What's The Reason For This Podcast

🎧 This week on What’s the Reason for This? , Kodi sits down in the dungeon with viral artist and musician Justin Barona (Just Tat Em) for his first-ever podcast appearance — a necessary, difficult conversation that directly addresses a real controversy and the consequences that followed. The episode centers on the backlash sparked by posts shared by Justin’s wife , which circulated widely and inc...

🎧 This week on What’s the Reason for This? , Kodi and Shay sit down with guitarist and songwriter Tom Hamilton Jr. to dive deep into his first-ever solo album under his own name , I’m Your Vampire 🩸🖤 — out January 23 . This episode is all about the songs, the process, and the moment that pushed Tom to finally make this record. 🎸✨ After decades of collaboration across genre-defining projects,...

🎧 This episode of What’s the Reason for This? Kodi and Shay drop back into the dungeon with Tonewood String Band for a no-holds-barred, laugh-heavy, deeply honest conversation about what it really takes to make a debut full-length album — from crowdfunding stress 😅💸 to studio self-doubt 🧠😵‍💫 to finally holding the finished record in your hands 💿🙌. Fresh off the release of Heart of the Pret...

🎧 This episode of What’s the Reason for This? is a little different — and a whole lot festive. Kodi and Shay coming to you from the dungeon to discuss a recent session from the newly christened Dungeon West to break down everything you need to know about the 4th Annual Jingle Jam , one of Colorado’s most beloved end-of-year bluegrass traditions. 🎄🪕✨ After some legendary technical difficulties...

🎧 This week on What’s the Reason for This? , Kodi and Shay sit down in the dungeon with one of the most influential architects of Colorado’s music culture — Scotty Stoughton of Bonfire Entertainment . 🌲🔥 The man behind WinterWonderGrass, Baja WonderGrass, Small Town for the Cause, river trips, and some of the most meaningful gatherings in modern roots music joins us for a deep, inspiring, wide-...

🎧 This week on What’s the Reason for This? , Kodi and co-host Shay hang in the dungeon with the absolute rip-roaring bluegrass crew Deer Creek Sharpshooters — fresh off their basement session and rolling deep into Colorado’s picking scene. 🪕🔥 What starts as classic dungeon chaos quickly turns into a real-deal origin story: how a group of lifelong friends from the Mid-Atlantic turned a post-high...

🎧 This week on What’s the Reason for This? , Kodi heads back into the dungeon with guest co-host Dave and very special guest Alana Rocklin — bassist of Sound Tribe Sector Nine (STS9) — for a deep-dive into the band’s first studio record in nearly a decade, Human Dream , and the wild full-circle journey that took Alana from fan to family. 🎶✨ From opening STS9’s first-ever Chicago show in 2001 🤯...

🎧 This week on What’s the Reason for This? , Kodi drops back into the dungeon with Colorado’s roots-rock homies Drunken Hearts — fresh off a live basement session and riding a big wave into their next chapter. 🎶🍻 From mountain-town beginnings in Vail 🏔️ to surviving lineup shifts, loss, and the post-COVID rebuild 💥, this convo gets real about how a band keeps becoming itself over and over agai...

🎧 This week on What’s the Reason for This? , Kodi sits down with the man behind one of the hottest podcasts in the jam scene — Clint Dodson of All Jammed Up ! 🎶🔥 From Billy Strings runs and Hulaween chaos 🎸🌀 to media passes, imposter syndrome, and the art of staying authentic, this convo dives deep into the grind, the growth, and the gratitude behind building something real. 🙌 Clint opens up...

🎙️ This week on What’s the Reason for This? , Kodi and Shay sit down with one of the most beloved pickers in the jamgrass world — Andy Thorn of Leftover Salmon ! 🎶 You might know him as the banjo-slinging wizard who went viral for serenading a fox 🦊 outside his home in the Colorado hills… but there’s so much more to Andy’s story than that one magical moment. From his bluegrass roots in North Car...

This week on What’s the Reason for This? , Kodi sits down with the legendary Matt Mundy — the mandolin master whose innovative style helped shape the sound of the Aquarium Rescue Unit and the jamgrass movement that followed. From growing up in a bluegrass family in the deep South to jamming with icons like Béla Fleck , Sam Bush , and Oteil Burbridge , Matt takes us on a journey through decades of...

🎙️ Kodi flies solo this week for a deep-dive conversation with guitarist, gear wizard, and Jerry Tone Store founder Jay Faires — a man on a mission to decode the electric alchemy behind Jerry Garcia’s legendary sound. From growing up jamming bluegrass in Tennessee to reverse-engineering vintage amps and building a tone empire online, Jay’s story hits every note of obsession, discovery, and pure lo...

Kodi & Shay (well, just Kodi this week!) sit down with legendary rock critic and Lou Reed biographer Anthony DeCurtis for an electric conversation that spans decades of music history — from the British Invasion to bluegrass revival, jam bands, and what keeps great music timeless. 🎸 This episode dives deep into how music shapes culture, community, and identity — and why open-mindedness might b...

Kodi & Shay sit down with Larry Keel — two-time Telluride Flatpicking Champion , bluegrass legend, and all-around mountain soul — for a deep dive into 🎸 roots, reinvention, and finding your center after 30+ years on the road. ☕ The guys kick things off with a caffeine-fueled chat before diving into Larry’s Virginia upbringing — where a banjo-picking dad, a musical brother, and a tight-knit A...

Kodi & Shay sit down with Luciya and Soraya Sullivan — The Sullivan Sisters — for a deep dive into 🎶 bluegrass beginnings, sisterhood, and the journey from backyard jams to record deals. 👩‍🎤 The duo joins from opposite coasts — Soraya calling in from Berklee College of Music in Boston and Luciya from her senior year of high school in Evanston, IL — proving that talent has no age limit. 🏆 F...

After a brief delay we are back! 💪 Grab your megaphone and a stein of Breck Brew 📣🍺 because things get loud and bluegrassy at Oktoberfest in Littleton! This chaotic, hilarious, and heartwarming episode dives deep with Silas Herman (yes, Vince Herman’s kid!) and The Tone Unit as they talk about music, fatherhood, train songs, and why the bassist never gets to solo. We’ve got fiddle stories, dad...

After a month-long hiatus (thanks to a full-on cyberattack 💻🔥), What’s the Reason for This? is BACK with Kodi & Shay in rare form. From losing their YouTube channel and email to clocking 3.6 MILLION views in 30 days 🚀, this episode is equal parts chaos, comedy, and comeback story. You’ll hear about: ✨ The hack that almost shut everything down 🤘 Why Billy Strings fans are pushing for blueg...

This week, Kodi and Shay welcome banjo powerhouse and IBMA Songwriter of the Year nominee, Brenna MacMillan . From her Kentucky roots to her Nashville grind, Brenna’s journey blends tradition, resilience, and artistry in unexpected ways. She opens up about: ✈️ Touring the world (including an international festival in Tunisia) and why musicians really get a “bathroom tour” more than sightseeing. 🎶...

This week, Kodi & Shay sit down with Jeremy Garrett of The Infamous Stringdusters for a deep dive into 🎶 bluegrass roots, jamgrass evolution, and the art of pushing boundaries. 👴 The guys kick things off with some “this is 40” aches & pains before Jeremy reminds them he just turned 50 and is still raging harder than ever. 🎼 From teaching at RockyGrass Camp with his daughter to sharing t...

🎙️ Season 2 Kicks Off with a Bang! 💥🚀🎨✍️ No more excuses, b*tches — Season 2 of What’s the Reason for This? is officially here! 🎉 After cranking out 60+ episodes last year, we’re back, rearranged, upgraded 🔧🎛️, and ready to cause even more podcast chaos. To kick things off, we brought back fan-favorite artist Owen Murphy (One Drop Design) 👨‍🎨. From poster walls to live painting at Red Rocks...

In this banjo-fueled episode of What’s the Reason for This? , Kodi chats with the one-and-only Béla Fleck 🪕✨ — a living legend who has reinvented bluegrass, jazz, classical, and everything in between. Here’s what you’ll hear: 🎶 New Grass Revival origins → the misunderstood meaning of “newgrass” and how it shaped a generation 🌱🎵 🪕 Béla’s musical curiosity → blending bluegrass with jazz 🎷, Ce...

In this special RockyGrass episode, we sit down with Steve Szymanski , co-founder of Planet Bluegrass , the visionary behind Telluride Bluegrass, Folks Fest, and RockyGrass. Steve shares how a chance encounter in the late ’80s led him into the bluegrass world and eventually to shaping the thriving festival culture we know today. We dive into: 🌱 The Origin Story – How a struggling festival and a m...

Live from RockyGrass in Lyons, Colorado 🌲🎶, we’re taking you behind the curtain of the festival magic! Instead of spotlighting just the bands, this episode dives deep into the unsung heroes —the stagehands, volunteers, and the tight-knit crew that makes the music flow seamlessly. Our guest, Eric Abramson 👷‍♂️🎛️, shares stories from his dual life as a firefighter 🚒 and stagehand ninja 🥷, weavi...

This week on What’s the Reason for This? we’re riverside at RockyGrass in Lyons, CO with mandolin ripper Seth Mulder of Midnight Run ! 🌲🎶 From growing up in North Dakota (not exactly a bluegrass hotbed 🤠) to leading a house band in Gatlinburg, Seth’s story is all about chasing sound, building community, and finding his voice on stage. He shares: ✨ The moment Del McCoury shook his hand as a tee...

Live from Lyons, CO, we planted ourselves in the heart of RockyGrass to chat with the absolute barn-burners of Cane Mill Road —and folks, these boys didn’t just blow the roof off… they power-washed it, repainted it Hi-Viz yellow, slapped a dome-swap hat on it, and then crowd-surfed it into the next county. 🧢⚡ We dive headfirst into the glorious chaos, covering everything from viral Wook Fame (ye...