IBMA Red Carpet 2026: Is Bluegrass Getting Younger?

I think bluegrass is is certainly getting a new life with younger fans because when I was a kid, I got to tell you, there weren't that many young guys doing it. In the 90s, it was all about grunging out and seeing how much dirty clothes you can wear, right? A lot more mentorship going on and passing the torch down. Was there a point in your career where you felt like now I'm sort of becoming the mentor?

Welcome back to the what podcast? It's another gorgeous, gorgeous day in the South. I'm Barry. That's Russ. Brian is not with us currently. Brian was with us last week and the weekend before for KFest and last week at IBMA, which was a lot of fun. That's kind of the focus of today. So this is the time of year when the what podcast sort of becomes the bluegrass channel, which is cool. I do want to ask you, how awesome was Sam Bush and Sierra Hole opening that event the other night at the Memorial Auditorium. Those 2 songs were pretty spectacular, weren't they? So cool. Yeah, I think it's always cool when you're, you know, your presenters who come out and, you know, talking and all that. They actually come out and perform a song first.

So, you know, both very, very talented and just crushed it. Yeah. So that was really cool to open up the event with. And um, yeah, super cool. That was, you know, last week at the Memorial Auditorium. Um, we got to go down downstairs for the red carpet event. 2nd year in a row. Got some interviews, which you'll hear soon, and then went upstairs and sat in the auditorium and got to check out the awards ceremony. So very cool, I thought. I think I mentioned it in our, uh, the bit that you and me and Brian did, um, downstairs, uh, during all of that, but, uh, it always surprises me and maybe it shouldn't. Uh, but when people ask me what what the event is like. I'm like, these are world class musicians and we're there.

And uh, That's that's what when I drove away, that's what I was thinking is these are the best players in the world. They really are. Yeah. I mean, if this were like a rock, you know, festival. These would be some of the biggest rock stars in the world. If it were, um, you know, any other type of music genre you can think of. This is the best of the best, and in bluegrass, this is it. you won't see any bigger stars. No, it was a lot of fun. We got to, we interviewed Sierra Hall, as I mentioned, Molly Tuttle, a couple of others, just kind of, you know, didn't know what to expect. When we got there as ever, I think we were determined to actually do some interviews as they came off the red carpet and we did that.

We did that. We had to kind of line up at the end of the carpet to, you know, just kind of like wave anybody, flag anybody down that would talk to us, and we got quite a few. It was a lot of fun. and uh, no, and the other thing, and you'll hear me mention it a bunch throughout these interviews, it's sort of uh, uh, the youth movement. Uh, I I felt like that was a theme. I know when I saw the list of nominees, uh, it was interesting to see the Dell McCurries, uh, who would represent the, you know, the, the, um, I don't want to say old, but certainly the uh, veterans. And then you've got the belly strings and you've got the East Nash grass and you've got the Sierra Hole and Sierra Hole. and yeah, the, yeah, and we talked to them about that.

It feels like there's a little bit of a youth movement in bluegrass. Yeah, it's a good point because I'll say it. I mean, to me, bluegrass is, you know, like what my grandfather listened to because that's literally what he listened to. I mean, and he played a little bit and, you know, he was big into it. So growing up, that was always like, oh, I associated bluegrass with older generation. Yeah. And it is, you know, it goes back away. So it is kind of neat to see this uh, new fresh uh, young people coming in and um, um, playing and enjoying and participating. I mean, bluegrass to me is it's what you play on the porch. It's what you Yeah, exactly. You know, the same with old timey. It's, uh, after a hard day working in the fields or whatever, you would hang out on the front porch and your neighbors would come over with their guitar or their banjo or whatever and you just sit and pick a little.

Little picking and grinning, yeah. picking and grinning. I know I had a blast. I felt really good, uh, leaving there. I was very proud to be there and I look forward to next year. Yeah, we'll just jump in with our coverage from the event and then some of the interviews we did and then we'll be back.

We're back at the IBMA. We are in Memorial Auditorium. We're down in the basement. You can see behind us a huge crowd. You were saying earlier, it didn't look that like as much as last year, but I think it filled in. It filled in for sure. Yeah, I think we were running late last year, maybe, or something, because at 1st like, where is everybody next thing you know, it's like, whoa, there they are. What a great, what a great setup here, though. Yeah, this feels bigger than last year. Yeah, let's set this scene. The reason we're here is obviously, there's there's no Bonnarooo. But the real reason we're here is that this is a world-class event that just happens to be in our backyard and it's got world-class musicians, Sambush and Sierra Hall are hosting tonight.

We just got through interviewing Sierra. What a sweetheart. Oh, man, as soon as she started talking about playing last year. at the outdoor festival part, I was like, that's right, you came out with the Wood Brothers. like that, and the one brothers. I mean, they're not bluegrass. They're closer to almost rock. And so I was I was really into that show. Yeah, she was great and... We've sort of noticed a theme. Or maybe it's just because we're looking for it, but this sort of youth movement. Obviously, the Billy Strings thing the other night, if you guys listened to last week's episode, Billy did the grand reopening of our Tivoli Theater, opened originally in 1921, reopened Tuesday night this week.

It's a sister theater to this one or the brother, Harvey, why look at this? Tibley came first. This one a couple of years later. I want to talk about that, the 2 nights, though. Um, uh, uh, uh, Billy here and the block parties at the city through. I know that this doesn't mean a ton to everybody, but it does sort of, if you're looking for Billy shows in the future. I didn't get complete, like, fact check on this, but because I don't really have a way to do it, but I believe it based on the people I was talking to. We had the city sanctioned block party, which, well, hopefully I think that we'll have some footage. You can see some of this. And it was just A plus all the way around. That's just our city doing well and we're very proud and happy about that.

But right next to all of this is an entire block of shakedown street. Yeah. Like that you would see it, Grateful Dead, widespread panic, fish, any of those. fully functioning shakedown street. Not people like kind of sneaking a whole a whole village. Yeah. right next to all the stuff for sale. in a sanctioned event. And it was, and from what I understand, Billy facilitates this. And there's an area that doesn't have a lot for his fan base to set up and do their shakedown. He facilitates it with the city to be able to let their fans. It's like, hey, man, this is the cost of doing business, even if it's undercutting you 2 steps away. I mean, it's just these things don't happen. part of the package.

Unless you're Billy Strange. So impressive. And he allowed them to put up 2 video screens so they can live stream a concert. Now, now, he sold out 2 shows. It was sold out. He wasn't losing any money. No, and and and people were making money off of him on that. And I don't know. I'm sure there's a there's an arrangement with royalties or whatever, but just the fact. I mean, I was thinking any major downtown organization says, okay, we're going to sit in the street and sell a bunch of stuff. Okay, we'll let all the bootleggers sit right next to us. And it all flow beautifully. All vendors got utilized. Such a wonderful event and just another way of saying Billy Strings is like the coolest guy in the world.

And the whole concert was trained on Nug's net. Yeah, that's right. Now it's too. So you, I mean, there was, you want to see the show you cut. Yeah. So this thing tonight, it's, it's, we've tried to explain the IBMA, the world of bluegrass. They descend on the city. They take over the convention center. They take over some of the downtown parks. They take over some of the local venues, nightclubs. There are seminars, workshops, networks. It's more of a conference. Right, than it is like a music event specifically. There's, Endless music happening. So two, three, 4 o'clock in the morning, at the convention center all around. But it really is more of a just a celebration. It's got, and I think, kind of Austin, when they do...

Yeah, Austin City, yeah. like more of a tech convention with a bunch of bands playing. It's kind of like that and it's new to us. So we're still learning. Exactly how it is, how it unfolds. Yeah, this is was in rawly for what, 10 years prior to Chattanooga? Been in Louisville? Yeah. It's been all over, but it's a big deal. It's the 1st time the 2nd year that it's been in Chattanooga. Probably for, what, 3 years at least? Hopefully more. Yeah. Both will agree with me. We were kind of not didn't know what to expect with the red carpet last year. Yeah, we didn't know what were doing. Kind of thought, that's cute. There might be 3 or 4 people. Maybe we'll get some salted meat and crackers. No, this is a big time event, man.

It's huge. There's photography setup. They're shooting video. Oh, this is the real deal, yeah. It's so cool. I actually, like, we talked to, you'll hear it here shortly, James Key from East Nash Grass, and I confused him with my meandering question comparing it to the NBA of the 1990s. Um, Meaning Jordan wins everything. That's when I knew you really didn't know him. Because he just rolled with... I was waiting on that one and I didn't spit it out exactly right. Um, but, but, um, but he is nominated again for about 4 or 5 awards and he hadn't even had really any new music in this calendar. But one thing I noticed that you mentioned to me that I thought I saw Dolly as a, uh, uh, Dolly Harden as a collaboration with somebody from this.

that is nominated. I left my blankie as, um, Lord Taco called it my, in my car, and I don't have my notes. We'll put it up on the screen. But she is my time is over there, winner, right? turned right to it. What are the chances? Collaborative recording of the year. The Gras... The Graskals and Dolly and Jamie Johnson, who I saw walk through here just a little while ago. Well, you got to think that's the winner, right? I mean, dollies went. I mean, that's how these awards shows are. know, I haven't even thought about that. Do you think we can expect maybe a little tribute video or something? absolutely, yeah. I sure. They should. And it doesn't look like Millie showed up for the for the for this event 2 years in a row.

I don't blame him. He's going to be swamped. He is presenting tonight. And, um, and he might be winning multiple, uh, like Michael Jordan.

So I, you know, we joke about it. We're not the biggest bluegrass, but I am a Michael Cleveland fan because he shows up in my YouTube feeds all the time and he's here again. He was here last year. That's the little butterfly in the, you know, he is amazing. You don't know who he is looking up. We might already mention it, the show, um, host tonight is, um, Sierra Hall, who you'll hear from in a minute, and Sam Bush. and Sam Bush. And it was K-Fest last year. When I finally realized, I've seen Sam before, but I wasn't paying attention close enough. When I, speaking of which, there's Sam right there with Sarah. Oh, my goodness. Well, can't turn the camera out. But, um, uh, it was there when I realized this guy can shred.

This guy can rock as much as you can with a mandolin and the lights are flickering saying you have to get out of here. Are they playing this out? Is that what's saying? Look at that. It is 7 o'clock. Wow, time flies. They're playing us out. hilarious. having fun. Well, that's a first to be played off. I don't know. Maybe they got on the camera. I don't know, but... Yeah, I'm a little discompopulated without my notes, but I have plenty of things on Billy I wanted to get to. We'll talk about it on a future show. Yeah, we're about to head upstairs like everybody else and watch a great show and... Yeah, and everybody, you know, I'm sure a, a, a, when food comes into the, the, the paper for all those years going on, gone, gone, gone. radio station.

Oh, my God. Well, that happened here and we got... We got left. I got one little sandwich. You did better than I did. Yeah, athletic rights. Not Al. Delicious. Appreciate them having non-als for us in here. Absolutely Shout out to Rona. Yeah, Rona, our head of media relations. Wow, she was she saved us a couple of times. Super helpful. very helpful. And facilitated us because again, us dummies. I mean, I've never done this before. I didn't walk off, leave right there. Yeah, like, you can, we can just interview any of them and they're like, that's what this is. what you're supposed to do. Why your ear, dummy. I thought I was just like bothering them because and I got no problem bothering them. No, no, no, that's what's cool.

All right, welcome back to what podcast at the Red Carpenter, the IBMA Music Awards tonight, and James Key from East Mash Grass is with us tonight. And, um, You guys are nominated for How many Awards tonight. Well, thank you. Yeah, I found it and played with East Nash Grass for about 9 years and I left the group earlier this year, but I'm still managing the business for them and working behind the scenes. They asked me to accept whatever award that they'll be up for tonight, if any, which is entertainer of the year, album of the year, and, um, instrumental group of the year. So a lot to unpack there.

You're not in the band anymore. No, no, I left this spring. But you're managing the band. I am their business manager. Business manager. Okay. Wow, all right. I'll ask you with their money. Well, we worked together a long time. you know? Okay, well that doesn't change where my mind was going. You can still ask any group questions. Exactly. Okay, well, how about this? As a band, you guys, the band has gained a lot of popularity over the last few years within the scene and outside of it, clearly with the nominations at this awards ceremony, 2 years in a row. I think you had some last year too. We did. But do you feel like you're in the 1990s and you're the Pistons or the Knicks and Jordan and the Bulls are undefeatable in awards?

Now that you mentioned Jordan, I caught the references finally. Okay, so I talk about Billy Strings. I didn't have a clue what you were talking about before that. Um, you know, I think bluegrass is is certainly getting a new life with younger fans as somebody who's been in it my entire life. from Chattanooga. I grew up playing bluegrass here. Um, it is great to see a lot of young people doing it because when I was a kid, I got to tell you, there weren't that many young guys doing it. In the 90s, it was all about grunging out and seeing how much dirty clothes you can wear, right? Yeah, that was the thing I noticed looking at the list of nominees is the age range. And to have a thing like Billy Strings, what he did Monday or Tuesday and Wednesday here in Chattanooga, get that kind of crowd, and then you've got Sam Bush, and, you know, it's Del McCurry is still on the nominee list.

So you're got to be excited if you're a bluegrass fan. Oh, yeah, man, there's a lot to be excited about, you know, and it is a music that honors the past, certainly. Speaking to what you're talking about in the late 90s. This probably would have been early 2000s, but one of the 1st shows that I went to was 3 doors down at the Bay. Oh, I was there. We were there going way back. I was in Chattanooga. Shout out. Kryptonite. It might have been like 99 or 2000. Kryptonite had just hit the radio. They're the biggest band in the in the rocket. one of the 1st places I ever saw someone smoke pot. My mother instructed me what they were doing. I had no idea what the hell they were doing I got a couple years.

I heard a thing or 2 there. Yes, so regardless, man. Bluegrass has an important history and it's a very specific type of music that plays much of the historical music constantly. So, to see kids getting involved and getting passionate about it is awesome. Billy has a lot to do with that, man, and Billy's an incredible entertainer, and I appreciate all the attention that he's brought to the music because man, the guy absolutely lives and braces it. You can see that because he was here. So 4 AM last night playing... people post those online. Yeah, he's the real deal. But also there's a lot of great young artists that are that are doing this, man. And I'm getting to be where I'm maybe middle-aged or something like that.

We're on our way there brother. You know, I've been doing it my entire life and it's great to see because we've got to have young people doing it or else there won't be a future of it. Well, and just, you know, one anecdote, like, I've always thought watching award shows my whole life. If you were nominated, I mean, that's a win, right? I mean, not not a win for the most part, but I mean, the guy is on such another level of just, I don't want to say a player. I he's because I don't know all the players in the business and they're all some amazing players, but just as far as the ethos that has been created there. It's something that it makes my head spin. And I wonder if you guys are like, can we ever meet this guy in an orange?

He's that guy that the players talk about. That's what I've noticed. The serious pickers kind of point to Billy. That's kind of cool. Plus, plus the hippie kids that were outside, you know, shakedown street, that was that's not something I'm used to seeing at a, you know, a bluegrass show. But also listen to what, listen to who Billy talks about because he talks about a lot of these great players and he's been a student of the music. You know, that's how he, that's how he got to where he is, by, by being obsessed with this music, just like the rest of us are. And so he deserves it. And so yeah, I guess there's a little bit of competition in the awards aspect of things, but that almost doesn't even cross my mind, just to be totally honest.

I'm just glad to be here. Glad to get to see my friends and colleagues here. To be nominated for something is awesome, kind of like you said, to win. That's fantastic, but we're just glad to be nominated. East Nashgrass is just glad to be nominated for everything that we've gotten thus far. Is East Nash, Grass, and bands like it, seen more of an... I know we talked about the importance of the young, the youth getting more into it. Are you seeing a fan base build of a younger age? I mean, you've seen it in your own shows. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So it's not just Billy and the traveling circus. You're just you're seeing it everywhere. For sure. Yeah. And you got to remember too, that like the 1st generation of bluegrass is pretty much all gone.

You know, they all aged out and the 1st generation of fans have also done so. My granddad's one that got me into bluegrass. Everyone, it's his age, for the most part, is no longer part of the scene. And if he was still here, he'd be 100 years old. you know, regardless. So it's like time has moved on. And there are new people to be able to take their place. And I think there was a little bit of a gap until a recent year, so it's super encouraging, like I said, see all the young votes. Well James, it's great to see you. So man, your lovely wife, Mackenzie, I've known, and for a long time, and we really appreciate it a lot. Appreciate what you guys do. And good luck. Good luck on the awards tonight, buddy.

All right, guys, we're Darren and Brooke at the IBMAs. We were just talking earlier about how exciting. When you look at the list of nominees, the age range, that's got to be pretty cool for the industry, right? I mean, in my mind, and I was writing about music for 40 years, bluegrass never went away, but it's like everything. It's had its ups and seems like it's on a big up right now. Am I am I seeing something else or are you guys seeing it to? Totally correct. A lot of good youth players involved. Folks like Braunwyn coming out. You know, there's just been on tour for a few years on ourself, all the way up to the Lost and Found, Fallon Mills, just passing close to 80 years old, going into the Hall of Fame, and Byron Burlong. So it's a big gap there between ages.

But, uh, you know, Bluegrass will live Armstrong and have all kind of different branches of that tree going out there. The other thing I've noticed is it's a community. It seems like the veterans want to pass it on and they're happy to share, you don't always see that, especially in like an arts kind of thing. It could be a little competitive. So what's that like? Oh, you know, I think, you know, that's going to be in any genre, I think, that you get into, but definitely, I think in the bluegrass world it's not as bad. I think everybody supports each other and cheers each other on just a little bit more in this industry for some reason, but I think it's a little bit more family oriented, you know? And that's what we're proud to be a part of.

A lot more mentorship going on and passing the torch down to others and helping them write songs, perform play, or anything like that. Well, I'm glad you said that because you might be, you're the right guy to talk to here. You're the, uh, you're a mentor of the year with IBMA in that civil pass award winner. Um, so you're the guy, right? to talk to about that. I had so many help me along the way, and then I felt like doing the same thing. Pay it back, right? I have been teaching a lot for about 30 years now. Tell us about the new album. Soul Condition, right? Just released here somewhat recently. I do understand. So we released that in April. It's an all gospel album that Darren and I were proud to put together.

We'd been holding on to some songs for a long time and came together beautifully. We've gotten a lot of recognition for it. Actually, a song off of that album is up tonight for gospel song of the year. So it's, uh, you don't knock with our good friend John Cowan. So you're talking about that age gap there. So, you know, we've gotten to do a lot of things. You went strong. Yeah, absolutely. I didn't do what you were doing. Yeah, yeah. And we love Cal. He's been a big supporter of what we do just like we were talking about a few minutes ago. And so we're honored to be in this running with him and all the other great artists as well.

Well, Blue Ridge, uh, 2026 Blue Ridge Hall of Fame. Congratulations, 60 times at the grand old Opry. So I'm happy to meet you and happy to talk to you. Very good work. Who are you excited to see or hoping to see here tonight? Either backstage here or out on stage? Oh, we're looking forward to Byron Berlin going in the Hall of Fame. You know, we lost Byron back in 2021. But the honor of that is going to be great. I loved his playing. We actually did a song with Vince Gill, memories. So 1000000 miles of memories, he wrote for Byron, and we got to record that for Vince and with Vince. I mean, so that's going to be quite the honor to see that take place tonight. And I'm excited about Sam Bush and Sierra hosting too.

Oh, can't wait. It's going to be so good. So yeah, they're always great hosts. First of all, congratulations on your nomination. Thank you. Yeah, it's always exciting to be back at IBMA.

Along those lines. What do you come here hoping to do? I'm just kind of coming here, you know, to enjoy the award show to celebrate my fellow nominees and just kind of reconnect with the community because I feel like it's a big family reunion every year here at IBMA and I love getting to see old friends that, you know, maybe I haven't seen them all year long and I get to come back and, you know, kind of reconnect with people and yeah, it's always such a fun time. So I'm here for the hang, here for the celebration and just celebrating the year of bluegrass. It's gonna be a lot of fun. Not only that, but we lost, obviously, the queen this year, and you were able to do a little bit of a tribute, but what's, what, I know what that's like in my world, Dolly, which is everywhere.

What's it been like in the music world? Yeah, I think you know, we're all paying tribute in our own way. I've been covering her out on the road. We did the ABC special last night with CMA and it was just, it was really moving to just feel her spirit in the room and feel how much she meant to everyone. Um, so yeah, it's kind of been nonstop dolly for the past couple months. Not that it wasn't already, but I think since we're passing, she's just been on everyone's minds and on our hearts. Yeah. Molly, thank you so much for taking a few minutes with us. Am I seeing this right on a quick show prep? 2017, you're the 1st woman to win the guitar player of the year. That's not gender split, right? That's a, that's that's male, female.

They don't have female guitarists and male. No, that's just all guitarists are lumped in together. I say that because in the era, a little pre-billy, Ryan Sutton was the guy who was winning everything. And you dethroned him a couple of times now, right? Yeah, I've won the guitarist twice. All right, that ain't nothing. It just kind of throw out there. Okay, that ain't nothing to just throw out there. That is big time stuff. And I, you know, in the era of chat GPT. And once upon a time, we couldn't, we couldn't rely on Wikipedia. But I want to make sure I had that right and what an impressive thing for you. Thank you. Yeah. Not as much a question other than just, I'm wild by that, by that fast, and it must have been a thrill.

I didn't believe it when it happened. I was, you know, 23 years old and I was went from watching my heroes on stage at the awards so suddenly I was accepting one. I was like, how did this happen? crazy. And now tonight you're the veteran. Now I'm the old, old lady just trying to usher in the next generation, just kidding. Well, we were just talking about the youth movement within the bluegrass scene that gets attributed much to Billy strength and for all the reasons we all understand. Have you seen that in your audiences? Oh, totally, yeah. There's so many new people coming in, discovering... The youthfulness is there. Yeah, for sure. That's great. I mean, it's one of the oldest music genres in the history of music, and like to keep it going that way for a long time, you need to use to do it.

Yeah. Well, the crazy thing is it's not even 100 years old yet. So we'll see where it goes in the next 100 years. We will. Your hosting. More pressure, less pressure, no pressure. What has it changed? You know, it's so funny. It's like, it's kind of, it feels low pressure only because it's so easy to be a co-host with my buddy Sam Bush. Um, all the folks, you know, from Jill and Shari, who are working behind the scenes and um, all the way to the production crew with Jason Singleton. these are all folks that I know really well. So it kind of feels like, you know, stepping into an event with a lot of friends and all the people in this room. So many of them are people that I've just known and loved for, you know, more in my life than not at this point.

So it's really like kind of feels like such a return home in this really sweet way that, um, you know, it's more fun than nerves, I would say. We've been talking with the folks coming through, sort of about this youth movement. If there is such a thing, but it's heightened because of Billy, brought a lot of attention to bluegrass, but you've been doing it since you were what, 13? Yeah, what? Or, I mean, on the high level. Yeah, I started playing at eight, you know, and came to my 1st IBMA at nine. I want to say I played on the award show doing the kids on bluegrass thing at like 12. So I was like, I have a long history here at IBMA, but yeah, as far as like touring and having my own band and stuff, probably, you know, 13, 14, something like that.

Just a long time ago now. It goes fast. It goes fast. Well, I mean, talk about that too. I mean, you have a relationship with Sam Bush going back a long time. I mean, oh, the old Grizzle veteran. He's one of my favorites. I love Sam. Me too. I met Sam. Fact, I met Sam my very 1st IBMA, so I started playing Manlin when I was 8 years old. I got invited to come be a part of the kids on bluegrass program when this was when IBMA was in Louisville, Kentucky. And I met Sam Busch that very 1st year that I went to Abby May, who was one of my 1st heroes. Yeah, I think that's what I was reading. I really got to meet. And so it feels really full circle to get to, you know, do the show with him tonight, but he's he's one of those heroes that's always been just more than a hero.

He's been a friend. He's one of the 1st people to pick up the phone and, you know, congratulate you or wish you luck when something good's going on in life and, you know, lucky to have people like him in my corner. This might seem like a weird question. How do you guys come up with what you're going to talk about for the night? Like, do you guys, I bet it's not script script, but is that... Oh, actually, there is a script writer, which is really helpful. There's great guy named Peyton who's done a lot of work on the script this year. And so early on, he sort of puts together a baseline script and Sam and I got together at his house and went over the script on a Zoom call and were able to like kind of edit, make things feel like...

Yeah, yeah, like these are the things that we need to kind of get through, you know, to space out the night and get all these awards handed out, but also to give us room to have our own voice and and be able to just hopefully make the evening feel natural, like 2 friends just hanging out, you know, because that's what it is. You want. Usually it seems like these awards just want a little humor in there, right? It's kind of hard to make people laugh. Like, that's got to be a little intimidating. Maybe not as much as playing a mandate in front of 10,000 people. Well, you know, Sam, if you hang out with Sam long enough, you're going to do some laughing, whether it's scripted or not. So, you know, he's...

I only seen them shred the mandolin up. I never heard him tell, tell Joe. Oh, yeah, no, he's he's great. He's great. So, you know, we, I think the main thing is, you know, we didn't want the whole thing to feel cheesy or feel like, you know, contrived. So I think, you know, most of it's just going to be us just kind of, you know, pacing ourselves through the night and kind of add living a little as we feel it. Well, check when those after the show, we'll tell you what we did. Yeah, yeah. No pressure, right? Was there a point in your career where you felt like now I'm sort of becoming the mentor? You know, it's funny. It's like, I've never really thought of myself. That way, I could never imagine some young kid thinking of me the way I thought of Sam Bush, you know, meeting him at 9 years old, but the older you get, the more the more I do realize like, you know, you start to become part of a different generation and and one that I have been around for a long time now.

And so being able to see all these young kids coming up, it's like, you know, it always does remind me of what it was like when I was that young and I, I, I would love nothing more than to be able to pour back into a young person and maybe inspire them the way so many of my heroes have because I've been really lucky that my heroes have just been awesome humans and so supportive. Hopefully there won't be that moment for you like there was for me when I hear somebody say, you know, old timey music, like what Sierra does. Exactly. Last one for me. So you've been at these award for years now, and it's moved around a couple cities. Louisville, you mentioned Raleigh before it's now in Chattanooga. Your thoughts of Chattanooga and how things have gone here since the last couple years. Yeah, this is only, you know, the 2nd year for me as well, obviously, I played the festival last year, so just got in today, so it feels like it feels like the day's just starting for me.

Did you come out and play with the Wood Brothers? Last year I did. Yeah, yeah. I was here with my band. I saw you play with the Wood Brothers. I came to the award show last year and then we played on Friday. So I got to be here for a couple days and, you know, kind of a similar thing this year where I'm here for a couple days, but it's so far so good. I'm from Tennessee. So the event being in Tennessee, it feels... It's really easy and at home and it's cool to see like Tennessee get to represent bluegrass in such a sweet way. Well, we love having you. Thank you so much. Thank you for your time.

Yeah, so there you go. I mean, that was, you can tell it's loud. It was very loud. It was when we got there, it wasn't very crowded, we were kind of like, uh, I don't, you know, something. And then all of a sudden it filled up and uh, every bit the uh, event that we expected uh, Like I said, the uh, the red carpet thing is so cool. to see all those people come. I know. Yeah. It's amazing. See anybody dressed up? Yeah. And thanks to Brian for helping out with that too, jumping in and taking some of the interviews with us, so that was fun. And got to give a shout out to his shirt. because it was pretty awesome. Yeah, I have to admit, it was a pretty cool shirt. It was very appropriate for the event.

He got that at CaveFest, right? Didn't he say that? Yep, yep. From a local vendor there that sells handmade tie-dye stuff. They had everything. Well done. was kind of jealous. It was a pretty good looking shirt. All right, guys, uh, like Russ said at the beginning, no idea what we're doing next week, but we will do something. We will and subscribe. I mean, I know you don't look at the numbers much, but we are very close to 2800 subscribers on YouTube, uh, which is huge. We're really close to 2000 followers on Facebook, which is also huge. And I looked at this the other day. I didn't realize this. We have blown past 300 episodes. We're at like 318 right now. Yeah, I know. I wish we had done something for the 300th because that's a pretty big milestone, but, uh, it's amazing that we just keep coming up with shows to do, uh, even with no Bonnarooo and no Bonnarooo for the foreseeable future.

Yeah, the what now? The what now podcast? The Weather Report podcast. Yeah. Bluegrass. Yeah.

I think, and, you know, you and I joked a couple weeks ago. To me, it actually feels like we're doing more content or more involved content in the last couple of months than before. I like it. I do too. Um, I would say leave a comment if you uh, is if there's something you think we would be good to cover. Any upcoming events, festivals, shows, whatever. Drop us an email, drop us a voicemail, 423-667-7877 or just leave a comment below. And we'll check it out. We got lots to get through the next year or so. I'm glad you said that. I've been meaning to remind folks. Um, if you got a sticker from one of us, Over the last couple of years, please send us a photo of where you put it. Yeah, we love to see him out in the wild.

I would love to have like a little place where we can put all these photos of our stickers. And like I've said, when I gave them to you, please don't put it on the Mona Lisa or deface public... Don't do anything illegal. No, um, stick if you got my face, stick it on your cooler. I like to be close to the beer. Yeah. Um, but yeah, tag us, tag us in a photo if you uh, share it or email it to us. Yeah, either way. I would love it. that would be so cool. Especially that lady who I gave the one to, and she looked at me like, I still think about that. She's like, thanks. Oh, thanks. Yeah. She probably stuck it in the porta potty somewhere. Yeah, yeah. If it's in a urinal, if it's on a urinal cake, I want to see that picture.

Yeah, yeah.