Deering Live

We’re back with Deering Live featuring the two leaders of the band Goodnight, Texas, Avi Vinocur and Patrick Dyer Wolf. Goodnight, Texas is an American folk rock band named after the town of Goodnight, Texas, the geographic midpoint between the working locations of songwriters Avi in San Francisco and Patrick in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The band uses a number of acoustic instruments in their s...

In this episode of Deering Live we'd like to welcome back Deering Banjo artist Tray Wellington! Join us as Tray dives deep into the world of incorporating non-traditional tunes into your 5-string banjo playing. Tray is a master at pushing the boundaries of the banjo, and you won't want to miss his insights! Tray will also be discussing his latest album, 'Detour To the Moon,' which was just release...

We're excited to feature longtime Deering Banjo Artist, Tony Trischka back on Deering Live. In this episode we are going to go deep into the creation of his new album, "Earl Jam: A Tribute To Earl Scruggs".  Listen to Tony play some tunes from the record and talk about the story of how it came to be. Learn more about Tony's signature Deering Golden Clipper banjo that he is playing here: https...

We're delighted to welcome back the renowned melodic clawhammer banjoist Ken Perlman to Deering Live. He'll be sharing insights and demonstrations on playing the vibrant fiddle tunes from Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island in the clawhammer style. Additionally, we'll delve into Ken's latest book covering this fascinating subject. http://kenperlman.com

Banjo player, singer, songwriter, percussive dancer, choreographer, and square-dance caller, Oakland, CA-based Evie Ladin returns to Deering Live to share tips and techniques for jams that may or may not be specific to old-time string band music. https://evieladin.com

Dobro legend and ProPik player Jerry Douglas may not be known for playing banjo, but he is probably more qualified than most to talk about it. With an extensive resume to his name, Jerry has played with some of the greatest players to ever live. In this episode, we get to pick the mind of a man who has seen and played with the creme de la creme.

Self-proclaimed Irish Bluegrass quartet JigJam is back on Deering Live to talk about their new album. 'Across the Pond', the songwriting process, and the unique Irish/Bluegrass crossover. The band has also relocated to the US since their last appearance on the show, so we will find out all about it!

We are beyond excited to feature Bela Fleck on our next episode of Deering Live. Bela has taken the 5-string banjo to more musical landscapes than anyone else and always at the highest of levels. He has been nominated in more musical categories than anyone in Grammy history. His latest project, released this past February, expands and explores George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue by paying homa...

We are happy to welcome back Bennett Sullivan to Deering Live. Bennett is a fantastic bluegrass banjoist as well as great teacher. He is the founder of the online bluegrass banjo teaching side Daily Banjo Licks which delivers a new bluegrass banjo lick right to your inbox every day, with it broken down slowly and with tab in a video. On today’s episode, Bennett will show us some of these licks and...

Colton Crawford is the banjo player for high energy four-piece string band The Dead South. We catch up with him just before the release of the bands upcoming album to find out whats new, and to talk about his ever growing collection of banjos! Hailing from Canada, The Dead South bring a sound, speeds like a train past that intentionally explores the grittier, rowdier spaces of the bluegrass world....

Jayme Stone is a banjo player, composer, producer, and educator. On any given day, you might find him in his studio reworking a little-known hymn learned from a field recording, producing a session with musicians from Bamako or New York, creating experimental soundscapes. Stone has developed a process of trawling for understudied sounds in the more arcane corners of the world to see how they’ll la...

The always amazing Jens Kruger joins us to celebrate our 100th episode to answer your questions and to talk about anything and everything banjo! We will also be inviting 3 guests to ask their questions to Jens live in the Deering Live studio, as well as hang out before the show goes live.

Deering Live is honored to host the Steve Martin Banjo Prize 2023! Jamie and David from Deering Live will be joined by special guest Alison Brown as we reveal the 2023 Steve Martin Banjo Prize winners. This episode of Deering Live is presented by the Freshgrass Foundation, The Steve Martin Charitable Foundation, and Compass Records. Special thanks to Tom Adler (  @BanjoChief  ) for the u...

Yasmin Williams hails from Virginia and is a multi-instrumentalist and film composer. She is best known on social media as @guitar.yaz where her 22,000 fans are constantly treated to beautiful and joyful renditions in her own unique style, often on her Goodtime Americana banjo. Always smiling, Yasmin has received critical acclaim from numerous major publications including The New York Times, Pitch...

Rex McGee is one of the most creative and technically able players of the 5-string banjo alive today, though his non-musical career as a pharmacist has kept him largely anonymous from a larger audience. Rex McGee is known by 3-finger style banjo players all over the world as a leading innovator for the instrument. He holds a high reputation amongst his musical peers and this extends to other instr...

This week on Deering Live, we're excited to introduce you to the incredible talent of Gabe Hirshfeld, a prominent 5-string banjo player hailing from the Boston area. Beyond his remarkable banjo performances in the Boston scene, Gabe is also renowned for his expertise in banjo setup and holds a profound knowledge of the instrument's history and intricacies. Join us for a captivating conversation wi...

This week we will be talking all things New Orleans tenor banjo with our very own Director of Marketing, David Bandrowski. We will talk about his beginnings as a tenor player in New Orleans, the role of the instrument in jazz, as well as other genres. We will even dig into a few fundamental lessons on the instrument. David also has a phenomenal album out called French Onion Superman which is well...

We are excited to feature Deering Banjo artist and 2023 IBMA Banjo Player Of the Year Kristin Scott Benson back on Deering Live to talk about Up The Neck backup playing. Kristin is one of the best straight-ahead bluegrass banjo players that has ever played the instrument and she is a fantastic teacher so don’t miss out on this opportunity to listen to her play and talk about what she does.

Skip, Stop, and Alternate - An Introduction to Alternate Rhythms and Rests for the Clawhammerist With Chris Coole In this week’s show we’ll be talking with Chris Coole about some clawhammer banjo techniques to bring your playing to another level.  These techniques will help you create and play different rhythms other than the standard bump-ditty rhythm. We’ll also be talking about the new rec...

This week on Deering Live we are featuring Graham Sharp from the Steep Canyon Rangers. We will be diving into ways to use the 5-string banjo to enhance/support a song. The 5-string banjo is too often focused on being a lead instrument but it also can provide a great texture for a singer or other lead instrument to play on top of. Be sure to watch and pick up some great ideas!

This week on Deering Live we're really happy to feature Chris Pandolfi. Chris is a founding member of the Infamous Stringdusters, a group that has been bringing music that features bluegrass music instrumentation to audiences far beyond the confines of traditional bluegrass, and who won the Grammy award in 2018 for Bluegrass Album Of The Year. As well as playing in the Stringdusters, Chris is busy...

With the Americana Folk gathering just around the corner, we invite George Grove, Jens Kruger, and our very own Greg Deering to talk about this year's event. During the conversation, we will undoubtedly have great fun sharing stories, memories of previous camps, as well as discussing the 2023 camp and the Kruger Brothers concert that Greg Deering will be hosting! Click here for more info! https://...

This week we are excited to feature award winning banjoist and Compass Records founder Alison Brown on Deering Live. In this episode Alison will demonstrate different ways to play blues tunes on the banjo with different soloing and comping ideas. We’ll also be talking about Alison’s new record that came out this past May called “On Banjo” and more! Be sure to tune in!

Cory Walker, banjoist for East Nash Grass—their new album Last Chance to Win is coming August 18th via Mountain Fever. East Nash Grass is a supergroup of sorts... a supergroup of young side players for some of the most notable names in bluegrass. The lineup includes bassist Jeff Picker (Ricky Skaggs, Sarah Jarosz, Nickel Creek), Harry Clark on mandolin (The Dan Tyminski Band, The Wo...

Ashley Campbell and Thor Jensen form a unique meeting of musical genres as the duo Campbell/Jensen. This week, they join us to talk about their new self-produced album, the joys of making stripped-back music together, and how their musical differences intertwine to create a beautiful sound. Campbell/Jensen is currently fundraising for the costs of producing the album via IndieGoGo. If you like wha...