September 12, 2024 • 33 mins
Welcome to the LEGENDS: Podcast by All Day Vinyl, hosted by Scott Dudelson. In this episode, we are thrilled to speak with a music legend and a pivotal figure in the evolution of progressive bluegrass, Jerry Douglas.
Jerry Douglas, a 16-time Grammy Award winner and recent Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductee, has been a trailblazer since the early 1970s. Known for his innovative work with artists like J.D. Crowe & New South, Alison Krauss, and his contributions to over 2,000 album sessions, Jerry has continually pushed the boundaries of bluegrass music.
Join us as we discuss his upcoming solo album, "The Set," featuring re-recordings of some of his classic solo tracks, and explore key moments from his illustrious career. Jerry shares fascinating stories from his time with J.D. Crowe & The New South, his experiences with Eric Claption & the Transatlantic Sessions, and his views on the future of bluegrass with rising stars like Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle.
Don't miss this deep dive into the past, present, and future of bluegrass with one of its most influential artists. Tune in to hear Jerry Douglas' insights, anecdotes, and the passion that continues to drive his remarkable journey in music.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Thank you for listening. This is the Legends Podcast by All Day Vinyl,
and I'm your host, Scott Dettelson.
After you finish this episode, please subscribe, rate, and check us out on Instagram
and YouTube at All Day Vinyl.
Today, I'm excited to speak with a music legend and one of the key innovators
in the birth of progressive bluegrass.
My guest is a 16-time Grammy Award winner, 10-time Academy of Country Music
Award winner, and recent inductee into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.
(00:22):
Since the early 1970s, my guest has been innovating and expanding the boundaries
of bluegrass through his pioneering Dober work with artists like J.D.
Crowe and the New South, Alison Krauss and Union Station, and the over 2,000
album sessions he has contributed to.
In September 2024, my guest will release a new solo album called The Set.
I'm excited to chat with him about this new record and some key moments in his musical history.
(00:44):
I'm pleased to introduce to you the great Jerry Douglas.
Yo, Jerry. Hey, there was some awful nice things you said there. Thank you very much.
Thank you. You've had some awful nice music. Not awfully nice music.
You've had amazing music i mean you're creative i've had awful music
too well after 2000 records i'm sure
there's a few but but all your career has been remarkable and as i mentioned
(01:08):
before as as a musician as a lap steel player you're playing has been quite
an inspiration so i want to start though with with this new record that you
you just released and then go back and talk about a few key moments in your musical history.
Okay. Just releasing in September in a few weeks or in a month,
the set, which I listened to last night and it's great album,
(01:31):
beautiful, very expansive, gorgeous, gorgeous playing.
And a bunch of those songs are re-recordings of songs you had done in the past.
Is that right? That's right.
That's right. I, you know, I had, we do concerts all over the place and,
And people always come up and say, where can I find that song that you guys played?
(01:54):
They may not even know the name of it. The fourth song that you played, where can I find that?
And I have to say, well, it's on a record. I recorded it a long time ago,
but it's on a label that none of us can access at this point.
It's like something on when I was on the MCA Master Series.
(02:16):
We recorded things on there, and then MCA just shelves them all.
They don't know what to do with them. They put them all on the shelf, and I can't access it.
I can't have it back until, I don't know what date.
I think I would just have to die, and then they would do something with it.
(02:36):
But I would have to tell people, I can't point you in a direction,
So I decided to rerecord some of these songs because I, when you write a song,
you don't really know the song and it takes, it takes about a year to,
to really flesh it out and to know the song.
(02:57):
So it's been a long time since I recorded those songs.
And with the band that I have right now, I love the way they play the songs.
I mean, this, this band, I just love the sound, the overall sound of this band.
So i put a we did record some
songs so i would could have them
all in one place and so somebody could walk away with
(03:17):
this with this record and walk away with the whole show in their hand you know
it's kind of like it's kind of like a set list and it is too they are tunes
that we play on a regular basis they're some of the new ones that we did record
we haven't played as much.
But we there's nothing on there that we haven't
(03:38):
played for at least six months
or a year so we kind of we know it we're
it's not brand new to us and we're not being careful we're going to we're going
to shoot for the stars you know we're going to we're going to try to make it
as as great as possible and i love the band and i'm playing with daniel kimbrough
playing bass mike seal is He's an amazing electric guitar player.
(04:01):
I mean, and, and Christian Settlemyer, just the sweetest violin,
you know, and, but these guys are all like jazz standards too, right?
Yeah. So there's a, there's a wide, there's a wide,
sort of a wide berth that we, that we climb around in and we bring different,
(04:26):
different kinds of music into, into the songs.
Songs and but but i really wanted to really wanted to make this record that
i could point people to and said you can hear all of the songs that we just
played and you can take that home with you i kind of got the idea from i i do
this thing called transatlantic sessions that's in.
(04:48):
Starts in scotland every year and we tour it now it used to be it was a tv show
for we did six Six, six different shows and they had six episodes each.
So it was a lot of music and it was from people all over the, all over the map.
And it was just a collaboration thing. And we throw people together. And.
(05:11):
And when that was over, it was over. It never happened again.
The show would never happen again. Cause those people would never be put together
in that combination again.
So it's kind of like it was an experiment and that, and they all went really well.
Yeah. So we decided to start recording the first two nights and pull,
we do the same show, but we pull the best performances.
(05:34):
And then by the third or fourth gig, we would have the whole show,
you know, or the best of the show recorded and on a CD, which are slowly going away as well.
But yeah, that's a vinyl right now back there. Yes, sir.
That'll be around forever. And so it was just, it was one of those things where
(06:00):
I wanted people to be able to leave with the show like they do with the transatlantic one.
You know, they can, they can actually buy the CD of what they just heard. Yeah. Yeah.
Maybe, maybe, you know, the first couple of nights were scarier than the rest
after we got settled down. So they actually may be more exciting because of
(06:22):
the fear running through the band.
Well, I'm glad you brought up the Transatlantic Sessions because there's a connection
between that and the new album you did, While My Guitar Gently Weeps,
which I believe on the Transatlantic Sessions you did with Clapton,
who originally played on the original version.
Yeah, there was a funny conversation we had.
(06:46):
About that when i asked him if he wanted to because i was playing it playing it every night.
On the on the on the shows and eric
eric has been coming to that to that to
the transatlantic shows for the last five or
six years one of his daughters got really
into it and said you gotta you gotta go see this
(07:08):
you have to see this you've never seen anything like this and i
kind of knew him already at that point so i
and he said you might you mind if i come down and watch
the show i said no man i'd love for you to come watch the show
and then and then sooner or later it got
around can i can i get up and play a tune on
the show and i was like whoa yeah
(07:29):
yeah yeah you know and i said you
know this year i'm playing i start the second half
of the the show with where went my
guitar gently weeps and he said oh
really i said yeah would you want to
come up and play on that with me and he said yes he said do you play the chorus
and i said yeah i play the chorus he says i've never played the chorus i said
(07:53):
it's probably because you were singing you know or somebody else took the course
but he played with us that night and then made big news and,
but then we, we came back a couple of months later and went to Abbey road.
I brought the whole transatlantic band down to Abbey road, to the studio too,
(08:15):
where the Beatles cut everything.
And we went in there with Eric and we, and we, we recut, we cut this song called
Sam hall and it's an, it's an Irish protest song from long ago and,
So I produced three or four tracks on Clapton in there for that session.
(08:37):
And a couple of them have already seen light.
And I'm anxious for Sam Hall to get out there.
But yeah, you know, the Beatles didn't want to cut While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
And so George called Eric Clapton, and they made it a hit all by themselves.
Iconic. Iconic. And you do a great version of it.
(08:58):
Thanks. Max, it lays so well on the dobro.
It's just an easier-than-usual chord progression for dobro. It just lays perfectly.
You know, that A minor coming off of that A minor.
A minor is a really fun chord to play in, as you know.
B minor is my favorite, but A minor is a lot of fun, too.
(09:22):
And so so so
we played it there and and and then we decided
to doing this record of the
set i said you know that should be on there that's new
that's new we we need new and we
need old old songs that we
that i recorded a long time ago that i know so much
(09:45):
better now and i know you know they're like
kids that have grown up i know i know all of
the their personality now you know and when
a song is brand new like that you can do anything with it you want to but the
more you play it and and the more you learn about it it just becomes a different
thing than what it originally was absolutely and that's where we are now with
(10:09):
this band i love the way this band plays,
everything i mean i love the sound of the band so it was it was a no-brainer
to to go and cut a whole bunch of these songs that people couldn't find.
And give them access again to songs that were gone.
Well, you do beautiful, beautiful, beautiful versions of them.
(10:29):
I also really like the version of Something You Got you do. I'm familiar with
that through Wilson Pickett.
Yeah. I love the one you do. And I want to ask you a little about,
you know, you've talked about in the past where I've listened to interviews
where you've talked about Josh Graves being one of your heroes and Lester Flats and Earl Scruggs.
And at that time, when Something You Got and While Your Guitar Gently Weeps,
(10:53):
were you, in the late mid-60s, were you into that kind of music as well,
or were you fully immersed into the bluegrass?
Well, it was more of an immersion in bluegrass because of, you know, I was...
Raised in a house where you know there's
a lot of country music but mostly it was bluegrass music
(11:15):
my father played guitar sang lead and had his
own bluegrass band and they were all guys from
west virginia because they had all moved up to ohio
to find work you know in the steel mills so
he had this band that was made up entirely of guys from
west virginia but those guys were good i
mean they they could have mean i i have
(11:37):
tapes listening to them play that are
as good as most bands are now i mean
but they were laborers you know and they
couldn't you know i imagine their dream was
to like take off and you know in a bus or
anything and be a band on the road
you know to feel that but they couldn't you
(11:57):
know they were they had jobs and they had families and they
couldn't they they they're they were
already they were already going to doing what
they were going to be doing you know they couldn't they couldn't leave they
couldn't leave their situations but so i got but i got to grow up and listen
to that and watch people arrange songs what solo goes here who sings with who
(12:21):
here what lines and you know that was like when I was six.
Seven years from there on up.
So this producer hat that I wear once in a while comes pretty natural to me.
There's a lot of history just starting with being six years old and hearing
somebody go, you back the chorus, I'll back the verse. It's like, what's that mean?
(12:45):
Later on, I figured out what that meant and watched it in real time be played
out. There's no better a way to learn than that.
And I love trying to make things better than I found them.
Yeah. And were you better?
(13:08):
Did you come across in those early days? You're one of the innovators,
obviously, in progressive bluegrass.
And, you know, prior to that, the Byrds with Clarence White or even Chris Hillman
and the Dillards and even the Grateful Dead, taking some of those old traditions,
were those stuff come on your radar at those early ages?
(13:28):
Not when I was not at an early age. I remember getting, we did get a record,
though, that was the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers.
Yeah. And Chris Hillman was in that band. And Herb Peterson, too, I think.
And who was, oh, Don Parmley was the banjo player who later on was the leader
(13:49):
of the Bluegrass Cardinals, you know, a highly... Yeah.
Respected bluegrass band and so you
know it's it's easy it's easier
for us bluegrass musicians to
creep into these other genres you know and to
cross the cross the the fence than it is to come the other direction yeah or
(14:15):
or rock players or or you know any classical players or or anybody else folk
musicians to get into bluegrass music because it's such a it's come it's such a physical music.
You know and and and a
geographical kind of music you know most most
people came from the south originally that played that music and
(14:37):
then and then all of a sudden there's tony triska and russ
barenberg and and all these guys in in
new york city you know they all they're all going
they all went cornell they all
went to cornell and met each other up there and started this
bluegrass band and you know
there was no bluegrass anywhere up there you know it was bluegrass is from kentucky
(15:00):
north carolina but no one told them and they just loved it and you know and
and attacked it But from a different angle than a lot of us who heard it growing up,
they didn't hear it growing up, so they went the historical route.
(15:20):
They went back and met. They'd go down to Union Grove and meet all these old-timers
and get the history of it, where they learned it.
And just to be able to figure out...
Just the historical, just the facts about it. And then, then learn the music
(15:42):
because it was all, it was all brand new to them. Yeah.
And, but, but they had just heard like Bela heard, uh, Earl Scruggs play on
the Beverly Hillbillies and that turned him onto banjo and now look at it.
You know, he's the guy that changed banjo from Earl Scruggs.
I mean, there were a lot of people playing differently than Earl Scruggs, different styles.
(16:04):
But nobody took it to a completely different genre the instrument and and and
drug all the bluegrass with him you know all of a sudden in the middle of a
big zeet booba kind of a solo you'll hear you'll hear a scruggs run you know
and you go oh look you hear that you.
It's still there he's still in there and then yeah ed bayla you know we're always we're always
(16:31):
sam and sam bush and i especially are always
on bailout like pull your hand back just a little bit
closer to the bridge you know that's not
bailout bail is bail is you know he's
he's changed that he's changed that when he's so melodic and even and and where
earl scruggs was like dynamic and was like suddenly there'd be this power move
(16:57):
you know in the background when It sounded like the whole band hydroplaned,
you know, it's very exciting when he,
when Earl Scruggs would get up to take a solo,
just pop up out of the band and just sort of lean a little bit. And the band stays here.
He goes here, like he's looking out over the precipice, you know,
and it was exciting because it felt like it was just gave you the same feeling
(17:21):
as hydroplaning in your car.
It was, it was exciting. I don't know what's going to happen here. You know, yeah.
And now that's so exciting about, that's the one thing about bluegrass music that.
Can, in the right hands, these instruments do amazing, amazing things.
Absolutely. And I want to talk about another banjo player that was very influential
(17:44):
in the world of bluegrass and in your life, which is J.D. Crowe.
And about what fascinates me, you know, you had the Newgrass revival,
you had Seldom Seen, and you had J.D. Crowe.
And what fascinates me that progressive bluegrass, a lot of it was built at
a Holiday Inn lounge in Kentucky.
Yeah maybe you could tell tell our listeners just
(18:06):
kind of a little about that scene that red
slipper lounge and how you got involved in that
that world well i have i have tapes
from from from two or three different sources who would from people who would
go make the make the the journey down to lexington kentucky to see this band
(18:29):
play to see jd crow and whoever Whoever was in J.D.
Crowe's band at that point, if it was Doyle Austin and Red Allen or if it was
or if it was Tony Rice and Larry Rice or Ricky or me.
But people would make that trip just to go down there and see that band play
because they played all different kinds of Crowe.
(18:50):
J.D. wanted to be he originally wanted to be a.
He wanted to be an electric guitar player. He wanted to be a telly player.
He wanted to be like, you know, he was raised during the surf time.
The Beach Boys were little kids and just starting and all that kind of stuff.
(19:11):
But it was really the Telecaster that turned J.D.
On as a young kid, along with you
know being such a master at the banjo was as he
was at a very young age but that
stuff would creep into his playing you know
the the real pull pull you start pushing strings
(19:33):
and pulling strings and bending strings instead of
you know just to give it a tougher attitude and they played they played modern
songs because they were playing to a they were playing to in a bar in a hotel
you know so they had to take on some somebody had to yell out you know,
(19:54):
smoke on the water or something once in a while did you guys do smoke on the
water is that's the type of thing you know what boone creek was forced to do
smoke on the water once by this motorcycle gang that was sitting in front of
us i love that i hope there's a tape of that somewhere.
Yeah we paid our dues but
you know we've also played behind chicken wire uh but
(20:17):
and i know jd talked about he'd played behind
plenty of chicken wire down there but that was
that was the thing they would play they would play
all kinds of songs and you are what i am you
know all these chubby checker songs and all these bats domino
all all of these songs you know those those came out of crows earlier life and
(20:39):
he just couldn't let go of them so they played them yeah you know they would
play that kind of stuff and then they would shift into in into crow's world of just flying.
Great banjo, you know, just so much full of, of, of character and,
and, you know, when Crow would love Crow, Crow had a thing that he would do
(21:02):
that was different from any other banjo player.
Or maybe he saw Earl do it.
It but before his solo he was
total deaf quiet you know and
then the first beat of his solo was like boom you know
and it was like you'd be like it was
like a g-force you know and and
(21:23):
it just would it was electric it would raise
everybody up and and same
thing with tony you know or any of us when we get into our solo
we can get into this spot where everything starts to groove the
whole band starts to cook you know yeah that's a
that's a beautiful thing about acoustic music that you
can hear it formulate you know
(21:46):
you can hear it start coming together where electric
bands are more they don't really
use that that avenue to
to put their songs together i think
what we did when i joined that band i was
a totally new sound in that band that i mean
(22:06):
that ricky and tony talked jd into
giving me a try you know and right i heard that jd didn't want a dobro in the
band is that right yeah he no he didn't he thought it had enough voices he didn't
he didn't dislike dobro he just thought they had enough voices you know was
gonna you know but i i said you know i'm I'm not into, I don't care if I play a solo.
(22:28):
Just let me, let me, you know, back of vocals, you know, just be another color
in the palette here. And.
You know, we didn't really have a discussion, those terms that much,
but that's what I was trying to do.
And I think he, he saw that, that that was something they didn't have that he always wanted.
(22:49):
It took a little pressure off of him, but, and it allowed him to be more explosive,
you know, and, uh, it, it was, it, it was a good thing for everybody, especially me.
Me yeah but yeah i wasn't
in that band very long but what we did in that
band for that length in that length of time was amazing yeah
(23:09):
i mean the the record you guys put out well just for the audience
so everybody knows that was a ricky skaggs you bobby
sloan jd crowe and tony rice so probably some
of the best musicians maybe ever to play bluegrass together and
you guys put out an album 0044 which recently
was i think wasn't it uh put into like the national library
(23:31):
of congress as it was yeah it was just inducted into the library of congress
so it's like in stone now yes one of the one of the the landmark mark albums
and when you were recording that did you recognize that there was something
special happening between the five of y'all i i I,
you know, I didn't know that it was going to do what it did explode.
(23:54):
I just knew that it was good. I just knew that it was really good and it hadn't happened before.
There was something, there was something different about it.
And, and I thought this is going to do well, but I wasn't thinking in those terms.
I was thinking about how much fun I was playing the music with,
with JD Crowe and Tony Rice and Rick, you know, I was just happy to be there at that point.
(24:17):
And, and I wasn't really in the band, you know, until a couple of months later,
but I, I knew we were, I knew we were doing something different and,
and I only went in there to, to play on two songs and ended up playing on most of the record.
And that's, that's more or less, I think that's when JD joined the club and
(24:42):
said, okay, this guy's all right.
Yeah. Let's just make, just go ahead and make him part of this record too.
So that was a big that was a big shift and that was a big chance that he took
and JD was just such a great guy never never between me and him there was never
a negative word never negative conversation nothing JD was JD and.
(25:07):
Just a great man and had a great career and was a good, good role model, you know? Yeah.
Cause I was 19 when I joined that band and I was still learning,
you know, how to buy insurance.
I wasn't much less play the guitar, but what an education, you know,
(25:27):
as I was in the country gentlemen and, and enjoying that, you know, enjoying that as well.
Just just be out there be this teenager
out there playing music with these guys you
know who were at the top of the heap was mind-blowing
you know and kind of hard to hold it together sometimes just because i was standing
(25:49):
there with them you know i was still having this hero worship while i'm in the
band with and but that that never left me you know never it still hasn't it
still hasn't I mean, Tony and JD aren't here anymore,
but God, I don't know how you could ever replace them. Me.
They are just going to be absorbed into the lore of bluegrass and, and held high forever.
(26:14):
I hope. And because of what all they did and just what models they were for
the rest of us to, to follow.
And, you know, all these new guitar, there is not a guitar player in bluegrass
music that doesn't play Tony Rice licks. Yeah. It just doesn't happen.
And the same with Crow, you know, and I played with Bill Emerson before I played with J.D.
(26:38):
Crow and Bill Emerson was a lot the same.
I mean, he was also an iconic, had come out of the school of Jimmy Martin.
I don't know how Jimmy Martin beat timing and tone into these guys.
And he did a good thing. He did a very good thing.
And Alan Mundy, who's gone into the Hall of Fame with me, was also one of those
(27:01):
Jimmy Martin banjo players.
I'm curious, what was the reaction at the time from folks like Earl Scruggs
or Jimmy Martin, any of these people that were on the more traditional side?
So I think about Bob Dylan going electric and Pete Seeger wanting to cut the chords.
What was the traditional musician's feedback towards how you guys were progressing?
(27:26):
We got a little pushback. We got a little pushback. It was gentle.
It was, you know, it was...
It wasn't anything nobody said, oh, you guys are not playing bluegrass music
or anything like that. I mean, they were just kind of standing there watching.
And I think knowing that what they had felt when they hit their peak,
(27:48):
they knew what we were feeling.
Yeah. And so I didn't hear any negative comments from anybody like Jimmy Martin
or Bill Monroe or anybody like that.
You know there's the old story about new grass
revival playing for bill monroe and and and they were getting ready to play
(28:10):
bean blossom and and and bill said to sam he said what what is it you call your
music and sam said we call it new grass bill and he said yeah i hate that.
Which really didn't happen i asked sam does it did that really happen and he
said no No, it didn't go like that, but it was pretty close.
(28:33):
He asked Courtney to play banjo with him on his set, and then he heard Courtney
play, and he said, he's not the guy.
But it was a clash of the titans, pretty much.
And no one came away hurt on that one. Well, bluegrass keeps expanding.
(28:55):
And the last thing I want to talk about or ask you about is the future bluegrass.
We've got Molly Tuttle, who you've produced, and Billy Strings,
these people that are taking bluegrass or the bluegrass tradition and expanding it to huge audiences.
I mean, what is your take on all this?
(29:18):
I have played to huge audiences, you know, with, with, with Allison and in union
station in, in the last two years we were out, we were playing to thousands
and thousands of people every night.
And, and it was a great feeling, you know, and it's just a massive thing.
And you're just kind of like, you can't believe all these people are here and
Billy's playing full stadiums and he's still Billy. He's still the same guy.
(29:43):
I met the first time I ever met him. He's the same guy. He's just, he's, he's great.
He's got a great head on his shoulders he took he took the right off off he took the right off ramp.
Yeah in his life you know to take he went
the right direction and i just love him for it i mean he he talks about it but
(30:05):
he but he's just he's one of the he he's one of the old-timer bluegrass guys
in his soul he really is he he when he stands out there and does some song you
know that i I remember my father singing,
you know, to 50,000 people.
And then they're all going, well, I, you know, it's like, it's just amazing
to, to me to think, you mean, I can't, I can't really wrap my head around it
(30:29):
yet. You know, how did this happen?
But it's just one of those things, the stars align. I mean, the,
the business, the end of it was as good as the music end of it.
And, and it worked and that's how, that's why he's where he is.
And we're all so thrilled about it.
And I actually, right after the, the induction ceremony for,
(30:52):
for IBMA, I'm going to renewal the next day.
I'm flying out to hang my whole band, flying out to hang and be part of renewal with Billy strings.
You are out of the next day. And so it's like, okay.
Yeah. Yeah. We'll try wide open. Try it all. You know? So, uh,
(31:13):
I asked him, I said, what's, what is renewal? He said, you'll see.
He owes it to you and the template that you and Sam Bush and Bella Fleck and
Tony Rice, all, all the, all, you know, pave the way for this to, to happen.
You know, and he is so, he is so forthcoming with that is what is,
(31:35):
it's so, it's so cool that, you know, he he's, he's like ruling the roost right now.
Now there's nobody as famous as him and well-known as him, you know, Billy strings.
You know, I remember when, when Brian Sutton, great guitar player,
bro walked up with Billy strings.
(31:55):
And he said to me, Brian said, Jerry Mead, Billy strings, future of bluegrass music.
And it was like five years before Billy did any of this stuff.
You know, I think, I think Brian should be the guy, the, the committee, committee.
Well, Jerry, I want to, I want to thank you so much for the time.
(32:16):
I want to thank you so much for all the music you've created over the years.
And I want to encourage everyone listening to this, check out the set and watch you play.
I know I've, I've looked at your tour dates. You got a lot on the East coast and the South.
I'm hoping eventually you'll make it out West and some of us get to hear you.
We'll get out there. It won't be long. All right. I look forward to trying to get there.
(32:39):
So thanks a lot for having me on and I've enjoyed it. Maybe sometime we can
just talk lap steals instead.
I would love that. Peace, Jerry.
I'll see you soon. Bye. Bye. Talk to you.
Bye. Thank you for listening to the legends podcast by all day vinyl.
If you enjoyed this episode, please rate it, share it, subscribe and follow
(33:01):
us and check us out at all day vinyl on Instagram and YouTube.
Thank you for listening. This is the Legends Podcast by All Day Vinyl,
and I'm your host, Scott Dettelson.
After you finish this episode, please subscribe, rate, and check us out on Instagram
and YouTube at All Day Vinyl.
Today, I'm excited to speak with a music legend and one of the key innovators
in the birth of progressive bluegrass.
My guest is a 16-time Grammy Award winner, 10-time Academy of Country Music
Award winner, and recent inductee into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.
(00:22):
Since the early 1970s, my guest has been innovating and expanding the boundaries
of bluegrass through his pioneering Dober work with artists like J.D.
Crowe and the New South, Alison Krauss and Union Station, and the over 2,000
album sessions he has contributed to.
In September 2024, my guest will release a new solo album called The Set.
I'm excited to chat with him about this new record and some key moments in his musical history.
(00:44):
I'm pleased to introduce to you the great Jerry Douglas.
Yo, Jerry. Hey, there was some awful nice things you said there. Thank you very much.
Thank you. You've had some awful nice music. Not awfully nice music.
You've had amazing music i mean you're creative i've had awful music
too well after 2000 records i'm sure
there's a few but but all your career has been remarkable and as i mentioned
(01:08):
before as as a musician as a lap steel player you're playing has been quite
an inspiration so i want to start though with with this new record that you
you just released and then go back and talk about a few key moments in your musical history.
Okay. Just releasing in September in a few weeks or in a month,
the set, which I listened to last night and it's great album,
(01:31):
beautiful, very expansive, gorgeous, gorgeous playing.
And a bunch of those songs are re-recordings of songs you had done in the past.
Is that right? That's right.
That's right. I, you know, I had, we do concerts all over the place and,
And people always come up and say, where can I find that song that you guys played?
(01:54):
They may not even know the name of it. The fourth song that you played, where can I find that?
And I have to say, well, it's on a record. I recorded it a long time ago,
but it's on a label that none of us can access at this point.
It's like something on when I was on the MCA Master Series.
(02:16):
We recorded things on there, and then MCA just shelves them all.
They don't know what to do with them. They put them all on the shelf, and I can't access it.
I can't have it back until, I don't know what date.
I think I would just have to die, and then they would do something with it.
(02:36):
But I would have to tell people, I can't point you in a direction,
So I decided to rerecord some of these songs because I, when you write a song,
you don't really know the song and it takes, it takes about a year to,
to really flesh it out and to know the song.
(02:57):
So it's been a long time since I recorded those songs.
And with the band that I have right now, I love the way they play the songs.
I mean, this, this band, I just love the sound, the overall sound of this band.
So i put a we did record some
songs so i would could have them
all in one place and so somebody could walk away with
(03:17):
this with this record and walk away with the whole show in their hand you know
it's kind of like it's kind of like a set list and it is too they are tunes
that we play on a regular basis they're some of the new ones that we did record
we haven't played as much.
But we there's nothing on there that we haven't
(03:38):
played for at least six months
or a year so we kind of we know it we're
it's not brand new to us and we're not being careful we're going to we're going
to shoot for the stars you know we're going to we're going to try to make it
as as great as possible and i love the band and i'm playing with daniel kimbrough
playing bass mike seal is He's an amazing electric guitar player.
(04:01):
I mean, and, and Christian Settlemyer, just the sweetest violin,
you know, and, but these guys are all like jazz standards too, right?
Yeah. So there's a, there's a wide, there's a wide,
sort of a wide berth that we, that we climb around in and we bring different,
(04:26):
different kinds of music into, into the songs.
Songs and but but i really wanted to really wanted to make this record that
i could point people to and said you can hear all of the songs that we just
played and you can take that home with you i kind of got the idea from i i do
this thing called transatlantic sessions that's in.
(04:48):
Starts in scotland every year and we tour it now it used to be it was a tv show
for we did six Six, six different shows and they had six episodes each.
So it was a lot of music and it was from people all over the, all over the map.
And it was just a collaboration thing. And we throw people together. And.
(05:11):
And when that was over, it was over. It never happened again.
The show would never happen again. Cause those people would never be put together
in that combination again.
So it's kind of like it was an experiment and that, and they all went really well.
Yeah. So we decided to start recording the first two nights and pull,
we do the same show, but we pull the best performances.
(05:34):
And then by the third or fourth gig, we would have the whole show,
you know, or the best of the show recorded and on a CD, which are slowly going away as well.
But yeah, that's a vinyl right now back there. Yes, sir.
That'll be around forever. And so it was just, it was one of those things where
(06:00):
I wanted people to be able to leave with the show like they do with the transatlantic one.
You know, they can, they can actually buy the CD of what they just heard. Yeah. Yeah.
Maybe, maybe, you know, the first couple of nights were scarier than the rest
after we got settled down. So they actually may be more exciting because of
(06:22):
the fear running through the band.
Well, I'm glad you brought up the Transatlantic Sessions because there's a connection
between that and the new album you did, While My Guitar Gently Weeps,
which I believe on the Transatlantic Sessions you did with Clapton,
who originally played on the original version.
Yeah, there was a funny conversation we had.
(06:46):
About that when i asked him if he wanted to because i was playing it playing it every night.
On the on the on the shows and eric
eric has been coming to that to that to
the transatlantic shows for the last five or
six years one of his daughters got really
into it and said you gotta you gotta go see this
(07:08):
you have to see this you've never seen anything like this and i
kind of knew him already at that point so i
and he said you might you mind if i come down and watch
the show i said no man i'd love for you to come watch the show
and then and then sooner or later it got
around can i can i get up and play a tune on
the show and i was like whoa yeah
(07:29):
yeah yeah you know and i said you
know this year i'm playing i start the second half
of the the show with where went my
guitar gently weeps and he said oh
really i said yeah would you want to
come up and play on that with me and he said yes he said do you play the chorus
and i said yeah i play the chorus he says i've never played the chorus i said
(07:53):
it's probably because you were singing you know or somebody else took the course
but he played with us that night and then made big news and,
but then we, we came back a couple of months later and went to Abbey road.
I brought the whole transatlantic band down to Abbey road, to the studio too,
(08:15):
where the Beatles cut everything.
And we went in there with Eric and we, and we, we recut, we cut this song called
Sam hall and it's an, it's an Irish protest song from long ago and,
So I produced three or four tracks on Clapton in there for that session.
(08:37):
And a couple of them have already seen light.
And I'm anxious for Sam Hall to get out there.
But yeah, you know, the Beatles didn't want to cut While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
And so George called Eric Clapton, and they made it a hit all by themselves.
Iconic. Iconic. And you do a great version of it.
(08:58):
Thanks. Max, it lays so well on the dobro.
It's just an easier-than-usual chord progression for dobro. It just lays perfectly.
You know, that A minor coming off of that A minor.
A minor is a really fun chord to play in, as you know.
B minor is my favorite, but A minor is a lot of fun, too.
(09:22):
And so so so
we played it there and and and then we decided
to doing this record of the
set i said you know that should be on there that's new
that's new we we need new and we
need old old songs that we
that i recorded a long time ago that i know so much
(09:45):
better now and i know you know they're like
kids that have grown up i know i know all of
the their personality now you know and when
a song is brand new like that you can do anything with it you want to but the
more you play it and and the more you learn about it it just becomes a different
thing than what it originally was absolutely and that's where we are now with
(10:09):
this band i love the way this band plays,
everything i mean i love the sound of the band so it was it was a no-brainer
to to go and cut a whole bunch of these songs that people couldn't find.
And give them access again to songs that were gone.
Well, you do beautiful, beautiful, beautiful versions of them.
(10:29):
I also really like the version of Something You Got you do. I'm familiar with
that through Wilson Pickett.
Yeah. I love the one you do. And I want to ask you a little about,
you know, you've talked about in the past where I've listened to interviews
where you've talked about Josh Graves being one of your heroes and Lester Flats and Earl Scruggs.
And at that time, when Something You Got and While Your Guitar Gently Weeps,
(10:53):
were you, in the late mid-60s, were you into that kind of music as well,
or were you fully immersed into the bluegrass?
Well, it was more of an immersion in bluegrass because of, you know, I was...
Raised in a house where you know there's
a lot of country music but mostly it was bluegrass music
(11:15):
my father played guitar sang lead and had his
own bluegrass band and they were all guys from
west virginia because they had all moved up to ohio
to find work you know in the steel mills so
he had this band that was made up entirely of guys from
west virginia but those guys were good i
mean they they could have mean i i have
(11:37):
tapes listening to them play that are
as good as most bands are now i mean
but they were laborers you know and they
couldn't you know i imagine their dream was
to like take off and you know in a bus or
anything and be a band on the road
you know to feel that but they couldn't you
(11:57):
know they were they had jobs and they had families and they
couldn't they they they're they were
already they were already going to doing what
they were going to be doing you know they couldn't they couldn't leave they
couldn't leave their situations but so i got but i got to grow up and listen
to that and watch people arrange songs what solo goes here who sings with who
(12:21):
here what lines and you know that was like when I was six.
Seven years from there on up.
So this producer hat that I wear once in a while comes pretty natural to me.
There's a lot of history just starting with being six years old and hearing
somebody go, you back the chorus, I'll back the verse. It's like, what's that mean?
(12:45):
Later on, I figured out what that meant and watched it in real time be played
out. There's no better a way to learn than that.
And I love trying to make things better than I found them.
Yeah. And were you better?
(13:08):
Did you come across in those early days? You're one of the innovators,
obviously, in progressive bluegrass.
And, you know, prior to that, the Byrds with Clarence White or even Chris Hillman
and the Dillards and even the Grateful Dead, taking some of those old traditions,
were those stuff come on your radar at those early ages?
(13:28):
Not when I was not at an early age. I remember getting, we did get a record,
though, that was the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers.
Yeah. And Chris Hillman was in that band. And Herb Peterson, too, I think.
And who was, oh, Don Parmley was the banjo player who later on was the leader
(13:49):
of the Bluegrass Cardinals, you know, a highly... Yeah.
Respected bluegrass band and so you
know it's it's easy it's easier
for us bluegrass musicians to
creep into these other genres you know and to
cross the cross the the fence than it is to come the other direction yeah or
(14:15):
or rock players or or you know any classical players or or anybody else folk
musicians to get into bluegrass music because it's such a it's come it's such a physical music.
You know and and and a
geographical kind of music you know most most
people came from the south originally that played that music and
(14:37):
then and then all of a sudden there's tony triska and russ
barenberg and and all these guys in in
new york city you know they all they're all going
they all went cornell they all
went to cornell and met each other up there and started this
bluegrass band and you know
there was no bluegrass anywhere up there you know it was bluegrass is from kentucky
(15:00):
north carolina but no one told them and they just loved it and you know and
and attacked it But from a different angle than a lot of us who heard it growing up,
they didn't hear it growing up, so they went the historical route.
(15:20):
They went back and met. They'd go down to Union Grove and meet all these old-timers
and get the history of it, where they learned it.
And just to be able to figure out...
Just the historical, just the facts about it. And then, then learn the music
(15:42):
because it was all, it was all brand new to them. Yeah.
And, but, but they had just heard like Bela heard, uh, Earl Scruggs play on
the Beverly Hillbillies and that turned him onto banjo and now look at it.
You know, he's the guy that changed banjo from Earl Scruggs.
I mean, there were a lot of people playing differently than Earl Scruggs, different styles.
(16:04):
But nobody took it to a completely different genre the instrument and and and
drug all the bluegrass with him you know all of a sudden in the middle of a
big zeet booba kind of a solo you'll hear you'll hear a scruggs run you know
and you go oh look you hear that you.
It's still there he's still in there and then yeah ed bayla you know we're always we're always
(16:31):
sam and sam bush and i especially are always
on bailout like pull your hand back just a little bit
closer to the bridge you know that's not
bailout bail is bail is you know he's
he's changed that he's changed that when he's so melodic and even and and where
earl scruggs was like dynamic and was like suddenly there'd be this power move
(16:57):
you know in the background when It sounded like the whole band hydroplaned,
you know, it's very exciting when he,
when Earl Scruggs would get up to take a solo,
just pop up out of the band and just sort of lean a little bit. And the band stays here.
He goes here, like he's looking out over the precipice, you know,
and it was exciting because it felt like it was just gave you the same feeling
(17:21):
as hydroplaning in your car.
It was, it was exciting. I don't know what's going to happen here. You know, yeah.
And now that's so exciting about, that's the one thing about bluegrass music that.
Can, in the right hands, these instruments do amazing, amazing things.
Absolutely. And I want to talk about another banjo player that was very influential
(17:44):
in the world of bluegrass and in your life, which is J.D. Crowe.
And about what fascinates me, you know, you had the Newgrass revival,
you had Seldom Seen, and you had J.D. Crowe.
And what fascinates me that progressive bluegrass, a lot of it was built at
a Holiday Inn lounge in Kentucky.
Yeah maybe you could tell tell our listeners just
(18:06):
kind of a little about that scene that red
slipper lounge and how you got involved in that
that world well i have i have tapes
from from from two or three different sources who would from people who would
go make the make the the journey down to lexington kentucky to see this band
(18:29):
play to see jd crow and whoever Whoever was in J.D.
Crowe's band at that point, if it was Doyle Austin and Red Allen or if it was
or if it was Tony Rice and Larry Rice or Ricky or me.
But people would make that trip just to go down there and see that band play
because they played all different kinds of Crowe.
(18:50):
J.D. wanted to be he originally wanted to be a.
He wanted to be an electric guitar player. He wanted to be a telly player.
He wanted to be like, you know, he was raised during the surf time.
The Beach Boys were little kids and just starting and all that kind of stuff.
(19:11):
But it was really the Telecaster that turned J.D.
On as a young kid, along with you
know being such a master at the banjo was as he
was at a very young age but that
stuff would creep into his playing you know
the the real pull pull you start pushing strings
(19:33):
and pulling strings and bending strings instead of
you know just to give it a tougher attitude and they played they played modern
songs because they were playing to a they were playing to in a bar in a hotel
you know so they had to take on some somebody had to yell out you know,
(19:54):
smoke on the water or something once in a while did you guys do smoke on the
water is that's the type of thing you know what boone creek was forced to do
smoke on the water once by this motorcycle gang that was sitting in front of
us i love that i hope there's a tape of that somewhere.
Yeah we paid our dues but
you know we've also played behind chicken wire uh but
(20:17):
and i know jd talked about he'd played behind
plenty of chicken wire down there but that was
that was the thing they would play they would play
all kinds of songs and you are what i am you
know all these chubby checker songs and all these bats domino
all all of these songs you know those those came out of crows earlier life and
(20:39):
he just couldn't let go of them so they played them yeah you know they would
play that kind of stuff and then they would shift into in into crow's world of just flying.
Great banjo, you know, just so much full of, of, of character and,
and, you know, when Crow would love Crow, Crow had a thing that he would do
(21:02):
that was different from any other banjo player.
Or maybe he saw Earl do it.
It but before his solo he was
total deaf quiet you know and
then the first beat of his solo was like boom you know
and it was like you'd be like it was
like a g-force you know and and
(21:23):
it just would it was electric it would raise
everybody up and and same
thing with tony you know or any of us when we get into our solo
we can get into this spot where everything starts to groove the
whole band starts to cook you know yeah that's a
that's a beautiful thing about acoustic music that you
can hear it formulate you know
(21:46):
you can hear it start coming together where electric
bands are more they don't really
use that that avenue to
to put their songs together i think
what we did when i joined that band i was
a totally new sound in that band that i mean
(22:06):
that ricky and tony talked jd into
giving me a try you know and right i heard that jd didn't want a dobro in the
band is that right yeah he no he didn't he thought it had enough voices he didn't
he didn't dislike dobro he just thought they had enough voices you know was
gonna you know but i i said you know i'm I'm not into, I don't care if I play a solo.
(22:28):
Just let me, let me, you know, back of vocals, you know, just be another color
in the palette here. And.
You know, we didn't really have a discussion, those terms that much,
but that's what I was trying to do.
And I think he, he saw that, that that was something they didn't have that he always wanted.
(22:49):
It took a little pressure off of him, but, and it allowed him to be more explosive,
you know, and, uh, it, it was, it, it was a good thing for everybody, especially me.
Me yeah but yeah i wasn't
in that band very long but what we did in that
band for that length in that length of time was amazing yeah
(23:09):
i mean the the record you guys put out well just for the audience
so everybody knows that was a ricky skaggs you bobby
sloan jd crowe and tony rice so probably some
of the best musicians maybe ever to play bluegrass together and
you guys put out an album 0044 which recently
was i think wasn't it uh put into like the national library
(23:31):
of congress as it was yeah it was just inducted into the library of congress
so it's like in stone now yes one of the one of the the landmark mark albums
and when you were recording that did you recognize that there was something
special happening between the five of y'all i i I,
you know, I didn't know that it was going to do what it did explode.
(23:54):
I just knew that it was good. I just knew that it was really good and it hadn't happened before.
There was something, there was something different about it.
And, and I thought this is going to do well, but I wasn't thinking in those terms.
I was thinking about how much fun I was playing the music with,
with JD Crowe and Tony Rice and Rick, you know, I was just happy to be there at that point.
(24:17):
And, and I wasn't really in the band, you know, until a couple of months later,
but I, I knew we were, I knew we were doing something different and,
and I only went in there to, to play on two songs and ended up playing on most of the record.
And that's, that's more or less, I think that's when JD joined the club and
(24:42):
said, okay, this guy's all right.
Yeah. Let's just make, just go ahead and make him part of this record too.
So that was a big that was a big shift and that was a big chance that he took
and JD was just such a great guy never never between me and him there was never
a negative word never negative conversation nothing JD was JD and.
(25:07):
Just a great man and had a great career and was a good, good role model, you know? Yeah.
Cause I was 19 when I joined that band and I was still learning,
you know, how to buy insurance.
I wasn't much less play the guitar, but what an education, you know,
(25:27):
as I was in the country gentlemen and, and enjoying that, you know, enjoying that as well.
Just just be out there be this teenager
out there playing music with these guys you
know who were at the top of the heap was mind-blowing
you know and kind of hard to hold it together sometimes just because i was standing
(25:49):
there with them you know i was still having this hero worship while i'm in the
band with and but that that never left me you know never it still hasn't it
still hasn't I mean, Tony and JD aren't here anymore,
but God, I don't know how you could ever replace them. Me.
They are just going to be absorbed into the lore of bluegrass and, and held high forever.
(26:14):
I hope. And because of what all they did and just what models they were for
the rest of us to, to follow.
And, you know, all these new guitar, there is not a guitar player in bluegrass
music that doesn't play Tony Rice licks. Yeah. It just doesn't happen.
And the same with Crow, you know, and I played with Bill Emerson before I played with J.D.
(26:38):
Crow and Bill Emerson was a lot the same.
I mean, he was also an iconic, had come out of the school of Jimmy Martin.
I don't know how Jimmy Martin beat timing and tone into these guys.
And he did a good thing. He did a very good thing.
And Alan Mundy, who's gone into the Hall of Fame with me, was also one of those
(27:01):
Jimmy Martin banjo players.
I'm curious, what was the reaction at the time from folks like Earl Scruggs
or Jimmy Martin, any of these people that were on the more traditional side?
So I think about Bob Dylan going electric and Pete Seeger wanting to cut the chords.
What was the traditional musician's feedback towards how you guys were progressing?
(27:26):
We got a little pushback. We got a little pushback. It was gentle.
It was, you know, it was...
It wasn't anything nobody said, oh, you guys are not playing bluegrass music
or anything like that. I mean, they were just kind of standing there watching.
And I think knowing that what they had felt when they hit their peak,
(27:48):
they knew what we were feeling.
Yeah. And so I didn't hear any negative comments from anybody like Jimmy Martin
or Bill Monroe or anybody like that.
You know there's the old story about new grass
revival playing for bill monroe and and and they were getting ready to play
(28:10):
bean blossom and and and bill said to sam he said what what is it you call your
music and sam said we call it new grass bill and he said yeah i hate that.
Which really didn't happen i asked sam does it did that really happen and he
said no No, it didn't go like that, but it was pretty close.
(28:33):
He asked Courtney to play banjo with him on his set, and then he heard Courtney
play, and he said, he's not the guy.
But it was a clash of the titans, pretty much.
And no one came away hurt on that one. Well, bluegrass keeps expanding.
(28:55):
And the last thing I want to talk about or ask you about is the future bluegrass.
We've got Molly Tuttle, who you've produced, and Billy Strings,
these people that are taking bluegrass or the bluegrass tradition and expanding it to huge audiences.
I mean, what is your take on all this?
(29:18):
I have played to huge audiences, you know, with, with, with Allison and in union
station in, in the last two years we were out, we were playing to thousands
and thousands of people every night.
And, and it was a great feeling, you know, and it's just a massive thing.
And you're just kind of like, you can't believe all these people are here and
Billy's playing full stadiums and he's still Billy. He's still the same guy.
(29:43):
I met the first time I ever met him. He's the same guy. He's just, he's, he's great.
He's got a great head on his shoulders he took he took the right off off he took the right off ramp.
Yeah in his life you know to take he went
the right direction and i just love him for it i mean he he talks about it but
(30:05):
he but he's just he's one of the he he's one of the old-timer bluegrass guys
in his soul he really is he he when he stands out there and does some song you
know that i I remember my father singing,
you know, to 50,000 people.
And then they're all going, well, I, you know, it's like, it's just amazing
to, to me to think, you mean, I can't, I can't really wrap my head around it
(30:29):
yet. You know, how did this happen?
But it's just one of those things, the stars align. I mean, the,
the business, the end of it was as good as the music end of it.
And, and it worked and that's how, that's why he's where he is.
And we're all so thrilled about it.
And I actually, right after the, the induction ceremony for,
(30:52):
for IBMA, I'm going to renewal the next day.
I'm flying out to hang my whole band, flying out to hang and be part of renewal with Billy strings.
You are out of the next day. And so it's like, okay.
Yeah. Yeah. We'll try wide open. Try it all. You know? So, uh,
(31:13):
I asked him, I said, what's, what is renewal? He said, you'll see.
He owes it to you and the template that you and Sam Bush and Bella Fleck and
Tony Rice, all, all the, all, you know, pave the way for this to, to happen.
You know, and he is so, he is so forthcoming with that is what is,
(31:35):
it's so, it's so cool that, you know, he he's, he's like ruling the roost right now.
Now there's nobody as famous as him and well-known as him, you know, Billy strings.
You know, I remember when, when Brian Sutton, great guitar player,
bro walked up with Billy strings.
(31:55):
And he said to me, Brian said, Jerry Mead, Billy strings, future of bluegrass music.
And it was like five years before Billy did any of this stuff.
You know, I think, I think Brian should be the guy, the, the committee, committee.
Well, Jerry, I want to, I want to thank you so much for the time.
(32:16):
I want to thank you so much for all the music you've created over the years.
And I want to encourage everyone listening to this, check out the set and watch you play.
I know I've, I've looked at your tour dates. You got a lot on the East coast and the South.
I'm hoping eventually you'll make it out West and some of us get to hear you.
We'll get out there. It won't be long. All right. I look forward to trying to get there.
(32:39):
So thanks a lot for having me on and I've enjoyed it. Maybe sometime we can
just talk lap steals instead.
I would love that. Peace, Jerry.
I'll see you soon. Bye. Bye. Talk to you.
Bye. Thank you for listening to the legends podcast by all day vinyl.
If you enjoyed this episode, please rate it, share it, subscribe and follow
(33:01):
us and check us out at all day vinyl on Instagram and YouTube.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.