banjo players and their albums. I’ve proudly stolen licks, learned new techniques, and studied elements of composition from many great players… Here are a few banjo players and specific albums which made lasting impacts on my playing (listed alphabetically by last name):

Ron Block: So Long So Wrong (AKUS), Faraway Land, New Favorite (AKUS), Lonely Runs Both Ways (AKUS)

Alison Brown: Simple Pleasures, Twilight Motel, Stolen Moments

Ryan Cavanaugh: Songs for the New Frontier

Bela Fleck: Drive, Natural Bridge, Places, Double Time, various New Grass Revival albums, The Telluride Sessions (Strength in Numbers), Tales from the Acoustic Planet Vol. II

Tony Furtado: Within Reach

Jens Kruger: Between the Notes

Matt Menefee (Cadillac Sky): Talent Show, Blind Man Walking, Gravity’s Our Enemy

Noam Pikelny: In the Maze

Earl Scruggs: Foggy Mountain Banjo (my first real banjo album)

Scott Vestal: Bluegrass ‘95 – 2002, In Pursuit of Happiness, Millennia

A couple of guitar players who have also influenced my banjo playing a lot include Tommy Emmanuel and Pete Huttlinger.

JED: Man I’ve had so many interviews where people mention the So Long So Wrong album as a big influence in their musical journey. You also mentioned Bela’s Drive, and Tales From The Acoustic Planet 2 which are two of my all-time favorite albums as well. I originally pursued fingerstyle guitar in the early days of my guitar lessons so I’m familiar with Pete Huttlinger’s work. We actually interviewed a protege of his Ms. Emma Moseley who I’d definitely recommend you check out.

Will do! Pete was a great player and an even better guy. He is surely missed.

JED: Which part of your music career do you enjoy the most – live performance, recording, writing, etc.?

I most enjoy being able to entertain an audience and especially to be able to touch the hearts of listeners. I feel like that impact is most readily attainable through live performance.

JED: Who are three musicians that you think are underrated or deserve more notoriety for their art?

Sticking to only banjo players, I’d have to choose three deceased and three living examples. Deceased: Bobby Thompson, Jimmy Arnold, and Dennis Caplinger. Living: Pat Cloud, Matt Flinner, and Butch Osborne.

(deceased)

Bobby Thompson was especially ahead of his time as far as banjo playing techniques and innovation. He developed a melodic style on the banjo in the 50s that really laid the groundwork for the likes of Bill Keith in the 60s and for players onward. He was most famously featured on Hee Haw, but some of the other pickers on there really got the spotlight and notoriety, like Roy Clark… but Bobby was one of the first doing it, and never really got much attention for whatever reason… Even among some of the most informed banjo aficionados, he is mostly unknown.

Jimmy Arnold came around later. I believe his early records like Strictly Arnold with tunes like “Charmaine” have got to be some of the earliest examples of a complete meld of banjo styles – Scruggs, single-string, melodic, and jazzy elements all blended together with seamless transitions between them. He was a true banjo master. I think he may have played some with Keith Whitley but he never really earned the notoriety like some players. I believe he was pretty hard on his physical wellbeing with respect to substance abuse (especially alcoholism) and that may have been a contributing factor to his lack of renown.

Dennis Caplinger was an absurdly good banjo player (he played fiddle and mandolin quite well, too, I believe) from California who sadly passed away within the past couple of years. He was in the group Bluegrass, Etc., but recorded with Eric Clapton and some other really famous artists, Vince Gill maybe? But yet his name doesn’t often come up when talking about banjo greats. I first heard his banjo playing on the Van Halen bluegrass / southern fried cover album “Strummin with the Devil” – Dennis played Van Halen’s Eruption – crazy to fit all of that onto the banjo, but he did it! I think his playing was very advanced and he was as good as some of the more famous players, but somehow his notoriety never really caught up to that level.

(living)

Pat Cloud – What can I say except that Pat is an extremely musically educated player that has written the books for Mel Bay, Hal Leonard, etc. on jazz banjo and banjo improvisation. You can tell from his playing and educational materials that he’s studied jazz guitar greats and applies everything he’s learned to the banjo. I find it sad that a lot more folks don’t know of Pat and his playing. I’ve not actually met Pat, actually, but would love to sit down with him for a few hours and pick his brain and try to learn as much as I can from him.

Matt Flinner – Matt is definitely more well-known as a mandolin player (his albums Latitude and The View From Here are awesome, as well as his mandolin work on Noam’s In The Maze album) but his banjo playing is really wild! He’s rarely ever brought up in discussions about awesome banjo players, but he’s won Winfield on banjo as well as on mandolin, so he’s a beast! Listen to his banjo work with Darrell Scott’s band. You won’t be disappointed!

Butch Osborne – Butch might be one of the most under-recognized banjo players of our time. Butch is a part-time musician and drives a concrete truck throughout the work week, and does very little for self-promotion. I am fortunate, though, to have lived about an hour and a half drive from him and taken banjo lessons from him from age 13 through age 17. He taught me so much of what I know and I wouldn’t at all be the musician I am today without him! Butch plays banjo regularly with Johnny Staats and the Delivery Boys – a band with other seriously under-recognized monster players like Johnny Staats (mandolin), formerly Robert Schafer (guitar), and others. Butch is one of my favorite banjo players ever – he can create killer arrangements with recurring motifs and his execution is top-level!

JED: Tell us a little bit about your current rig – what does your “rig” consist of? What instrument(s) do you play, pedals, mics, etc.?

You will usually find me playing my Ome Gold Odyssey that I won at Winfield in 2008; gold-plated hardware, a curly maple neck/resonator with the 20-hole Ome Megatone 200 ring. I’ve also got a nice Prucha – Spirit Alison Brown Model that I won at FreshGrass that I like to do some recording with. I am a big endorser of Landis sterling silver finger picks – the tone and grips are remarkable! I also use Elliott capos and stainless steel strings (GHS and D’Addario).

For my stage rig, I’ve got a Myers feather pick-up (really not a pickup but rather a very small gooseneck mic with a built-in watch battery preamp), ¼” out of the preamp module wirelessly via a Boss WL-50 then into an LR Baggs Venue DI.

JED: Man it’s cool to me that you still play the banjo you won almost 15 years ago. Like so many contest winners end up selling the instrument they won or trading it for something else. I think it’s awesome that an instrument you won has become a part of your sound. That is a rarity!

Yeah – when you find one that fits you like a glove, I think you’d better keep it! Even though I mostly play my Ome, I actually have kept the majority of the instruments I’ve won! I have won several Deerings, two Omes, a Yates, a Prucha, maybe some others… I can’t thank those builders enough for their generosity in donating instruments to contests as prizes.

JED: Man you’ve got a serious arsenal. If you were given an unlimited budget for an album production to record your dream album, what would it look like?

I am very fortunate to have just released my dream album in September… I work a M-F day job and that income as well as other savings funded the project and its marketing. The album, called Just a Little Talk with Myself, is my debut solo album and was produced by one of my banjo heroes Scott Vestal at his Digital Underground recording studio in Greenbrier, TN. I play banjo on every track, pennywhistle on one track, and electric banjo on one track, and am accompanied by an all-star dream team: Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Byron House on bass, Cody Kilby on guitar, and James Seliga on mandolin (the core band), as well as Gaven Largent on dobro for three tracks, Chris Sexton on two tracks with string quartet and quintet, and some special guest appearances including Chris Brown on drums, Scott Vestal on a 2nd banjo, and vocalists including John Cowan, David Mayfield, Elliott Park, Rosa Vestal, and Scott Vestal.

JED: What a lineup man! What are you currently working on?

Right now I’m working on writing material for the next album! As well as playing and working with the David Mayfield Parade. I’d say we’ll be making an album in the next year as well! I also am working on building out my home recording studio… It is bare bones right now, with some decent mics to choose from and outboard preamps, but I basically want to be Scott Vestal when I grow up, so I have to build out and fill up a studio, get better at banjo, and try to just be awesome!

JED: Sounds like a plan man. I’ll be eagerly awaiting your next album Steven. I really appreciate you taking the time to chat with me about your music. Can’t wait to hear the new tunes!

Follow Steven on his website, Instagram, and TikTok. Featured image by Christopher Bell and Sarah Bizanovich at TSG Studios.

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Hello!! I’m Cassidy Maude, a 22 year old Queer Indie Folk musician currently living in Nashville TN. 

JED: Where d’you hail from?

Battle Ground, Washington. When my family moved there it was a very small country town, but it has grown a lot in the last 13 years. Lots of waterfalls and about three things to do for fun!

JED: Tell us a little bit about your beginnings. Your origin story, so to speak. How did you get into music, and what made you choose this path over others?

I wrote my first song when I was four years old (my mom actually had to physically write it as I didn’t know how to yet) and have never stopped. It’s always been the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do along with painting, and the idea of creating new things for the rest of my life is so exciting to me. I feel like I didn’t choose being a musician because it’s just always been this way. I’m also the only musician in my family!

JED: That’s interesting, so neither of your parents played music?

They did not! Although, my dad loved playing very loud Americana and folk music on speakers through the house growing up – and singing made up opera as loud as possible to wake us up on the weekends! I credit a lot of my music taste to him and my mother. I also think my mom has a lovely voice however I’ve only ever heard her sing quietly to herself. Both of them have been completely supportive of my music and my dad is one hundred percent my biggest fan.

JED: It’s great to have a supportive family when pursuing what you love. That’s really sweet to hear that your dad is your biggest fan. What are some of your favorite albums, and how do they influence your work?

“Sound & Color” by Alabama Shakes was the first album I got on vinyl which gave it a sweet spot in my heart forever. Brittany Howard’s voice itches something in my brain that few modern voices do which makes me want to listen to this album on repeat. A lot of the lyrics  feel very conversational which is what I strive for in my music as well. I want to feel like I am telling a story to a dear friend. I feel like I’m having a conversation with Brittany everytime I listen.

“In Memory Of Loss” by Nathaniel Rateliff is an album I discovered within the last year and every single song just rips me to pieces and puts me back again. Rateliff is so honest and unembarrassed in his writing and his voice is very unique. This is the first album I have heard in a long time that has absolutely no skips for me and that I can listen to everyday without getting bored.

With “The Avett Brothers”, you could pick any song from “I And Love And You” and I would have a childhood memory of my dad associated with it. This album is what I heard everyday growing up after it came out. I love the storytelling and instrumentation of the album, and in most of their music from before 2017. I think this album is what started my affinity for folk rock music.

The music I listen to inspires me to be open and raw with my lyrics and to just put out music that I love and would want to listen to. I also have grown a strong affinity in the past five years  for lots of old country musicians like Marty Robbins, Patsy Cline, Ferlin Husky, Doc Watson and so many more.

JED: Which part of your music career do you enjoy the most – live performance, recording, writing, etc.?

I love performing live and I love meeting people that my music resonates with. It’s so interesting and cool to have people like what I write and to talk about it with them. I also love making my merch!

JED: You make your own merch? Tell me more about that.

I carve and block-print all of my designs for merch! The shirts, bags, pants and other clothing I use for this are all thrifted and upcycled. I wanted to be environmentally conscious when creating it and the best way I found to do that was to upcycle- and it’s really special because every piece is truly one of a kind. I also block-print my own posters and greeting cards and design all of my stickers. I like having fun one of a kind merch that you wouldn’t tend to find from other artists like handmade zines and preserved and pinned butterflies with my signature on the card they are tacked to! It is a lot of work to do by myself but it is very rewarding.

JED: Very cool. Who are three musicians that you think are underrated or deserve more notoriety for their art?

Keenan O’Meara has a timeless voice and writing style. I think he always has beautiful melodies and lyrics as well. Every song of his puts me into a movie scene and I think he is on the same level as others that I would relate him to like Keaton Henson and Hozier. I also think the quality of the instrumentation in all of his songs is really great.

Purser! Purser is a dear friend and fellow Queer musician that I really admire. They actually opened for me on tour in the summer of 2022. Every single song they write is beautiful and tear jerking and “head bangable” at the same time. I don’t know how they make everything seem so effortless. They can take these absolutely gut wrenching lyrics and make them fit into a beautiful melody for everyone to understand and digest. They also put on one of the best performances I’ve ever seen. Truly one to watch.

Field Guide does have a bigger following in the music world, but I would love to see him playing sold out arenas and being held to the same light as a lot of other musicians of his style. His lyrics are beautiful, his voice is precious and he just warms my heart. I think his music is really something special and I want as many people as possible to hear it.

JED: Tell us a little bit about your current rig – what does your “rig” consist of? What instrument(s) do you play, pedals, mics, etc.?

I generally play either my nylon Breedlove acoustic or this crappy Martin I picked up from a music store here in town. I like to keep things pretty simple, and I also have a band consisting of electric guitar, drums and upright bass! 

JED: Tell me more about your band. Who plays in it? How did your band come to be?

I feel very lucky that they are all amazing musicians, but also great friends. I knew all of them as friends first before recruiting them for the band! JJ (Jeff Halpin Jr.) is my upright bassist and bestie. Charlie Fuertsch is my guitarist who actually just joined us and has played one or two gigs with the band, but I have known him for years now. Garrett Goodwin is my fantastic drummer and friend. We actually all lived in Boston around the same time and became friends there before moving to Nashville in 2021 and 2022! JJ and Charlie play in a band together and the three of them all went to Berklee together. I didn’t go to school with them but was involved in the music scene as well. They are all a part of multiple bands, I don’t know how they do it!

JED: If you were given an unlimited budget for an album production to record your dream album, what would it look like?

I would love to go somewhere very secluded with my band and just unplug from all social media and electronics except for the recording equipment. I’d probably take them on trust building exercises and bonding hikes haha. I would record the album that I currently have ready to go consisting of 12 original tunes and I would love to hire a full string orchestra. Still saving up!

JED: I like the emphasis on focusing on the music free from distractions. You have an album already recorded?

I think that my best songs have come to me when I’m completely unplugged from electronics. It makes it easier for me to just write and not focus on anything else. Not yet, but I have one ready! I have 3 singles out right now and have a 3 song Live EP coming out this month. I’m hoping to start on the album in 2023. 

JED: What is your favorite album or recording that you’ve made to date?

I just released my second single titled “Ghost” that I love with my whole heart. It has such personal meaning to me- and it’s actually been getting streams from over 60 countries in the world which is insane to me. To think that there are people with completely different lifestyles and backgrounds and cultures that are listening and relating to my music is crazy. 

JED: What are you currently working on?

I have a live EP called “Live In The Quiet Church” coming out January 27th 2023 that I’m incredibly excited for. It just has myself and my upright bass player JJ on it which feels very special because they were the first person to join my band and are also one of my best friends. There are three original acoustic songs, two of which have never been released in any other format. One entitled ‘Ghost” was released in October 2022 as a studio version. I think that this EP is putting me another step into where I want my music to be and I’m very hopeful that it will reach people who connect with it.

JED: Cassidy thank you for taking some time to tell us about your musical journey. We’ll stay tuned for your EP release!

Follow Cassidy on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok
Featured photo by Nylah Bannister.

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Hello, I’m Tommy Emmanuel, and I’m a guitar player. I’m here for ROMP, and I’m playing tonight. This is Saturday night, right? I’m playing tonight, and a lot of my friends are on the show as well–Marty Stewart and Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley; Del McCoury. A lot of people that I really love and admire are playing here. It’s a great lineup. And I really love a chance to support the Bluegrass Hall of Fame here. It’s an important part of the musical heritage of American music. You know, it’s really, really important. So that’s why I’m here.

Ella: Absolutely. Well, thank you. So first of all, I picked out a word you said in your set: “Australiana”, which I enjoyed because I think a lot of people might classify your music as Americana music, or Roots music, right? You list your influences as like, Chet Atkins, and then you played a Merle Travis song, but also a Tennessee Ernie Ford song, right?

Tennessee Ernie Ford sang 16 Tons. That was written by Merle Travis.

Ella: Yeah, but you know, the version I know is Tennessee Ernie Ford. Anyway, so you list your influences as these American musicians so…

Well, some of my influences, right? I talked about those things because I’m playing today in the Bluegrass Hall of Fame, right?

Ella: I see, catering to the audience?

No, no, just, you know, I didn’t want to assume that it was okay for me to get up there and talk about Eric Clapton or The Beatles or whatever. Though, I don’t think people are so one-eyed or closed off about the influences of the other parts of the world. So, I’m an Australian who grew up listening to American and English and Australian music. And also, obviously, in pop music, there’s music that comes from Italy, comes from Germany, from Spain. I’ve listened to all kinds of music, but Bluegrass and Country is what’s really in my blood.

Ella: And that’s interesting to me, because (including jazz as well) those three genres are like the primary American developed genres of music. So yeah, I just wanted to ask about your perspective playing American music as a non-American. How did you get into it and why were you drawn to this culture, specifically, growing up outside of it?

Okay. Well, let’s go back to the early 60s. And I’m listening to Jimmy Rogers, Hank Williams, Hank Locklin, Hank Snow, Patsy Cline. And then, of course, Jim Reeves, Buddy Holly. And so there’s all that kind of music. And then the Beatles come along. And that’s all you hear on the radio, you know. But the first music that really moved me was Hank Williams and Jimmy Rogers. So that that’s what got me interested in music in the first place. And the other thing I want to tell you is that during the 60s, when I was a young guy, I used to go to bed at night reading the Fender catalog, because I couldn’t afford a Fender guitar or Fender amp–they were hard enough to find in Australia. But I would be sitting there looking at the catalog, looking at photos of Buck Owens and people like that playing his Fender, you know. “I want one of those guitars. Oh, look at that white Jaguar. Oh, look at that Fender Twin. Oh, look at that Telecaster.” You know, eventually I did get those things.

Ella: I was about to ask, did you become a collector?

Well, my Fenders served me well, and they still do. And of course, Chet Atkins…this is a thing about a guy like Chet Atkins: people don’t realize in this generation, that in the 60s, he was the name on everyone’s lips. People are like; “Have you heard this guy Chet Atkins?” And it’s like, oh God, who is that good? No one’s that good. It’s got to be a recording trick. And his record sounded so amazing. His ideas were brilliant, you know, and so he was a big influence…So all that stuff was an important part of my growing up in and being influenced by American music and American culture. And so in the early 70s, I bought a Pontiac so I could own an American car. And it was a great car.

Ella: We had an old Pontiac, we loved that thing.

Yeah, it was a good car. And I’ve owned a Chev, I’ve owned a Pontiac, I’ve driven a DeSoto…a long, long time ago…The thing is, anything made in America, in the 60s, was the best in the world. There’s no doubt about that. And it still is when when people do it right, you know?

Ella: Yeah. So as I understand, you started playing at a very young age. 

Yeah, when I was four. 

Ella: So one thing I’ve been asking folks that I’ve been interviewing at ROMP is: what is your earliest bluegrass memory? And if it’s not a bluegrass memory, maybe it’s a musical memory in general.

Well, I was listening to bluegrass, I just didn’t know it was bluegrass–I thought it was country music. If you put on, you know, Merle Haggard in the early days, it sounds like Americana now, but what it is, is country music before it got taken into the rock and roll stadiums. Yeah. And I love all kinds of music. But I think some of my earliest memories of listening to music that was bluegrass style was Bill Monroe and Flatt and Scruggs. You know, I’d have to say Flatt and Scruggs, more than anybody, because they were on TV. The Beverly Hillbillies was on and you could see them. And every now and again, at a film–like, there was a film came to Australia and it was called “Country Music on Broadway”. And it started out with Vassar Clements playing the violin up close, and it was playing this beautiful music. And then there was Hank Snow and people like that. And Wanda Jackson, and Connie Smith, Tom T. Hall, Leroy Van Dyck. I mean, just so many people. And I remember all that, that period, you know? It was just really, really beautiful. I think one of my favorite bluegrass records still to this day is Ricky Skaggs and Tony Rice together (Skaggs and Rice, 1993). It’s a true masterpiece.

Ella: Completely agree. The first bluegrass musician that I heard other than my family was Tony Rice, right? And he is such an influence on me, as a person, as a musician. So yeah, that that very much hits me where I live, the Ricky Skaggs and Tony Rice album.

Skaggs–I just loved his choices of songs, the way he sang. That voice he has is just out of this world. It’s so gorgeous. I remember when Alison Krauss came over to my house, and we were working on a song together. And I played her this new song that I just recorded, where Ricky was singing. And she got tears in her eyes when she heard him sing. And she said: “Oh, that voice”. You know, it’s such a part of our life. It’s the same as when I hear Hank Williams or when I hear Merle Haggard. There are certain songs that I can’t listen to without crying because they touch me in a place that only they can. And that’s the heart and soul of this music. It’s beautiful.

Ella: Yeah. Ricky Skaggs has a really perfect example of a Bluegrass vocal style. Like, if you want to study the Bluegrass vocal style, listen to him, listen to Ralph Stanley, right? So speaking of a flat picker, speaking of Tony Rice–you’ve obviously developed a very distinctive personal style in your playing. And it’s percussive, and it’s precise and dynamically really interesting.

Thank you.

Ella: Of course! So I wondered: if you grew up listening to these country artists–who were fantastic musicians, but who weren’t really doing the type of harmonics that you were doing today, weren’t really doing interesting time signatures and phrasing. How did you develop that more progressive style?

I think that was just the influence of movie music, [and] of listening to other styles of music…When I wrote the song Fuel, which you may have picked up on, had some interesting time things–all I was trying to do with that was be adventurous and write something that would take the place of Classical Gas. Because since 1969, you get out a guitar, and someone will say: “Do you play Classical Gas?” I still love the song, and I know the guy who wrote it: Mason Williams. But I tried to write something that was from me, and that could challenge that piece of music. So, the funny thing about the time signatures in that song: I’m not adept at playing in odd times. If you watch my foot when I’m playing the song, I tap time right through every change, and the time doesn’t move. It’s the time signatures that that move. So you can tap time right through it. But it’s interesting, because my style has developed–and you’re one of the first people who’s picked up on this–that my style…you can trace it right back to Ike Everly, Moes Rega, Merle Travis, Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed–but there’s all this other stuff going on. [There’s] movie music, there’s jazz, there’s country, there’s rock and roll, there’s blues.

Ella: I’m even thinking of classical guitar, like Spanish guitar. There’s for sure elements of that.

Yeah. So it’s just, I don’t know. It’s just my sound, thank heavens.

Ella: It’s a good one.

Thank you. Well, it’s still a work in progress. And I really hope that I get better over the years. I practice a lot, and I’m always looking for something new to play, trying to keep it interesting for my audience and for myself. I’m constantly wanting to be challenged. And I floor it when I go on stage, I don’t hold anything back. And you got to do that. And that’s why we love people like Del McCoury…people like that, because those guys are pouring their hearts out. They’re coming from deep in their soul. And that’s what makes people enjoy it so much. You know, I would have to say, the person with the most charisma I’ve ever seen in my life was Johnny Cash.

Ella: Yeah, that would track. But it’s interesting because he wasn’t a spectacularly showy performer, nor had any schtick really at all, like so many of the artists of that era. But I appreciate your comment that like, the raw charisma…

Yeah, his charisma was, it was jaw dropping. I had never witnessed it before. In ’95, I saw him at a big place. And he was with the Highwaymen. And he was last to come on. And when he walked on stage, the crowd erupting was like nothing I’ve ever seen in my life, the way that people were falling down on their knees, wailing and crying. Women were almost fainting, and tears came to my eyes and I didn’t even know why. He just stood there and did nothing but just stand there. And then eventually, the crowd composed itself. And he got up to the microphone and he went: “Mmmm [low hum]”. It just–it went through you like a bolt of lightning! And he didn’t say anything, he just went “Mmmm”– he took my breath away! And then the roar came up from the crowd again; we had to wait for that to go down. And then he went: “Get rhythm / when you get the blues”. Oh my God, I thought my heart was gonna explode. How do you explain that to somebody? What the hell is it?

Ella: That one man can get on stage and sing three words and have a crowd falling over themselves?

What’s he doing? He’s not doing anything. What he’s doing is being a channel. He’s a channel for something much bigger than us. Whatever that is–I can’t tell you what it is. But there’s something much bigger than us going on. We’re just the vehicle sometimes if we’re lucky. So I try to keep my channel open waiting for a bigger power than me to appear.

Ella: Lastly, what would you say to a beginning Bluegrass student like me?

Listen to all kinds of music, right? Learn all the good songs. Find all the really good songs and study from the greats and everything. But, at the moment, you can watch any video by Molly Tuttle, and it’ll be one of your greatest lessons in playing, singing, arranging [and] songwriting. She is incredibly adept at what she’s doing. And she has my absolute respect in every way. Her and Sierra Hull are as good as bluegrass music has ever been. So, yeah, just learn all the good songs and then get out there and don’t hold anything back when it’s your turn. And if you play music from deep in your heart for people, they all know it, and all they’re going to want to know is: when are you coming back? That’s what you need. People are always saying to me: “What do you think about reviews and critics and blah, blah…”, I say: “I don’t care about any of that shit”. What I care about is the person who comes up to me and says: “When are you coming back?” That’s what I want to hear. You know, because a man needs a good job.

Ella: It is a living after all! *chuckles*

It’s the best. Yeah, I play for free. I just get paid well to travel.

Ella: Hmm, the long con. 

*both laugh*

Ella: Thank you so much for talking to me. It’s been a real joy.

Thanks for your really interesting questions, and I look forward to buying your new album.

Ella: Oh, thank you. Yeah, coming out in 2035.

For more information on Tommy Emmanuel, check out his website and Instagram profile. Photos by Ella Cope.

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