Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 151: Béla Fleck

Episode Date: December 7, 2021

Andy and Nick rate the men of the jam scene, based mostly on the quality of jawline and whether they have a cool, reptilian-like nickname. Rate our show on iTunes and cast a vote for who's hottest: Ryan Stasik, Gator Petropulos, or Floyd Kellogg. But more importantly, we have a living legend on the Interview Hour this week as we welcome Banjo legend, Béla Fleck! Lot's of sage wisdom and wild stories from the nicest dude. Andy closes the show with sick & also tight guitarist, Taylor Scott! EP 151, amirite? Follow us on Instagram @worldsavingpodcast For more information on Andy Frasco, the band and/or the blog, go to: AndyFrasco.com Check out Andy's new song, "Friends (A Song About Friends)" on iTunes, Spotify  Béla Fleck turns the key; get to know his music and pick up a banjo while you're at it: belafleck.com Produced by Andy Frasco Joe Angelhow Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: The U.N. Arno Bakker

Andy, bud, hey. I just wanted to say thank you so much for dinner the other night. That was really fun. I'm so stoked to see you always. And I always feel like I overshare, you know, when we catch up and stuff because it's just so easy to talk to you and I feel so vulnerable with you and it's wonderful. But I know you do your podcast and stuff and I was just like wondering, you know, please

don't put the stuff that I talk to you about out on display, you know, like, I mean, look, when you fuck someone and they want you to pee in their mouth, like you're going to do it. So yeah, I did it, you know, but you don't have to tell anyone. That should just stay between us, you know, because we're friends. So, you know, yeah, you fuck someone, you pee in their mouth, okay. Like, who has to pee in someone's mouth, you know what I'm saying? But love you, and it was really good to see you.

And, like, yeah, like, don't share with anyone. Okay, bye. Hey, guys, it's Andy. How you doing? How's everyone doing out there? Guess what? We just put out another new single off our new record that we're not announcing yet, but you're starting to get the hint of it. It's called Spill the Beans. It's a great, I love this tune. I wrote this tune in Nashville with Vince Herman and Paul McDonald and Aaron Rateliff and it was like part of the Nashville sessions and I was going through

you know an existential moment about being honest with myself and this song came out and I think you're gonna really dig it it's about just understanding who you are your flaws and your addictions and just be okay with them and if they're fucking your head up, then we need to fix it. But we just have to start being honest. And that's the first communication about trying to get our heads right. So ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy. Play the flutes, Chris. Please enjoy a world premiere of our new single,

Spill the Beans. I love mushrooms I love coke Off to Pluto Man man let's go Wherever you're going I'm going with ya I'm a weirdo, a little crazy Can't remember no name so it's buddy or baby Why do I keep on hiding?

Why do I keep on? Spill the beans, let's get real It's about time to admit how we feel I know you know what I mean Spill the beans I'll agree for a couple pills I don't mind if we coast Or go climb hills

Wherever you're rolling I'm rolling with ya Spill the beans Let's get real It's about time to admit how we feel I know you know what I mean

Spill the beans Let it go Let the weight of the world blow up in smoke All your secrets are safe with me Spill the beans Get it off your mind Get it out of your heart

Get it off your mind Get it out of your heart Spill the beat, let's get real It's about time to admit how we feel I know you know what I mean I know you know what I mean Spill the beat, let it go Let the weight of the world

Go up in smoke All your secrets are safe with me All your secrets are safe with me Spill the beans Spill the beans Spill the beans Spill the beans Spill the beans Spill the beans Spill the beans

Spill the beans Such a jaw, man. He has a great jaw. You were so fucking hot when you were 25. And we're back. Andy Franscom's World Saving Podcast. We're just admiring Floyd's jawline. Floyd, you have a great jawline.

Wow, 30 seconds we made it before we're talking about Floyd's in the back. I know. And he showered. Everyone clap it up. He showered today for Boston. Let's go. Let's go, Floyd. Hell yeah.

Let's go. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Let's get him out of the way.

How are we doing, everyone? How's our heads? How's our hearts? There we go. I got to say that for my mom because she misses me saying that. I here. Come here. Let's get him out of the way. How are we doing, everyone? How's our heads? How's our hearts? There we go. I got to say that for my mom because she misses me saying that. I love you, mom. She's like, why don't you say that more? I'm like, okay.

She wanted to fire me because of it, but whatever. Floyd, come here. Everyone, give it up for Floyd Kellogg. Here he is. Hi, people. Top of the show. Really interesting content, Floyd. Hi.

You're already drinking a Guinness? It's just soundcheck. It's like a meal. We had a noon soundcheck too, guys. It was early. Yeah, it's a thick soup. I don't know how you drink Guinness. You like it?

Yeah. You're just doing it because it's... Let me try. Do you like Guinness? No. This is slowly turning into a halftime. Oh, God. This is so gross.

Really? I think so. Floyd, we were drinking till 5am last night And you're just back at it Hair of the dog brother We were We're in Massachusetts This is where you're from

Oh yeah How are you expecting this show to turn out Is your bride coming? Is it weird? I don't really care. Alright, you're done. Bye. Later, Floyd. Thanks for coming to the show. That'll be the end. Start it over. How's your heart?

How's your heart? The shows have been lit. Lit as fuck this weekend. Oh my god. New York was insane. DC was fucking fun philly philly philly show the tour shout out to fucking number one i'm ranking in my mind i'm only doing awards philly and buffalo were the rowdiest uh i think dallas was pretty killing oh yeah i keep forgetting that was part of i know but see i have a better memory than you so i'm gonna do a little award

show at the end of the podcast on new new best green room, most lit crowd. We were thinking of Schwartz and I were thinking about making an award ceremony for everyone who didn't get a Grammy. So what, 97% of the musicians out there? Yeah. I'd rather have everyone to get an award this year. I'd rather have that than a Grammy. Grammys make no sense. It does. Best new artist is like some guy that's 35 and eight albums out.

Speaking of Grammys, we have Grammy-nominated Bela Fleck on the show. Yeah. 13 Grammys. Yeah, but it's different when Bela Fleck wins it. Yeah? Why? Yeah, because he's not famous, so it's like more legit, right? Yeah, he's like more of an art award.

He's like a musician's musician. Yeah, exactly. It's pretty lit. I'm excited. I bet if you asked him his top 10 favorite things about his career, Grammy wouldn't even come up. I asked him that. I'm like, no one's fucking with you.

You got 13. He's like, I don't care about it. Exactly. He doesn't care. He's like, I just want to make music. Yeah. Oh, fuck. Well, we were going to talk about, you know,

we were going to give ratings for hot jam guys because we've been. Well, the jam band gossip is we have a new king of the hot guy of the jam band scene. Who is it? I actually don't know his first name. I just know his Gator. Gator is hot from pigeons. I think he might be the hottest guy in the jam band scene. Can I make my case?

All right, go ahead. Obviously, it used to be Ryan Stasek. Ryan, you might want to turn this podcast off right here. Skip ahead 15 minutes because that's how long I'm going to go. I'm just kidding. First of all, Gator. Young, extremely attractive, drummer. He's going to

stay in shape forever. I'm not going to say what kind of car he has because I don't want to embarrass him, but it's nice. It's a whip and a half. He's a bachelor. He's living his best life. And that's the point I'm getting at. I don't know if you can be the hottest guy if you're a dad anymore. I just think... What? Why? I mean, he's a bachelor. He's living his best life. And that's the point I'm getting at. I don't know if you can be the hottest guy if you're a dad anymore. I just think...

What? Why? I mean, he's still top five. Floyd's hot. He's his dad. But he's not the hottest. He's up there. There has to be the chance that it could happen, I think.

Oh, with Floyd? These guys are faithful men that don't cheat on their wives. These women or men, whoever's attracted to them, there has to be some sort of... It could happen. And I don't, you know, it's not them. What about Matt from Talk? We were talking about him too. I think he's in the top five too.

Yeah, he's a hot guy. Good looking dude. Yeah. Tall. Tall. Good at guitar. Who else? Nice guy.

Isaac's hot from Talk. That's a hot band. Yeah, they're a good looking band, aren't they? Damn. Actually, they're all good looking. Yeah, Charlie Dolan's hot too. They're all good looking dudes. He's like a dad. Yeah, he's a hot band yeah yeah they're a good looking band aren't they damn actually they're all good looking yeah charlie dolan's hot too they're all good looking dudes he's like a dad yeah he's a hot dad yeah but also again there's the thing where it's can't have it but maybe the thing where you can't have it makes them hotter too i just don't think it does in my opinion do

you think mark brownstein was ever hot yeah yeah he's hot now he's hot he just carries himself in a very hot way he's all about crypto i was i was making i was giving him shit about you know him promoting crypto more than his band these days and he's like fuck you frasco crypto's on the way up you know i know he's always on the way oh i just got that joke brownie stupid no you can't make fun of brownie like brownie would laugh at that joke none of those guys listen to this i didn't say they're on the down they're just you know crypto's different though it's on the way up compared to everything i would listen to brownie on financial advice i told him let's have we're about to go to mexico tomorrow and that's where

we're recording this in boston so we haven't played the show yet we're in the green room we're about to go to mexico go hang out with all the dads. Of all the jam bands, guys, I would definitely listen to Brownie about financial stuff. I'm not kidding. I got matching Speedos from me and Stasek. What do they look like?

What Lakers players on them? No, it's just like a bright green. Bright green? Oh, we already talked about this, but you've seen him in the Borat suit, right? Yeah. Speaking of hot guys,

he might be hotter than you in the Speedo. Oh, God, yeah. Oh, you're ready for that. You're ready for that. Dad bod. Step-dad bod versus dad bod. What's the difference?

So dad bod, I don't know if he even has a dad bod. I think he's just kind of got a great body. He's got a good body. Yeah, dad bod's different than what he has, right? Yeah. You got the step-dad bod where it's like, I'm trying to, you know, I'm interested in chicks in their 30s, and I'm, you know, I look good, but I'm not going to the gym every day.

I got a business to run here. I got to get up and email my manager and apologize for everything I did last weekend. You know? Get yelled at. Check my voicemails for all the things I did wrong. Yeah. And then he does the exact same thing. Yeah.

New York was lit because we had Bongiorno there. And we had our agent. God, I fucking love that guy. Yeah. Thank you, Hutch. And we got Hutch here, too. We got, Hutch. And we got Hutch here too. We got the photography. We've got everything we need. You know what's crazy about Bonjorno

is, so whoever doesn't know, hasn't seen it yet, but he brought Bonjorno on stage because it was his birthday and did a whole rigamarole for him. Happy 50th, buddy. Ernie played and took his shirt off and grinded whatever. I kissed him on the mouth. I think Bonjorno is like one of the best people you've just brought up on stage took his shirt off and grind whatever but I kissed him

on the mouth I think Bonjorno was like one of the best people you've just brought up on stage he's so good up there he was very comfortable he was hamming it up well he was a drummer you know so he's comfortable up there yeah he loves a stage agents they're salesmen they're not scared of that they're not some of them are I've seen some nerdy agents yeah they're like the ones in the email

they're the email agents you know they stay in the DMs yeah but those are the guys they could they know how to get the money they know like the ones in the email. They're the email agents. They stay in the DMs. But those are the guys. They know how to get the money. They know how to make a good email. Yeah. That's a good... That guy could sell anything, I think. I like that guy. He's just an honest guy. You know? Yeah. It was just funny because before he on stage, he goes,

I have no clue what's going to happen. Kind of like fishing. I would know. He goes, I have no clue what's going to happen. I go, you got me, man. I don't know either. Schwartz said, come to the side of the stage. He's like, I don no clothes to have. I go, you got me, man. Like, I don't know either. He said Schwartz said, come to the side of the stage. He's like, I don't want to go. Please don't let me go. That's not the worst. And he's like, you don't have a choice.

Other agencies are very interested in us right now. So if you want to shout out to Bonnie's that was hilarious when Schwartz took away your mushrooms mushrooms then you just had a second bag he ran on stage grabbed the mushrooms and i just pulled out the other bag he ate them all plastic bag and all he just ate the whole thing it's fun when brian comes out right i love yeah it's fun i get nervous when the management comes out why because i know they

already know what i do they work for you buddy know, but I still feel like I'm... Bon Jovi doesn't judge me as much as Schwartz does. You know, based on what I've seen, I'm not going to get into details. I don't think he's really in a position to be judging. I love it. You know, they're not giving you 80%. You're giving them 20%, so I wouldn't be nervous.

So, but you still are a team I know I'm just kidding a little bit uh what are you up to what are you gonna do when we're gone in Mexico oh yeah you guys are going to Mexico are you excited I'm excited I'm gonna chill in Boston for three days what are you gonna do in Boston chill man I got a little Airbnb I'm just gonna post up why are you hanging out in Boston because that's where we are I don't want to fly anywhere it was cheaper just to do this so you got an airbnb yeah are you gonna sightsee by yourself maybe i haven't decided what i'm gonna do you're gonna have like random strangers have take pictures of you up in different places well you took a picture of me just turn face that'd be

kind of funny right that would be funny if anybody lives in boston i'll still be here this is coming out tuesday so i'll still be here for one more day so hit me up if you got anything for me to do uh i'll be lonely but i'm good at it man these shows have been amazing i was so proud of brooklyn and philly and dc i mean east coast is really fucking happy you guys been building these markets huh yeah you said you said what'd you say to me you're like all this maybe you're getting better you're gonna be good band in a couple years a couple more rehearsals with floyd you might i have been drinking a lot a lot no i said to you guys it's gonna be like this every show next year i think you're gonna my prediction is you put out this album it's a very good album a couple really

good songs on there one in particular i really like because you wrote it with me no it's a good album right it's the most professional thing you've written i think yeah i think so it's i think it's gonna be good and it's gonna you know and i think that all the shit you've done through the pandemic is gonna pay off that's my prediction and i've never been wrong in my life about anything so oh man except for my own career i'm really good at other people's careers and telling what's gonna happen my own usually i'm wrong right. They want us to keep these openings under 20 minutes. Who? Just Mara Davis, all the management.

I'll listen to Mara. I'm just making sure it wasn't fans. No, fans. Who cares what they think? Shut up. No, no. Our fans want us to. Tell everybody that my opening sets have been going good

and they're good. So they can listen to my music. Okay, you know what? I'm going to hype you up. It really has been really good, Nick. Especially how much better it is than the beginning yeah well you're still you were still learning how to do the show exactly because it was like oh what am i doing i remember like the first two shows were like hey let's add the fucking voice and let's add this and like you know and you start exploring it and then i stopped telling you what you should add and

then you just started coasting in and now it it's great. And I'm dialed in. The best opener in the fucking business. Let's go. That's why he's opened the podcast and the show. All I do is open, baby. All I do is open. I'm a B plus. You're an A minus.

Let's go. I'll take it. No, no one's perfect. There's some openers who are just trash. Like who? I'm just kidding. No, I'm just kidding. Not like trash musically, but just like...

Here's how you become a good opener, guys. You don't make it about you. That's the hard thing in this business. Everybody's trying to get higher on the poster. A little bigger font. You know what? You know what really helps your career? When you work with people and you work with them,

they want you to work with them. Then they remember you and they want to work with you again. That's it. Just be normal. Be a normal person. Yeah. How would you want someone to be when they open for you do that yeah it's like i don't know now that but like we've always been nice to the as an opener and now that we're headliners you know i just feel like we need we would love that too yeah that's why i like picking my own head openers now i used to just have the the venues pick the openers and

then it's like every band's different it's a vibe but like when you bring an opener on tour you never know what you're gonna get like there's no rapport sometimes yeah i get that's why i like picking openers yeah um all right oh but that's sad though that means you're not open three more shows and then we're never gonna do music again ever we're gonna just be apart we're gonna still do this hell yeah people i mean i'm in denver i mean we could hang out yeah we're gonna hang out we're friends we're friends i know we're going to chicago chicago we're going to the lake again my girlfriend's going and your girlfriend's gonna stay in the hotel her best friend ever lives there they're gonna hang out all day oh hell yeah so we could is she Is she hot? She's married.

Damn it. Engaged. But she is hot, yes. I met this girl last night in North Carolina. We'll keep it under 25, Mauro. She's from North Carolina. Two more minutes of us talking bullshit. I met this girl.

Beautiful. Beautiful, cool, Southern girl. North Carolina. I love those Southern girls. She's like, I didn't come to your show because Tina Turner Broadway was on. I'm like, respect. Okay, I kind of fuck with that. I'm like, I fuck with that.

Yeah. I fuck with that. Shout out. Shout out to North Carolina for being an honest. North Carolina, come on and raise her. Put your head up. Put your... I don't know.

Fuck. I don't know. Speak it like a helicopter. There we go. Yeah. All right, guys. Have a great week. I like you all. I'm going i like you i'm going to mexico

i'm going to nexico fast and take it slow baby yeah i what happens with this man is when we do these travel europe europe and blah blah blah we binge the first right when we get off the airplane really we fucking binge it i'd be so scared to do that in a foreign country i'm just kind of i'm a nervous nelly though oh my god did. Oh, my God. I think I got time for this story. We were in Mexico. Technically, you're a podcast. Yeah, fuck it. I can do what I want.

And the Fleck interview isn't as long because he had to pick up his kids. Plus, people love us. We're an iconic duo. Fuck, yeah. We played in Mexico for a wedding, Yeah. And this is the Coke years. I won't say who bought Coke. Sure. But two of us bought Coke.

And from this dude. And then he followed us into the bathroom. Oh, no. Another guy followed us into the bathroom. And we were doing Coke in like this club bathroom. They pound on the door. Hey, you're doing Coke. You're not doing the Coke. We have to sell you oh it's like so we made we had to buy coke twice and then after we bought this it was

literally the same bags what a hustle it was a hustle and they're like now you can do cocaine in our room but then you were like whatever then they were like fuck this we're out of here dude we took the coke we definitely took the coke back to the resort. And... All right. We're done. They grifted you pretty hard there is what happened. I got hustled. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's all right. It happens. But I respect. I respect that hustle. It's like, you know, it's a stepping stone. We're tourists. They're trying to get money from us. And we're the dummies trying to buy illegal drugs in a different country.

Get there fast and take it slow, baby. You know what I'm saying? That's why I was smuggling drugs into countries. Oh, God. Don't talk about this in the podcast. I don't do it anymore. I guess I did really have an epiphany. Yeah, that's stupid.

I shouldn't be talking about me bringing mushrooms into different countries. That's absolutely dumb. Don't admit to committing a crime on a recording. I mean, it's not a crime. I didn't get caught. Oh, my God. All right. That's it oh my god all right that's it oh and the podcast or end the opening brian i tried okay i'm doing my best i'm trying to make him an adult here

all he does is incriminate himself yo what if i run for office when i'm like 50 you can't ever well maybe you could because you've been so open about everything. It'd be impossible for anyone to be like, this, he did this. Everyone's like, yeah, he talked about it on his podcast. There are times when they lift the curtain. It's just like, yeah, we know. That's why we're here. Hey, Floyd, do you want to be the motivational speak for this week

to tell everyone to have a great week? Come here. Give them a motivational speech. Tell everyone why they're going to have a great week come here come give them a motivation i'll give them tell everyone why they're gonna have a great week you gotta get close you can't just do it from the fucking couch come on get closer ladies and gentlemen floyd kellogg with the motivational speak before we get mr fleck up here who was a wonderful man and it was really a great interview and i loved it so. Floyd, take the mic. You know, like, every day doesn't have to be amazing and shit.

Just fucking... What's up with the pessimism? Okay, what is it? So, you know, just live your life and... Fuck yeah. Oh, wait, when you wake up in the morning, just go, like like count backwards from 10 and then just like get up and just start moving give it a try give it a try why do you sound depressed right now are you okay that's all hold on this is a real joke are you sad no i'm like

one beer deep and i think i got like the shampoo effect from last night oh yeah well i'm going there with you then cowboy um like all the alcohol you drank from last night, all of a sudden it just like triggers, like you get right back there. I did that with mushrooms last night because I've been binging them last couple days and you take one of them and all of a sudden... All right, I got two mics in my hand.

I got to go. We got to go do a sound check. Everything's going to be good. If everything's amazing, nothing's amazing. Bye. All right, shut up. I love you guys. Have a sound check. Everything's going to be good. If everything's amazing, nothing's amazing. Bye. All right, shut up. I love you guys. Have a great week.

Be safe out there. Let everyone know that you're here to kick ass and enjoy my talk with Bela. He's the man, dude. You're going to love this one. All right, bye. All right. Next up on the interview hour, we have Mr. Bela Fleck.

Yes. Big show tonight. He's one of the best banjo players that's ever been on this earth. Hey, Chris, play some Bela. Bela. The man's won 14 grammys he is an inspiration to all the young cats playing bluegrass and playing instrumental music he's just one of the best musicians on the planet we i i would proudly say that so ladies and gentlemen we talked about a lot we talked about quarantine we talked about what it takes to perfect a craft like he has. And we talked about a little bit of fatherhood.

So ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the interview hour, Mr. Bala Flack. How you doing, sir? Very good, and you? I'm doing well. Where you at right now? Nashville, Tennessee, home of the Grand Ole Opry. How's it out in Nashville? Soggy. Is it?

Yeah, a little soggy. You know, let's get into this. I want to know, you play with a lot of my friends and stuff, and you're just such a legend in my scene. And I just see how much of an influence you are to guys like Billy Strings and Green Sky Bluegrass and stuff. And I can't wait to talk to the source of it all. You're from New York City? I am.

What part? I'm from Manhattan. I'm just reading your stand. source of it all like we're um you're from new york city i am what part i am from manhattan you grew up in kristin what did what made you inspire to play banjo uh it is the weirdest thing i heard it um i was visiting my grandparents in queens one morning and uh the beverly hillbillies came on television and it was earl scruggs and you know if you're going to be a banjo player earl scruggs turns turns the the key you know and people that hear there are people that are going to be banjo players and they hear earl scruggs and boom they got to go find a banjo so anyway ever ever since i heard him on the beverly hillbillies i i was a banjo person i loved the banjo but i never told anybody because it was too weird you know especially in the city you know

you're in manhand playing the banjo yeah but so then eventually one just fell into my lap by the time i was about 15 my grandfather i was playing guitar and i liked it okay you know i was like interested in music but when i got the banjo my grandfather got me one because he saw i was playing guitar he said oh maybe you'd like this and he got it um like from a garage sale just a cheap one and that was a whole different story i went from a kid who was like you know interested in music to being like a psycho type a practicing freak you know got cold sweats without the instrument near me it was like very very profound change and so in about three years of playing i got you know a long long way but then i was also hearing uh the music of this would have been, you know, 70s in New York City. There was, you

know, the fusion era was cooking. There was, you know, Weather Report. There was John McLaughlin. There was Chick Corea and Return to Forever. There was Miles Davis, you know, had already done his Bitches Brew stuff. There was salsa. there was reggae. I liked it all. I just happened to like the banjo. It wasn't even country music. I didn't even like country music. I just liked the sound of the banjo. Because you really did transform the banjo into a completely, you made it into your own sound, which is beautiful. And who was your mentor growing up to teach you to like go outside of the box. Yeah, I was always interested in anything, you know, different. And then I found like the most different cat on the banjo is a

guy named Tony Trischka. And Tony, he's not only, you know, the most creative guy that's ever picked the banjo up, in my opinion, he's one of the most wonderful people you could possibly meet. And he was from upstate New York. There seemed to be a tendency for, you know, wildly modernist banjo players coming out of New York area, New York State. There's a guy named Bill Keith, who was also a New York guy, who was, you know, also transformed the banjo in his way. And Tony kind of took it from there, and he did a much more kind of primitive, wild, jammy kind of style of banjo at a very, very high level. And he became my teacher. And so he, I mean, I was very encouraged by what he did.

He was just doing things and, you know, playing with, in different keys with people, with saxophones, with drums. It was coming more out of a 60s, you know, be yourself, do your own thing kind of a framework rather than like I'm going to be a jazz musician or I'm going to be a classical musician. He just was a wild ranging talent and still is. How did you meet all those boys like Wooten and stuff? The Fleckton guys? Yeah. They showed up later on.

So like I originally got really inspired by, you know, people doing new things with their instruments. And I was just curious. I wanted to learn music, but I wanted to learn it on the banjo. People would say, why don't you learn to play the saxophone if you want to play jazz? Or why don't you learn to play the piano? I was like, I play the banjo. That's what I want to play. Why do I have to learn some other instrument to play this? So the more I would learn, the more I would sort of incorporate it into things I was writing. But I always felt like I needed to be in a band. I didn't want to just be some guy in his house working on his music, trying to get people to do his music. I needed to be in a band. I didn't want to just be some guy in his house

working on his music, trying to get people to do his music. I wanted to be part of bands. So I was always in bluegrass bands because that was the only place I could work. And I eventually landed a great job with a band called the Newgrass Revival in the 80s with Sam Bush. And that led me kind of really to the top

of the bluegrass world in terms of the virtuoso players, the people like Tony Rice and Stan Bush and Jerry Douglas, Mark O'Connor, the sort of cats, the A-team of sort of creative bluegrass cats. And so we started, you know, an enclave here in Nashville, where we would get together and do things. But meanwhile, I kept trying to make records with the bluegrass cats. And they would always go, man, this stuff's just too complicated. Why don't you just simplify it, you know? Yeah. You're like, I don't want to simplify it. I want to do this stuff. And then I met Victor Wooten and Howard Levy, and they were like, oh, that's nice. Got any more? You can make it more complicated if you

want. And so all of a sudden, I had these guys that were like really interested in, you know, challenging themselves in a different way. And it's not that the bluegrass, bluegrass guys weren't, they were, you know, really good at that, but it was just, uh, it was just a lot. I was asking a lot. And basically I was working up to, you know, the Fleck tones, um, finding a way to do, to pull the banjo out of bluegrass altogether into a whole different world, you know? Yeah, totally. Like what's the difference between playing with a guy like sam bush and playing with a guy like victor wound well i can tell you what's the same about them yeah that'd be great they both make it feel really good they both they make you

want to play you know like playing a great drummer um tony rice was that way too the guitar player he would just create a bed and you could just do anything. The way his rhythm was so encouraging and solid and precise and inspiring. And Sam Bush has that rhythmic. He has the rhythm of a great drummer. And the way he plays rhythm is incredible. And he's a great soloist too. Victor has that way of enabling everyone around him. He gets up, he just sort of blends in like water and finds a way to bubble underneath you and make you, you know, um, comfortable and, um, inspired,

you know? And that's beautiful. I want to go back to something you said, where you said you're getting cold sweats without your banjo. Did you have like a high stake of anxiety when you were a kid? Well, I came from a broken family and a broken family. So, um, I don't know that I was all that anxious. It was just that I would, I had this weird compulsion when I finally got the banjo up until then, I would say I was pretty mellow, pretty easygoing about things. Maybe my family would say that's not true, but, um, I always thought I was the mellow one that didn't freak out. Um, it, it became, uh, my lif became my lifeline all through high school. And I would, you know, everybody would, hey, but let's get together. Let's go hang out after school. I'd be like,

I got to get back to the banjo. I got to get back. Everybody thought I was crazy, including me, but I couldn't put it down. It was a real compulsion. I was really fascinated by it. When you're realizing I'm getting really good at this thing, did you full on dive into your dreams or was it scary to get into your dreams when you're first starting? I always tried. I like to get together with people who knew things that I didn't and try and learn from them, whether it was a jazz pianist or a rock guitar player or somebody who played jazz flute at school or things like that. And I always imagined someday trying to do, you know, David Grissman had a band. He was a mandolin player.

Actually did a lot of stuff with Jerry Garcia later on. But he had put together a band called the Grissman Quintet. And he actually made it onto the jazz charts doing his own, you know, kind of gypsy jazz bluegrass music. And so I was inspired by the fact that it could be done because I'd seen him do it. So I thought, I want to do that with the banjo. I want to take the banjo. But I really wanted to become a jazz musician,

but I didn't realize how hard it was going to be. And I wasn't good. I wasn't as good on the banjo as saxophone players were on saxophones. And jazz guitar players were on guitars. I just didn't have the information. I hadn't been schooled. So just bit by bit, I was learning and learning on the sly while I was in bands in Bluegrass. And by the time I met Victor Wooten, I still wasn't a jazz musician, but I had a lot of tools in my toolbox. I had a lot of personality of myself you know like I couldn't go play bebop for a living

but I could bebop could influence my bluegrass you know bluegrass could influence my jazz and the funk I could get in there with some funky guys and you know hold my own somewhat so I mean the whole pot of everything that I had made me I guess attractive enough to those guys

to be interested in what I did for Future Man and Victor and Howard. And then I had all these tunes that I'd been writing, writing, writing all this time, and I couldn't find anybody to play them because they were just a little bit too involved for a bluegrass ensemble to play at the time. Do you believe in, like, you are an open vessel when music comes into you, or do you believe that it just takes work and

it takes uh patience to start writing great songs um i think you have to well in terms of the writing or in terms of improvising those are different kind of questions but let's talk about both sides okay um as far as um improvising if you work hard enough on the technical part and then create room then you can be kind of like a vessel you You know, things can start to happen that are not planned, that are better than what you could have planned and that might surprise you. But it takes a lot of work, like hard, knuckle bruising work to get to the point where that can happen. It's not just automatic and it's not consistent. It doesn't happen every day so i mean you could get to a point where um and you know the music well enough that you're playing that you could

have a very very spontaneous time and things could just stop you know just be flowing but if you got uptight or anxious at all you that would stop the flow so you really had to have um to be professional instrumentalist you really have to have once again a toolkit full of things you could do when you weren't a vessel nothing was coming you were well okay well i've got lick one two three four five i've got this this and this and people might not even know i'm not a vessel today you know what i mean so i mean i think that's the thing about becoming a consistent performing musicians you you have to be good whether you to be good whether you think it's flowing or not. And then the other thing I've discovered over the years is sometimes you think you're just on fire,

and when you listen back and it doesn't sound that great, and sometimes you think you're sucking, and you listen back and it sounds great. So all of this is about perception as well. And how you're dealing with your emotions for that day when you're listening back? Yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean, when I record, I like to just over record and come back another day and decide what happened, not try to like go, oh, well, this is the take, so we better fix it. Because that, when you're improvising and playing, you're in a whole different space. And if you're the person who has to make these decisions,

it's very hard to switch from the open,. Like, you ever heard about how people do comedy improv? Yeah. Nobody can ever say, oh, that's a bad idea. I'm not going to respond to that. You have to accept everything that happens. Yeah. That's the way the improv is going to work. If you start saying, well, I'm not buying that, whatever the other person does, you

block the improv. It's the same thing musically. If you block, if you start judging your ideas or the ideas of the people around you while you're improvising, you're just going to shut off the improv. It's the same thing musically. If you start judging your ideas or the ideas of the people around you while you're improvising, you're just going to shut off the flow. You're going to turn off the tap. So you just have to accept everything and embrace it when you're improvising. Do you ever have a dry spell where the tap was shut off? Yeah. How long did it last? Well, I mean, it's more of a momentary thing. I've discovered it's kind of like sap.

If you put your instrument down for a couple of weeks and come back, there'll be a lot of musical sap sitting there waiting for you. You'll have ideas again. But if you're playing constantly, and this is what's not fair about it, your technique will be really, really good, but you won't have a lot of ideas. You're trying everything. You can play anything you can think of, but you won't have a lot of ideas. You're trying everything. You can play anything you can think of, but you can't think of anything because you're just kind of like burned out, you know. So you have to actually leave space.

It's a curious balance between, you know, playing a ton and not playing. I had this experience with Marcus Roberts, a great jazz musician. You know about him? No, tell me about him. Oh, my God. He's just one of the great jazz pianists. He played in Wynton's band, Wynton Marsalis' band for many years, and he's a blind player, and we were touring together doing kind of a jazz with the banjo kind of thing. He was a really hip cat, and anyway, he couldn't practice all the time because he played piano, you know, so he'd be in the hotel

room, and he'd have to show up on the bandstand. We'd be playing a jazz club for five nights or something, two sets a night. And he'd get out and he just plays so great, he wouldn't even be able to warm up. He'd just have to just come out there. And one day he said to me, Bailey, you practice a lot, don't you? And I said, yeah, I guess I do. And he said, because I'm in the next room and I can hear you practicing. And he said, I want you to try something. I said, well, what? And he said, try not practicing tomorrow. Don't practice and see what you play like on the stage. I was like, well, I don't know about that because, you know,

I'm not good enough to play with you. You know, I've got to work on stuff to play with you. He said, just try it just for a day, you know, just see what happens. And sure enough, I got on stage and the ideas were flowing i mean i couldn't believe how much leaving a space had allowed the spontaneity uh to happen and i i you know i think about people like um i'm thinking of herbie hancock who says that um improvising is like uh is a uh is all about faith that something will come to fill in the space if you leave it empty and don't plan anything,

something good is going to show up right when you need it. That's beautiful. Another guy who talks about that is Bobby McFerrin. And his point of view, it's great on an on-being Krista Tibbetts show, he's talking with her. And he says jazz improvisation is all about don't stop. Don't look behind you. Don't think about what you just did

keep going forward don't judge just go isn't that life too yeah i guess so i mean there's certainly room for introspection and and uh study of what's happened and what's gone wrong but you just don't do it when you're performing yeah totally totally yeah what about um you know this music industry is very hard on everyone and you know like you said like it just takes so much and you're playing every day like do you remember a point in your career where you're just so burnt out that you just didn't want to be part of this anymore no that's great so i just feel so privileged to get to do it, you know, and the kind of people I get to play with. Like if I'm going to go on tour with a Marcus Roberts

or I'm going to get to go play with Chick Corea or I'm going to get to play with Zakir Hussain or Victor Wooten or Sam Bush or an orchestra or my wife Abigail, you know, or these bluegrass guys I'm about to go out on tour with, I'm not in a position to complain yeah have you ever got into any like addictions or or anything like that through this whole process banjo addiction that's that's addiction the main one i mean you know i would try things um but i never got i never really it never turned me on it was more because it was going on you know happening i'd be like oh i don't know generally i wouldn't call myself uh you know

clean as a whistle but i would lean in that direction no just because i'm clearer that way and i make better decisions for instance we used to get high sometimes and and jam and stuff and like pot you know and um and you think it was so great and then you'd hear it back and it's like you had to be high to think it was great it didn't sound that great when you were clear you know so i don't know i i just um i i like the straight up you know this is how i this is this is what's real um and i mean on the same plane but i i think everybody has a right to do what they want as long as they don't hurt anybody else. And gosh, take care of themselves, you know, make choices. It's OK to feel burnt out and take a break, you know?

Well, yeah. I mean, I got a big break here. You know, the pandemic gave me a big break in a way. Yeah. What were you doing for it? Well, I'm with my family. Like I have these kids, you know? Yeah.

So, you know, just being home, just not. doing for it? Well, I'm with my family. I have these kids. Just being home. It's the first time I've been home ever since I was 17 and I left home to start touring and stuff. I've never just been home for this long. But I had a lot of nice stuff to do in the basement. I had a Chick Corea duo album that we hadn't finished that we were sending mixes back and forth forth edits and i had this bluegrass album that just came out to work on it was all recorded but not edited or mixed and i had things to do with my wife and live performances so we did a lot from home but we didn't have to go anywhere you talk about being on the road since you're 17 is it hard to be a father and a husband? It is. Music is by nature a bit narcissistic.

And you have to think that what you're doing is important and means something. But all of a sudden, it doesn't mean as much as a kid who's got a dirty diaper. That's right. Totally. So for me, it's been a little bit of maybe putting it back into a perspective of like for me i always said when i had kids i joined the human race because up until then i could sort of walk around thinking that what i was doing was real important and i was super special um and you know i always tried to not be that way but inevitably it's you know people applaud for you enough you're going to start to start to take your privilege here and there.

Marinate in your own shit a little bit. Marinate in your own shit, yeah. So at any rate, it's been really good for that. It's been good for me putting it in perspective. But sometimes the music almost takes a backseat to things, and there's a point where I have to go, no, I actually should be making sure I'm playing enough to still be good in another five years. Now I'm in my sixties. Yeah. It's like, um, so, um, man,

this is always a balance, but it's been great to really be with these kids at the age that they're at. How old are they? Three and a half and eight and a half. Whoa. Yeah. You're really in it. You're, it was a questionable decision, but now we're in it and it's, it's, you know, it it, and it's the greatest and the most complicated. Being 60 and having young kids, what are the difficulties you see in yourself being a parent? My energy is different. I mean, how old are you?

I'm 33. 33, yeah. So you're like a little more than half my age. I'm 63. So it's just that you just don't have the endless energy yeah in your 60s and your body doesn't and your body hurts inevitably by the time you're in your 60s something's gonna hurt so it might be your head so it might be your back i mean you know so but you know that doesn't matter if something's got to get picked up or somebody's got to be you

know yeah something's got to get done you got to it anyway. And so I think it's made me stronger and younger. And, you know, in a lot of ways, it's been great for me. That's, do you regret not having kids younger now that you're older, having young ones? I never would have had kids if it wasn't for meeting a person who I thought would, that would be wise. Yeah. So in other relationships I was in, it never seemed to be on the table for me anyway. And, uh, and it wasn't until when I met Abby, it was clear to, uh, to me that she really wanted to have kids. So if I was going to get to be with her,

I had to agree to that. And it was worth it in this case. I was like, well, if you, if you're willing to be with me, I'm willing to have kids. You know, that was, it was kind of the, that was the deal. And she's, she's 19 years to have kids. You know, that was the deal. And she's 19 years younger than me, and I've never been the kind of guy who dated younger girls or anything like that. It was just one of these things, you know. We just clicked, and it's been a great relationship in my life, you know, as I've ever had.

And I've had some great relationships, you know, with musicians. This is a real partnership. Let's go, Baylor. Fall in love baby at 60 let's get it bud no i love it i mean because we've been together 20 years now so that's awesome yeah because i i'm just kind of scared to have a relationship and feel and i feel like it's gonna like ruin my path like right do you have any advice on that well that was my worry and i was i was like well if i ever i always thought if I ever had kids, I would never feel great about going on the road again because I don't want to be leaving them behind.

Yeah. And that has been, that has proven to be true. Now when I go out on the road, it's bittersweet. I have to keep the trips shorter. Their well-being is more important than my project of the month or of the year. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. my project of the month or of the year you know what i mean yeah um and in my case i was lucky to find somebody who wanted to do it um and the age difference worked in my favor

that i could have that uh because in my 40s i mean i was full on with the fleck tones we were doing 200 plus days a year and i i just that would be a terrible thing to do to a kid um to be a parent uh when you're that busy But the truth is, if I didn't do anything else, the world would continue to turn. You know what I mean? I got a question, like, what did you learn about yourself during the quarantine as you're becoming more like a father during this whole period? Well, I mean, honestly, this would go back into the narcissistic direction, which is that I realized I really do have to be doing a certain amount of music or i don't feel good at all that i have to attend to my own concerns as well as the families and everything else that's important um and so that

it was actually um critical to me to my mental health yeah and. And so, you know, when you asked me whether I, you know, why I was so wiggy as a teenager, I really think maybe there were some things that it solved for me. It made me feel better about myself. I knew I was into this thing. I was fascinated by it. As I started getting better at it, it was a reward. I got a reward. I got some serotonin or whatever it is.

What is it where it gives you a buzz? Your brain gives you a buzz for certain things. Serotonin is that it yeah yeah um it was like i got a buzz from playing i would be proud of myself when i played i felt like the world made sense when i played you know yeah so um so i think it kept me and then i was just super busy for you know 30 years or whatever doing it. So I never had time to think about a lot of other stuff. Did you feel like you were being selfish? Oh, during the quarantine?

Yeah. I was doing, you know, a lot of good around that. I just realized that I had to make sure. I couldn't not play for months. It didn't work. Or I couldn't not have things that I cared about in my career or my music, too. I had to attend to a certain amount of that. But as long as I did a little bit every week, you know,

and did enough that I felt fine. And I was thrilled to be mostly a dad and a husband. And there's a lot of stuff to navigate through this, you know. I bet. And, I mean, it seems like you changed your complete mind state about what is important to you, you know? Yeah. And I knew it it seems like you changed your complete mind state about what is important to you. You know? Yeah.

And I knew it was going to happen. But I mean, the music is still important to me. And I still want to excel. And I can't be good at it unless I play a certain amount. It's not the kind of stuff you can take three months off of it and then go do a gig. Your hands aren't going to perform at the level that I expect mine to i need to be playing a certain amount so um i think as we go forward it's not going to be maybe as much as it used to be you know but it's still going to be enough to keep in shape and and still feel that passion and that passion is okay it's supposed to be that's what that's my contribution to the world is that stuff, aside from being a parent.

That's what I have to offer. So it's not like that should go away just because I'm raising kids. I should show them where my passion is and that it's important to care about things. I don't want to teach them to give up their lives when they have kids, give up their hopes and dreams when they have kids. I want to teach them to figure out how to make it all work together as best as they can. Totally, and I totally agree with that. Going into that whole idea of just keep creating, keep creating, are awards important to you?

That's a tricky answer, and back into the narcissism part, because when someone gives you a Grammy, you can't help but, yeah grammys are cool you know they just they gave me a grammy then um and then if you're not winning the people that i know who never get nominated or win think the grammys are a load of crap you know it's like you can't you can't even you can't even talk about it yeah win yeah so um but no i mean it's a nice feeling when i have to admit that it's nice it's nice when someone recognizes what you do but you also have to understand that a lot of other people who might do something way better than you didn't get recognized. So you have to keep in mind that an award is kind of a popularity contest. You might be getting the award because you did a good job of getting the word out about your music, which may be as good as some other people's music who weren't as good at getting the word out, weren't really going the road,

weren't, you know, weren't able, the music somehow didn't capture people's imagination. And so that's the popularity piece of it. And unfortunately, that's necessary to have a career. You know, you have to, it's like you can be great in a closet, but no one will know about it. And some people are fine with that. But I always wanted to do well. I think I had a chip on my shoulder, again, from coming from a broken home and wanting to prove that I was worthwhile.

Yeah. So that's where the drive comes from, I think. Totally. And you talk about this broken home again. Was it a bad breakup? Was it a divorce? Yeah, breakup. So what happened is my mother and my father split up when i was like

either one or one and a half and they and then he was just gone he was not to be found i didn't meet him until i was in my 40s so yeah so it wasn't what yeah i had to go find him he wasn't interested and so it was one of those kind of deals um so it wasn't like he was there with a bad vibe it's more like darth vader standing around somewhere, but you can't find him. You know, there's a bad guy somewhere that is your father, you know. And he was very unpopular in my family, like in my mother's side of the family. So, you know, you always hear terrible things about him. And then, you know, at some point I had to go meet him just to sort of defang him in my mind. What was that like?

Like what was that? Was it heavy? Like did you guys, did he want to talk to you or did he not want to talk to you or? He was willing to talk to me, um, um, under certain, you know, certain, uh, uh, conditions. Um, you know, he needed to feel safe too. So, um, uh, yeah, I just went, I went and found him one day where he taught at a college in Maryland. And yeah, I don't mind talking about it. It's not – like I'm saying, going to meet him took a lot of the poison out of the situation for me. And we had a warm enough – I won't say friendship, but we knew each other and had several meetings.

I knew him over several years. Now I'm – he's gone now and there's nothing – yeah, all the – what do you want to call it? The poison is out of the wound at this point and it's healed up. And it was good that I went to meet him and got him. But he was never going to turn into as important a person to me as my stepfather. My mother married when I was seven who never really became like my father, but he was a great dude. Yeah. Do you see anything in yourself that you saw in your actual dad?

Yeah, I do. I do. But I think he's in my brother, my older brother. There's just a certain personality, sort of a cool, kind of coolness, sort of an emotionally a little distant sometimes introspective he was a narcissist so that was a good thing to learn about

you know I'm not saying I'm any more of a narcissist than a lot of my friends but it's always something to be aware of as a musician I've used that word a lot in this interview do you think that ruins do you think narcissism ruins creativity

no sometimes it gives you like the fuel you need to like believe so intensely and then you were able to create something great because you just believed and at some point later in your life you may realize that that was cool but you're a better human being if you don't believe you're right all the

time or that everything you do is special you know even if it is special so everybody's you know contributions are special um so i mean but we've got to treat each other well you know yeah totally um i want to talk about your mentors outside of music. Do you have any people in your life that really taught you how to live? I think Tony Trischka was a hero to me. And it was always the people I was in bands with who were my brothers and my family and inspiration. And then other musicians that I would aspire to. Sometimes you meet somebody and you love their music so much,

but you find out they're not really such great people or they're not nice to you. You know what I mean? Yeah, totally. I've learned that it doesn't necessarily come together. But you have special relationships, and you click with certain people and infatuations, if you will, with certain musicians or whatever. Special friendships.

I mean, I learned so much from Victor Wooten, you know, and Beauty Man. What did he teach you about life? Like, he seems like he's very present, focused on, you know, living a life that's full. Yeah, he's a very good person. His intentions are very pure, And he's a team player. We just we sat around and talked for years, you know, and he and his brothers, all of the Wooten brothers are kind of marvelous thinkers and very inspiring people to be around on every level. And of course, on the musical level, you could sit around and talk abstract music theory for for days while your head is spinning but on the other other end you can talk about humanity and you know the experience they've lived in being black guys and in this culture and um their approach to it you know what they teach about humanity i don't know i don't know how to explain it um it's like victor has a way of like putting up with the things he put up

with uh as a black guy and not be being blameful to anybody about it which is very kind of unusual and special um future man is kind of like a um what do you call it when somebody believes in crazy stuff you know a theorist conspiracy theorist but almost all the conspiracies that he came up with to tell us about proved to be true you know you know what I mean yeah I know those guys it's really out apparently in left field but not not actually actually very tapped into what's going on. Howard also, he's like a great, just great dudes, really smart, all in different ways. I'm talking about the Flecktones now, but I learned a lot from my Bluegrass pals too,

like guys like Jerry Douglas was like a big brother to me, and Sam Bush, of course, as a band leader. How he treated people and what he expected was a great learning experience. Were you ever close with Jeff Austin? We were friendly. Friendly. Yeah, we did some tours together with the Flecktons and Yonder. He had that big energy. You could really connect with him in a certain way and just vibe.

He was a lot of fun. And maybe harder to be around if you were around him all the time for some of the people. But for me, it would always be a glancing thing. I'd be like, well, that was really fun. Really fun guy to just spark with. Very excited about life. I was really surprised about what happened to him.

Did you ever go through any depression throughout your years? Not really. I've been pretty even. That's good. And I surround myself with people who were kind of even, generally speaking, as much as possible. Again, Fleck Tone's very, very chill bunch of guys. I can't say we had a foul word in 30 years. No uh you know no fights no punch outs nothing never that's amazing i'm a clap to that the only thing that would sometimes happen like with future man i remember um that um i would like not be judgmental and not you know say much about what anybody played until the record so people get used to like doing their own thing but all of a sudden

i'd be like oh my god this is it if we don't you know get it exactly the way i needed i want it to be now then that's it i lost my chance so now's the time to speak up so all of a sudden on records i would become kind of domineering yeah and uh and future man didn't like that one thing about him is he does not like being told what to do or even you know he wants to do his own thing and that's why he's such a great musician and nine times out of ten maybe more he's going to come up with something better than i ever could have suggested um but but i would definitely get um you know more forceful and more you know well this is the time we got to do this this way it's just you know and then the rest of time i'd be hands off like it didn't matter but the record mattered to me because I was producing it too. So, um, so we had a few, a few run-ins in, in, in that way,

but we got over them and moved on and it wasn't too bad. Everybody was trying to do the best they could and do the right thing. This, everybody thought the right thing was a little different. So there was a little bit of that. Why do you put more pressure on yourself on records versus live performances? Well, I think live performance is supposed to be spontaneous and open. And a record is kind of like the photograph of what a thing is. Yeah. So to me, I don't want to go in and record stuff that's not realized. I want records to be realized and final and really be correct. It's one chance to get

stuff right that you can't. Like live, you can't put it under the microscope and figure out why we always mess up this transition or why so-and-so doesn't really know how to play through those changes. Maybe it's me of the middle of the form of the song, or we keep missing this thing here. Live, it goes by. But on a record, that's a chance to get it right here and live you know it goes by you know but on a record that's a chance to get it right and if you get it right on the record you're going to start getting it right live that much more so um i might always think god i wish that was a backbeat there but he always wants to play that as a set of three you know in three but gosh on the record i really want to hear it that way it was just a chance to kind of get it the way I wanted it. Any final say on records?

With the Fleck tones, you know, I found there were ways to get it the way I wanted that didn't involve putting anybody through that. Yeah. As the years went by and editing became more of a thing, I discovered we could like, well, let's try it three ways, you know. We're going to be playing this song for five hours or something. Let's, hey, let's try the chorus with a big fat beat. Let's try it with a lot of subdivision.

Let's see what we get. And then generally everybody would leave, and I would be the one assembling it, and I could make my choice, and then they'd come back and listen. And either they agreed with my choice or they'd say, listen, I don't think that works. Let me change this. And then that was a dialogue. That's a good dialogue.

So it worked out. I thought it think that works. Let me change this. And then that was a dialogue. That's a good dialogue. So it worked out. I thought it worked pretty well. But there's one funny thing that would happen. People would say, oh, your records are too slick. Even though we would play it that slick in shows eventually. And the band would hear that. People would say, oh, you should let the records be more loose. And so one album, everyone came in and said, well, we need to be more loose.

And it's okay. Let's be more loose. Okay. So, so we, uh, we did, we did a bunch of takes. Everybody left. I put something together. I didn't clean it all up. You know, I didn't fix, I didn't go, go after it. I didn't go searching through the takes for the place. We did this perfect or that perfect. I left some hair on it, you know? And, uh, Victor came in and he said, said, oh, yeah, this is much better. Now I've got to fix this, this, this, and this. And then we fixed all the things he didn't like in it.

Future Man came in and said, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, this is much, much more raw, much, much better. Now the drums are rushing here. I didn't get the right sticks down here. And so they all did all the things that I would have done if they weren't in the room. Every single person wanted their part to be good. They couldn't hear a problem with anyone else's part that was a little loose, but if it's your own part, you want it to be right. So it was a very instructive moment,

you know, that I realized, okay, I just, I don't know that we can give, we can honor that request for it to be loose because everybody really wants to get their part right. Once you do that, it's not loose anymore. It's slick. And the band was capable of that kind of slick. It wasn't slick crappy. It was slick like we got everything. We were trying some hard stuff, and we got it right.

And it's also kind of like they just want to have a say in it maybe. Oh, yeah. I don't know that it was that no everybody was quite comfortable with you know their say was all over the music they were you know they just did everything sometimes it's good to have an editor a person who you know you try 20 things now you got 20 things to decide well maybe somebody can listen to it all and say i think this is the best and then they can come back and say yeah can i hear a few of those other options oh you're right that is the best or yeah and we always had that kind it wasn't like i i made everybody do it my way but um generally there was a lot of uh comfort with the fact that at least it wasn't an outside producer things that the band really seemed to like is like it was us doing it was me if it was a mistake it was our mistake yeah and the slick. If it was a mistake, it was our mistake.

Yeah. And the slick thing about it was 14 Grammys, baby. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. That's slick. Hey, Bela, thank you so much for your time. I know you got to get out of here. I got one last question for you and I'll let you go. What do you want to be remembered by? My breath? No, I don't know.

Depends who's doing the remembering. I don't know. I don't think about that. No? Should I be thinking about that? I don't know. I mean, you still have like at least 75 more years of life left. Probably so, yeah.

Especially if we freeze me for a while or parts of me. Like Austin Powers? Yeah. Just freeze part of me um i don't know you know um i think um um i've always tried to be really you know the best i could be on the banjo you know and so i think um you know i've seen people who uh who played at a level that it changed how people thought about that instrument you know or maybe there was now a level that people tried to get to and i think i played a part in that with the banjo about trying to really be excellent really taking it real serious um i think that i've had a few good tunes along the way i wouldn't mind people caring about what i've

written but you know writing is very personal and supposed to express yourself and it doesn't necessarily mean everyone else is going to like it so So I hope people think that I thought I was honest about my music and idealistic about it. Well, it sounds beautiful. Keep inspiring the youth. I know how my friends, my group is, you are the legend to them, and we just love seeing you keep making music and keep striving for perfection. So thanks, appreciate it thank you i appreciate it have a great time with your kids bud enjoy that time dude i'll see you later bud later it's a lot bye baila fleck cool that was cool i get nervous when guys are very serious because i'm like oh fuck can't really talk about shit i want to talk about sometimes and he actually opened up but i didn't know that about

his father he didn't see his father until he was 40. Damn, that must be fucking heavy. So shout out to Bela. Nice job, buddy. Thank you for being on the show. All right, guys. Catch you on the tail end. All right.

Thanks, Bela. I really appreciate that conversation. Next up, I want to close the show with an amazing guitar player out of Denver, Colorado. His name is Taylor Scott. He's up and coming in the scene. He's getting on all the festivals, but I really think you're going to enjoy him. His playing is unbelievable. I really want to give this guy a stage for him to talk about his music

so ladies and gentlemen enjoy my closing with my one of my new favorite guitar players Taylor Scott Denver's own are you from Denver? not really but I've been here since I was 21 who is from Denver?

I got Taylor Scott what's up dog? good to see you, man. Let's go. One of the best young fucking guitar players out there. And I'm not just blowing smoke up your ass. I really do think you're one of the best guitar players out there. I appreciate it, man. I'm trying.

Tell me your story. What happened? Who possessed you? How'd you get this good? I don't know, man. I'm just trying to work on it, get a little bit better.'m i'm from st louis originally and then grew up in wyoming after that okay so there was no blues music funk music soul music jazz music in wyoming you know what i mean so when you were developing your art you were yeah wyoming right so i've like i like a

weird thing and it was like i'm 28 so it was right when like the YouTube shit was coming around. So I was able to like find some of that stuff. But there's one record store in Cheyenne where I grew up. So there wasn't like, it wasn't super, you know, like there wasn't a lot of that scene going on. So I found all of it through just listening to like the greats and then started just like playing in the basement. You know what I mean?

But I like, I got so into like blues music when i was pretty young yeah who was your guy bb king and i've actually been going back and like revisiting that stuff because uh what do you hear now that you're a better guitar player than you did when you were a kid well i'm like listening through chronologically you know starting with his earliest record which really those were just all singles that they like compiled you know at the time but uh i hear like his style started with super like t-bone walker kind of bass you know and then he started it took like years for him to develop that real singing melodic like vocal type of style on the guitar with the vibrato

and the bending and then i don't know it just kind of has struck me like that dude was great from the get-go but how many years it actually took him even that he was putting records out it was like famous to actually sound like the bb king that we kind of think of oh so his younger stuff didn't really sound like that typical bb king yeah like you can hear it but it's like it's way more impressionistic of like t-bone walker and stuff like that so i thought that was so interesting like because we pressure ourselves to be like who you know figure out who we are yeah yeah super early on it's such bullshit that pressure i know as a younger because like how do you know what your sound is when you're just like learning about sound you have no stories to tell yet exactly and you have only heard like you know a tiny fraction of the shit that's eventually

going to shape you but it's been fun for me going back to like one of the first things that did that and then also realizing like it took that dude like at my age like longer than i've been playing you know what i mean to be putting out records and stuff to actually get that sound that like we all know now yeah what i mean so i just think it's interesting but i don't know i started playing that kind of music when i was pretty young and then always coming to denver because there wasn't really a music scene so you just rolling yeah shine is not that far too. What, two hours? Three hours?

Exactly, tops. No, it's like one and a half to two depending on traffic. You're technically a local Denver boy. We get grandfathered in. If you had to grow up in Cheyenne,

we'd get grandfathered in. Oh, that's fucked up. You know what I'm saying? They're like, come on. Give Wyoming their own personality. Yeah, but I don't know.

Do you rep Wyoming or do you rep Colorado? On the road, I feel like I rep Denver since we're all from where we all live here. You know, the band is based here and stuff. And this is where I feel like I grew up musically a little bit more, you know, because I've been playing with Denver musicians since before I lived here, of course, growing up in Cheyenne. Like how old were you? Well, I started playing gigs when I was like 14.

But by the time I was like 16 or so, I was able to play with like cats from here, you know, a little bit more. Like who? Well, I didn't, the guys in my band, like John Wurts, you know, John in Oregon. Like I didn't meet him till I was 18 or 19, but man, I joined Otis Taylor's band when I was 19

and he's a boulder guy. People don't know that. I didn't know that. Whoa, so you were torn by 19? Yeah, I didn't go to college, you know, like when I got out, because I was gigging in high school. So it was like, it didn't really seem to make a lot of sense. What did Otis teach you about music? His thing, so his thing, man, I didn't really know about his thing that much when I first went out. He had me like come audition in Boulder and I thought I was auditioning for like a Chicago

kind of blues gig. Well, if you know Otis's thing, it's like trancy and way more psychedelic and like lots of world music, like African type of sounds and stuff. So I thought I fucking failed that audition terribly. You know, I was like, what was that shit? But he ended up calling me and taking me on tour. And then I like kind of learned how to play to that trance thing a little bit. Yeah. Because he's like a one or two chord guy, of like the the North Mississippi stuff you know like the hill country stuff one to two chord not not like a 12 bar traditional I don't mean literally two chord but I mean like he'll he'll like like R.L. Burnside kind of style where he'll like jam on just one or two chords trance wise and you change when he changes that's crazy is that harder to be a backup

band for a dude who's like, you got to really listen to what he's playing? Yeah. And there's no, there wasn't, I didn't have a lot of records to like reference cause he's such an original kind of cat. Like he takes that sound and then gets really psychedelic and weird and

you never know what he's going to do. And he's really dark. And a lot of blues today, like contemporary blues kind of goes the other way. It's a little more like, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Well, not other way. It's a little more like, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Well, not like, you know, but it's like, his thing is so intense and dark. He has to like learn how to do that. And I wasn't used to that. And I feel like I took a lot from that even with my group, like really love the trance thing, you know? Yeah, yeah. You do a lot of trancy, kind of like take your time, space style stuff. Yeah. And keeping the groove super heavy. I love that about his thing. So, man. And he took me to Europe many, many times between the ages of 19 and 23. Were you single?

You know, enough. So, were you getting some pussy and shit? Yeah, yeah. It was a good time. Oh, yeah. Let's go, Taylor. So, they're all the old heads. And then you're the young head.

Exactly. They would call me at the airport. they would call me Z-Boy. Is Z-Boy with you? I'm like, damn it, I'm 19. It's like, fuck all y'all. But it was funny coming from Wyoming and then being out there in Paris four times, five times a year. That was my education rather than going to school and shit.

I don't know. That's how I ended up moving to Denver and playing with more Denver musicians and stuff like that. Go back to your first Europe tour. Cause I love traveling Europe and I know fucking Europe loves fucking blues bands, but it's like all old people and shit. Yeah. Yeah. So like, I'd be looking, I would definitely be looking like peeking out before you start to see, is there any like young, maybe even young women in this crowd sometimes there would be but it's like those theaters you know those those theaters where people have like a subscription yeah there's a lot of those types of gigs so that's like definitely like gray hairs you know but they fucking loved it and you know because

you go over there they they like they like to party but they're like more listeners yeah especially with the root stuff and Otis's thing again is so intense and he has such a mysterious presence that they would be locked, man. And that was some of the best audiences I had played for ever up to that point. You ever get in trouble out there? No. No? What about you? Tell me something. I almost burned down my hotel room

in Paris. Oh, I was too young and scared to be doing shit like that. By accident. Really? Yeah, it was totally by accident. It was my first time touring there. And the promoter's like, oh, just stay in Paris for the night. We'll pick you up. By accident. Really? Yeah, it was totally by accident. It was my first time touring there. And the promoter's like, oh, just stay in Paris for the night. We'll pick you up in the morning. I'm like, I never had a hotel.

I was 21, 22. Never had a hotel before. It's never been flown out to anywhere before like that. And so I took a shower, you know, fucking watch a little porn, whatever. Took another shower. And then I put my fucking towel on the lamp. And it burned.

And I went out to go drink in Paris. And it burned the fucking thing. And my flames was going up. The walls and shit. I was lucky that it was all concrete. Or the whole fucking hotel would have burned down. So when you came back, you found it? When I came back.

Or they found it while you were out? No, no. I came back and I opened the door and the promoter finally got in like 2 a.m. I was fucking buzzed. I was stoked. He's like, oh, can I take a piss in your hotel room? I opened it up. White smoke.

So I knew it was Ed. No, but I got scared like i'm going to jail like yeah so i like i fucking detective because they don't have like fire alarms it's like 1800 right in the rooms are this big so it makes sense why you had to so i fucking dexter the shit out of it dude i cleaned up everything i cleaned up every ash i threw away and i just like took all the evidence and like threw it away in a trash can, like three blocks down. And I was like so nervous, so nervous. And I woke up and I'm like, hey, I don't know what happened, but it smells like.

Electrical fire or something. Yeah. They gave me free breakfast. No shit. Let's fucking go. That was my hall pass. Miss you a frasco. That was my hall pass.

I knew that was like my one hall pass. If I kept doing that shit, I would have gotten in trouble. That was the universe giving me a nice little, okay, you're good. Yeah, dude, that's sick. What about touring now? How are you doing? It's been good, man. Obviously, last year was fucking weird and super depressing.

Yeah, fucked up. We all know, though, that this summer, coming back, that made that shit so joyful and exuberant. Right. And I felt so good about it. Like I saw you at Floyd Fest. That was sick. Yeah, man.

Did you win the Rising Star thing? We didn't win. To be honest, like I didn't, once I got there, I didn't pay much attention to that. I'm like, and I'm not trying to be a dick about it, but just like to me, like there to play music and do the thing. And however, like, because they like had us on this stage where like, I guess you could vote on the app for your favorite band because it's like the bands that nobody's heard of. Yeah.

So, but I'm like, I'm just trying to play and kick some ass, you know what I mean? If I can. You did kick ass. Thanks, man. That was when I was really like, I've heard your name and we played a little bit, but that was the first time I got to watch

like two of your sets. Thanks, man. Because you were at the one where it got kind of rained out outside. you're played inside a tent yeah yeah then they moved you to like the cafeteria yeah and that was sick yeah i wish i saw you i would have pulled you up on stage i didn't see you we were in like a zone because that was crazy because like when you're somebody like us it's like you know how it is when you're trying to be up and coming or whatever and you're like every every set counts you know all that shit and so like

and man you spend so much money on the road sometimes just to be out there and do it people don't realize that but like yeah you're like you know i want to talk about that because you know you're the reason you're like the perfect candidate for a company like repsy so keep talking yeah yeah well and then a moment comes like that like like we got to floyd fest and we're from here and we've been wanting to play floyd fest for. So we finally got it. We're out there getting ready, and then it starts raining so bad. And you're like, shit, dude, we drove all this way.

You're thinking of all that stuff. And you felt like that's a real anchor gate. Exactly. Oh, especially for us, because we don't have like, yeah, we're not doing that as much. We're working it to get there. So anyway, when the whole festival got rained out for an hour, but everybody ended up in our tent because we were the one. Lucky.

The one. Yeah. And so like. It was meant to be. It was, man. And that was like my favorite, one of my favorite sets of the whole fucking summer, just because like that energy was there. And I felt like, like you said, with the thing with the fire in Paris, you're like, all right,

something's on my side a little bit, at least today. You know, and then I ended up getting to sit in with you and Leftover Sam and Kelly Williams all kind of because of that. Yeah. And it's fucking crazy how shit happens. then people wonder why i mean you're an amazing guitar player you really are i'm trying dude you're doing great you remind me you look i don't know if just because you look like him but you remind me of trucks i love him and all the almonds stuff you know yeah when did you start getting into all that stuff uh you know i was into the

almonds like mildly when i was a teenager but i got so into old school blues at that time that the blues rock stuff like i kind of like you push it away because i feel like if i'm gonna be really legit i'm gonna listen to only the oldest coolest old school you know deepest shit which is cool to go there but anyway like i got more into the almonds when i was a little like little like like probably like 18 18. I saw Derek Trucks play when I was 17. Have you heard of him before? I had heard of him, but I was like, you got to remember, I've been living in Cheyenne.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's not like these people are coming to town. The fucking Allman Brothers aren't coming to town. You know what I'm saying? Totally. It's like maybe Garth Brooks one time during the summer, which I'm not going to, you know, and then whatever cover bands are, like,

happening at the bars at the time, you know? So anyway, like, we got on a festival, that festival in Fort Collins, Bohemian Nights, New West Fest, you know, and then whatever cover bands are like happening at the bars at the time, you know? So anyway, like we got on a festival, that festival in Fort Collins, Bohemian Nights, New West Fest, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they were headlining it. That's a great fest. It is, man. We played it a bunch growing up and like they were headlining it and it was just when Zadowski

Trucks Band like became a thing. And anyway, I don't know, man. They just like blew me away. I had never heard improvising on that level, I guess. And that's the thing I was thinking about today that I was like, probably one of the reasons I fell in love with blues so much early on is because they're like improvising.

Like they're structured to the tune, but what they're playing is just what they feel. And then like seeing a band that is such strong improvisers as that band, like blew me away at the time. You know what I mean? So that kind of like, you know when something happens

that kind of changes your trajectory just by one notch? Yeah. You know you know it like it was one of those so then i got really into the the allman brothers thing and like the jam thing and i ended up getting to be on a record with warren haynes because of otis on an otis record what what did you get to talk to warren not really you know but it was it was still fucking cool i was like 20 and i was like i didn't think i would ever get to do anything like that. I was planning on like living in a van or whatever if I had to. And still haven't had to, but you know, whatever. Let's go.

I'll clap to that. That's a win. That's a win. Let's go. But then I'm getting to play with Warren and it was like, that blew my mind. So I've just been into that stuff since then. But yeah, I'm totally a trucks fan and like a Dwayne fan,

of course. And then I felt like you guys have the really close tone, the same tone. Is that, I'm not, I'm have the really close tone, the same tone. Is that, I'm not, I'm dumb with how guitar tone gets made and style. Like,

is it a style thing or is it like you have the same amps? I think part of it is like, I don't, I don't like to use a lot of, a lot of pedal type of gear

too much. I'm not like a snob about it, but I just, it's just, even when I do plug them in, I forget that they're there a lot of the time. You know what I mean? So like that thing and then i like this really full range type of sound so

there's like if you want to get like kind of nerdy about it it's like the the like stevie ray vaughan type of sounds with the like the ibanez tube screamer you know it's like the overdrive pedal that's way more compressed and a little more like nasally type of sound and the other side of it is like full range overdrive which doesn't like compress the amp so much and it more sticks to like the amps kind of tube tone that's the kind of drive i like so i think maybe and and because of players like him and jimmy herring and dwayne allman and dickie betts like that kind of cleanish overdrive like it's it's more clear it's not super fuzzy and whatever so i like that sound which is probably still coming from like the bb king thing

and freddie king and so just because i'm so into like the blues thing isn't it amazing how many people those guys inspired yeah it's it's fucking nuts like the whole sound yeah even just like that tracing back just right there it's like well obviously they're playing like that because it's coming from yeah the original cats you know totally so i think just like that awareness and i think we probably i don't know derrick trucks, but I think we probably listen to a lot of the same shit. Just because it's like, I love gospel, old school gospel music and all the Southern stuff, you know, like I was listening to Mississippi Fred McDowell last night with a bunch of gospel singers from Como, Mississippi. It's like, I like that deep, greasy, swampy shit. Well, it's like swampy and like grease type of stuff, like playing on the backside of the beat, you know, like that's something I'm really into.

And I try to have be kind of a staple of our sound a little bit. You write songs like that? Yeah. Yeah. And try to keep it like and even just the way that I approach like funk music and stuff is like a little more on the greasy side than on the up front end of it side. And I'm trying to work on that and get better just like with vocabulary to be able to go on on both ends of the spectrum more but like that greasy stuff you know what i'm saying like that's what i'm really into and so i think that's like a thread in a lot of those groups you know you got your sound you're you're fucking in your prime baby i like it you're just keep

you're you're just you never plateau and you keep moving step by step trying how hard is it to be in a band of your caliber right now after covid uh it's a bitch for a lot of reasons one of which is like you know you know how the grind is and you know how like there there are different parts of the grind where like you'll kind of shoot up a little bit more you'll be like working really hard just barely moving and then you'll kind of just catch a wave. We were like at an early stage of kind of catching one of those waves. Cause we had just signed with a really good booking agency, Madison house. And before then we had never had an agency. So anytime that I was out on the road, like we were pounding the keys, sending emails, trying to make that shit happen. You know how it

is. You were doing it. You're hustling it. Oh yeah. Good for you. And I would have like maybe one other person helping, you know? And then finally like got a, got good management, got a booking agency. So they start booking the summer. And that's when we felt like, all right, we've got this thing that we do and we know it's like got some power to it. We just need to get out there and do it consistently. Cause you know, when you're trying to do it yourself, it's like, it takes forever to get one, two or books. So it felt like we were kind of hitting one of those points.

Then COVID happened and all the shit that we had worked for just got put on pause or whatever. That's got to be the hardest when you're a new, and like you're just getting in the ears and eyes of people. Yeah, that was what was weird. Like a lot of people talked about it being a break and like kind of nice. And I get that. But like for me, it was like, oh shit,

we were just kind of getting there to where I felt like we might, you know, get, pick up some steam. So that was super frustrating, but I feel like we picked it up this summer. I feel like all those bands, all your, the bands at your level, because the bands are like our level and bigger. Like I'm not even in a big band, but like I have, was in enough level where, you know, I could take a chill pill. For you guys, when you're on your grind and you're just starting your grind, you're like, fuck this. I don't want to fucking stop. I know. Cause you know how it is. You're trying to get people to remember your name your name because you're like like you're trying to do something so powerful to them that

they fucking remember your name you know what i'm saying so right when you're starting to get there and then it gets pulled away it felt like the rug got pulled out from under us but man i'm like grateful for this year and dude i want to talk about your shit because i i've been thinking about this ever since we started or when we hung out at Floyd Fest, I guess. But I, uh, when I first played with you, I don't know if you remember this, but we played at Globe Hall. Oh fuck. And it wasn't that long ago. It was like maybe like five years. Yeah. Yeah.

That was the first time we were really starting to get somewhere in Denver. Yeah. And that was, that was crazy. It's crazy to me because like, that was not that long ago. It was Globe Hall. It was great. It was the shit. It was the first time I had met you, but like there was like a hundred people in Globe Hall, which was crazy to me because like that was not that long ago it was globe hall it was great it was the shit it was the first time i had met you but like there's like 100 people in globe hall which was awesome to me i was like this is it this is success if i can do this in every city in this country i'm in then like the next time i saw you i didn't play with you but i just happened to be there you were at the other side it serves yeah yeah and it was fucking packed and that's when i was like oh this dude just is catching one of those waves.

Because I knew you had been working for years and years and years. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I saw like the wave, right? You know what I mean? When you catch one. And then the next time I saw you was at Floyd Fest. And now all this stuff is going so well for you

and I'm so excited about it. But you inspire me because I know that you worked so long, like moving like, you know, not static, but you know, just a couple steps at a time. Yeah, yeah. Baby steps, but like moving like, you know, not static, but you know. Just a couple steps at a time. Yeah, yeah, baby steps, but it takes forever, you know. And then I've just like seen you,

even though I don't know you that well, I've seen you the past few years do the thing. Yeah. But after working so hard for so long that there had to be times that you thought about giving up. Dude, I still think about giving up. Exactly.

And it inspires me, man, because I always get heady about like not being where you want to be at your certain age or whatever. Like, fuck, people have passed me by. And then I remember like, no, man, the real cats work real hard for a long time. And then things click along the way. And so you're inspiring me like that for real, man. Thanks, Taylor.

That means a lot, bro. Keeps me positive. You know what it is, too? It's just like not looking at other people's success and be on your own fucking path. Not comparing yourself. Not comparing yourself because that's what's going to kill you. That's what's going to make your fucking dreams devalue. Yeah.

So you just got to appreciate small victories and just keep moving forward. Like a fucking soldier, dude. Because it'll fuck you musically, too. It will. Comparing yourself. And it's like, dude, you don't sound like that guy. Why are you trying to, you know what I mean? Like, you're not supposed to sound like that guy.

That's the problem with the music industry. One band catches a wave and everyone wants to start doing that. Chase the trend. Yeah, and then the minute they put out the record, they're already at a different trend. Yep. So you got to be individual. You got to fucking put your dick out there every goddamn day, Taylor. Dig.

And get it um what do you what do you love about like the progression of your career if you could say anything uh man like i know it might sound a little cliche but like i'm a people person and i fucking love i didn't realize that this is was to be my favorite thing about music aside from the actual playing of music on stage. But just the way that your community grows, your personal community. I have, and you're like this even more so than me because you're further down the road, but you have communities that feel like family in all these different geographical locations all over the country or even world and i am so into that connection like i i'm the kind of person that like i'll spend time

talking on the phone all day if i have it just to friends to catch up you know what i mean because i like or i like to hang i don't go skiing i don't i don't have shit like that other than music yeah i hang the fuck out with people, like exactly like we're doing right now. That's what I like to do. I like to drink and smoke and chill and hang out with people because I'm passionate about people. So it's like with music, people love musicians, especially if you're actually a cool person. You know what I mean? And you get like this network of people throughout the country. I don't know, man, I just feel so close to so many people, both people I play music with and people that are just, you know, a part of the throughout the country. I don't know, man. I just feel so close to so many people. Both people I play music with

and people that are just, you know, a part of the scene some way. People let you stay at their fucking house. You know what I mean? All that kind of stuff of being on the road has become like my favorite thing. It's just that connection. And it can be super personal

or it can just be with like the audience. But either way, man, like I didn't realize that that's probably why i'm in it aside from just the fact that i like playing the guitar and stuff i always think yeah i always think of that too it's like okay great you love music you're passionate about music but you gotta love the hang you have more yeah especially being on the road because the show if you want to be a touring band yeah what are you guys gonna do for 14 hours exactly and you know how the drives are so you posted something that cracked me up,

like, you know, nothing like a day off that's actually an 11-hour drive, you know? Yeah, exactly. And it's like that shit, you have got to be, you've got to have your head and kind of heart in that hang, I feel like. And that's like when the bands get the strongest, I feel like, too.

And at least in my experience. Yeah, bonding. Yeah, exactly. And you have to love it. You can't be like, God damn this fucking drive and then we have to sit around, sound check. Like we have days

we feel like that. But in general, if that's your attitude, you're fucked, man. Like you should keep it local. You know what I'm saying? Because then the whole rest of the day is hard.

To me, the show is like the fun, easy part. Yeah, that's the present moment. Yeah, that's what we get us high to keep us going. But that other stuff is what we have to accept is going to be our life. Yeah, and you've got to keep a sense of humor about it. Obviously, you guys are great with that, you and Nick and everybody.

But man, that thing of laughing down the road with people is my favorite thing in the world. Dude, it makes everything so much better. Enjoy the company you're with. Don't fight. If you don't like someone fucking i mean some some bands is hard you're like if you don't like them fucking kick them out i get it right you can't kick them out but like try to have fun with each other i know man and like it's not that hard i feel like to if you're halfway self-aware you know but like mostly when people aren't fucking not getting along is because they don't like the touring uh-huh you know i don't want to sleep on another couch or share a room

again or all that it's gotta be harder with the old cats in your band yeah you gotta get them hotels yeah spoil them dog it's different it is definitely different than just jumping in the van with friends now they're my close friends but when i first met them it was like yo i'm hiring you for a gig yeah we go on the road because like john warts is one of my best friends he's been in my band since i was 19 you know so like basically everywhere i've been other than the otis thing john has been there too so like and that dude he was he's older than me by maybe i don't know i don't know 10 or 15 years but like he always treated me with respect and shit you know what i mean on the road and he was always cool about it. But sometimes, yeah, it's pressure to try to make sure everybody's comfortable on the road.

That shit gets out. We used to go to this place. Have you ever been to Edmonton? Edmonton. Alberta? No. Canada? Yeah.

You guys play in Canada? Oh, yeah, man. You popping out there? Hell yeah. Let's go. Let's go. He's popping to Canada. Let's go, Tay.

Oh, man. There was this club that... I don't know if they... I don't think they do this anymore. I think they got a new ownership or something. But from the time I was 19 until about two years ago, this club up there called Blues Hong White that you could do seven night residency. Two ring bands. They would let you come play for seven nights.

So the first five nights, there was nobody there. You're just practicing, basically, you know. But it's still a wild place. And they'll hook you up for dinner every night. Oh, yeah. They'll make it happen. and they paid pretty good so we'd go sit up there for a week and the weekends were fucking nuts but the hotel was like next door and it was pretty disgusting and the word oh hell yeah you were blacking out yeah so you but i was blacking out but like your

boy is like we're going to fucking bed you're gonna enjoy yourself exactly man and like man we came in the first time that we were there like my neighbors at the hotel the people on either side of me one was a live-in hooker and the other dude died from an od while i was there you know and they like pulled him out so i'm like guys the hotel is a little rough you know what i'm saying but you know if you get you can change rooms if you need to if your room smells like smoke or something, whatever, we'll make it work. Then we walk in and they're pulling a dude out on a fucking gurney. Welcome to Canada, boys!

It's like, welcome to Blues on White, baby. You know? But that kind of shit. And then you're looking at guys that, in my case, are like sometimes twice as old as me or more. And I respect them musically and whatever. And you're like, fuck, I'm sorry I have to stick you in this situation. No, they love it. They believe they believe and they were cool about it always that's yeah that's the shit um taylor wow what a story and i can't wait we're gonna do a deeper

we're gonna go deep dive into yeah the mind of taylor scott in another episode but i just want people to get to know that taylor taylor is an amazing guitar player out of Colorado. His band's starting to get a buzz and I wanted to get him on the show because he deserves it. You deserve fucking all the success in the world because you work hard. You're a genuine dude

and you're fucking likable, dude. You're not a dick. I appreciate that. I'm trying not to be a dick. All right. So I got one last thing. Oh, first, before we do that, where can people find your music?

Where can people find your Instagram? It's modestly titled Taylor Scott Band. Oh, yeah. And Instagram, Taylor Scott Band and Spotify or wherever you listen to stuff. We got new music out that we're putting out every six weeks or so right now. Let's go. Yeah. All right, Taylor.

I want you to pump up our crowd for the week. I want you to, if people are having a hard time, I want you to give them some optimism for the week. Are you ready? I think I'm ready. Let's fucking go. All right. What I try to do

is keep it smoking, drinking, and chilling. You know what I'm saying? Hell yeah. Keep it light. When I'm feeling a little bad, right now, we're back home,

a lot of us. We're off the road. You know, things are a little less busy, so you got to find a way to keep it smoking, drinking, and chilling at home. So for me, I'm trying to spend time safely, of course, when you can, with people that I really

love that I haven't got to see throughout the craziness of the summer. So if you're feeling a little fucked up right now, or maybe you got that seasonal thing, we know the time just changed, that shit fucks with me a little bit, man. Me too, bro. You know what? I'm trying to go to bed earlier, get up a little earlier, make sure I'm spending time with my friends, keep it wholesome, cook a meal.

That's what I'm talking about. We're coming off the road. Cook a meal, man. Cook a meal with a friend. It'll make you feel better. Well, amen. Thanks for being on the show, buddy. Baila Fleck and Taylor Scott.

What a fucking episode. Cheers, man. Let's get it, bro. Thanks for coming, buddy. Thanks for having me. All right, guys. Have a great week and we'll talk to you soon.

We'll talk to you in seven days. You in to the world's having podcast with andy fresco now in its fourth season thank you for listening to this episode produced by any fresco joe angelo and chris lawrence we need you to help us save the world and spread the word please subscribe rate the show give us those crazy stars iTunes, Spotify, wherever you're picking this shit up. Follow us on Instagram at world saving podcast for more info and updates. Fresco's blogs and tour dates you'll find at andyfresco.com. And check our socials to see what's up next. Might be a video dance party, a showcase concert, that crazy shit show or whatever springs to Andy's wicked brain.

And after a year of keeping clean and playing safe, the band is back on tour. We thank our brand new talent booker Mara Davis. We thank this week's guest, our co-host and all the fringy frenzies that help make this show great. Thank you all. And thank you

for listening. Be your best, be safe and we will be back next week.