Moonshine Moonlight

This week on Moonshine Moonlight, Kyser George (Shadowgrass), Jed Clark, and Riley Gilbreth pull up a chair to talk about the strange, hilarious, and occasionally brutal business of playing bluegrass for a living. From childhood prodigies and viral videos to selling tractors at the merch table, we get into the stories behind the music, the characters along the way, and what it takes to keep the wheels turning. No scripts, no industry polish. Just a room full of pickers swapping stories and telling it like it is.

What happens when you leave one of bluegrass music's biggest bands to forge your own path? Mason Via and Charlie Chamberlain crack open a cold one and catch up on life, music, and the unpredictable road of being a working musician. From Mason's Ryman Auditorium debut and IBMA Best New Artist nomination to touring with Sierra Hull and The Wood Brothers, they swap stories, revisit unreleased recordings, and explore the creative freedom of making music on your own terms. Plus, a few surprises from the vault.

Jeremy Darrow, a renowned bassist and musician, joins Mason and Charlie to talk about  everything from bourbon, to musical influances, to egg salad sandwiches.  We touch on the pros and cons of music school, our shared love of Bill Evans and Whos Hat is This, old east nashville, Bob Weir and much more.  

Griffin Mcmahon is a virtuosic keys player from up in New England, he is even an alumnus of the prestigious Juliard school. Griffin talks about his move to Nashville, how he fell in love with Honky Tonk music as well as 80s rock. He opens up about his new project he just released that was recorded by our very own Charlie Chamberlain. He also gives us the scoop on what its like to have a weekly residency at the world famous Roberts Western World  and to tour and perform with the wild Wheeler Walker Jr. Our surprise guest is mandolinist extrordinaire Thomas Cassell who is known in the bluegrass community from his work with Circus No. 9, a band that has since went on indefinite hiatus. Thomas now is the mandolin player in Woodbox Heroes, a top notch bluegrass band filled with all stars. Thomas also plays with his own project as well as gigging with Mason Via and The Cleverlys from time to time. We were also lucky enough to hear these two render us a lovely duet performance on piano and mandolin.

Lily Grace is an up and coming country and pop superstar from Australia who is making waves as the hottest new name in Nashville, TN. Worlds collide when our surprise guest Avery Merritt hops in the booth to chat about his experience touring as an A-List fiddler with the amazing Sierra Hull. We chat about writing, touring, picking, and the artistic process.  As always your cohosts Mason Via and Charlie Chamberlain are here to stir the pot and spill the tea with you our fine listeners. We even got a lovely solo rendition of Sally Goodin from the finest fiddler himself! Huge thanks to 4115 studio for always supporting our wild podcast.