In a Local Spins interview, the virtuoso banjoist who plays St. Cecilia Music Center next week with an all-star cast talks about his new live album, the tour, Billy Strings and more.
Béla Fleck: Touring behind a new ‘My Bluegrass Heart’ live album. (Photo/Jesse Borrell)
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Long before there was Billy Strings, banjoist Béla Fleck stood out as one of music’s leading virtuoso phenoms – not only lighting up the bluegrass genre but bringing his unique banjo prowess to the world of jazz and beyond.
Over the course of more than four decades, Fleck has released more than 40 studio albums – as a solo artist, as a member of New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck & The Flecktones, and with his banjoist wife, Abigail Washburn – and won 18 Grammy Awards, not to mention collaborating with a laundry list of stars.
Among those stars? Michigan guitarist Billy Strings.
The legendary 68-year-old banjoist quickly acknowledged and embraced the fast-emerging Michigan bluegrass guitarist, inviting him to play on several tracks for Fleck’s Grammy-winning 2021 album, “My Bluegrass Heart.”
The Top-Notch Band: Fleck brings the group to St. Cecilia on Nov. 5. (Courtesy Photo)
Billy later joined Fleck and other renowned musicians – Sierra Hull, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Molly Tuttle, Bryan Sutton and more – for a 2022 live rendition of that album on stage at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, a performance captured for a live recording released earlier this month: “Live Heart: My Bluegrass Heart at the Ryman.” (Scroll down for videos.)
“I love Billy,” Fleck told Local Spins in a recent interview, praising the guitarist who’s become an arena-packing superstar.
“He’s the real deal and a great member of our bluegrass community. He’s always down to be part of good music and supportive of everyone. He has lifted up the bluegrass world in a way that would have been hard to predict. But I like it!”
The acclaimed musicians have a lot in common, including winning multiple awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association.
Billy last week won IBMA’s “Entertainer of the Year” award for the fifth time, after being honored twice previously as guitar player of the year. Fleck has won six IBMA awards and was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame as a member of New Grass Revival.
‘MISSING BLUEGRASS,’ FLECK CREATED STAR-STUDDED ‘MY BLUEGRASS HEART’
Fleck’s highly applauded “My Bluegrass Heart” came as the banjoist sought a return to his bluegrass roots while connecting with gifted musical associates.
“It was just time. I was really missing bluegrass,” he recalled. “Also, a close family member almost dying made me really want to connect with community.”
The new live recording of those songs represents a special night at the Ryman Auditorium, an evening Fleck described as “the ultimate show, the perfect cast, and it’s hard to imagine it going any better.”
Memorable Collaborations: Fleck with Washburn at St. Cecilia, and with Billy Strings at Ryman Auditorium. (Photos/Anna Sink/Jesse Borrell)
“Everyone was stoked to be playing the incredible Ryman, and the history of the room was felt in every note,” he continued. “The pulling it together was a long term project with lots of hard work done by my manager Noelle (Panepento) and our team. Sometimes, everything works out.”
Fleck will unfurl many of those songs with an all-star band during a Nov. 5 Grand Rapids stop on the “My Bluegrass Heart” tour at St. Cecilia Music Center (“I love the hall,” Fleck raved). The concert is sold out, but fans can sign up on a waiting list for tickets online here.
“I’m going to have an incredible band, featuring Michael Cleveland on fiddle and Mark Schatz on bass from our last iteration. We have some fresh faces as well, incredibly talented people: Dominick Leslie, mandolinist who has played with Molly Tuttle for the last several years, Jake Stargel on guitar and Jeff Partin on Dobro. It’s a top-notch group,” Fleck noted.
“We will be playing music not just from ‘My Bluegrass Heart’ but also from my earlier records including ‘Drive,’ ‘The Bluegrass Sessions,’ and even something from New Grass Revival. It’s different from the last tours, and that is intentional. We are waking up a lot of tunes that have not been played for decades.”
Fleck performed at St. Cecilia Music Center with Washburn in 2018 and 2019, with subsequent Grand Rapids concerts at DeVos Performance Hall and Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.
Fleck has plenty of post-tour plans, including the possibility of another tour with The Flecktones in 2027, an orchestra recording with Washburn, a duet album of banjo/fiddle music with Cleveland and growing “this version of ‘My Bluegrass Heart’ and see where it goes.”
“It feels like time for some new music,” he divulged.
VIDEO: Béla Fleck and Billy Strings, “Tennessee – Live Heart”
VIDEO: Béla Fleck and Friends, “Blue Mountain Hop – Live Heart”
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