Don’t know if his name’s come up yet, but Jake Workman is about as incredible on the mandolin as he is on the guitar…
Andy Leftwich is also an incredible mandolin player:
Who are your favorite artists to listen to on the mandolin?
Andy Leftwich is also an incredible mandolin player:
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I’ll also add Jesse Brock; just saw this video recently of him playing with Audie Blaylock and Redline and a young Russ Carson.
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Great quote!
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Dang he was really young!
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You can definitely notice how hard he was trying when you look at his facial expressions in that video… now it looks like he plays just effortlessly!
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Mike Compton is one y’all need to check out
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I’ll never complain about Wayne and Allen playing together…
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No one I guess has heard of Rich DelGrosso, awesome BLUES mandolinist!! Also Ronnie McCoury !!
Thanks
DLS
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My favorite is Sam Bush
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For me, love of mandolin started with Chris Thile. Nickel Creek is pretty much my “desert island” band. I know Thile really departs from the “traditional,” but I appreciate that. What’s “traditional” now was new at some point. Then I started branching out and learned about many of the great artists y’all have mentioned above.
I may have missed it in the thread, but I’d like to add Sarah Jarosz to the discussion. I first saw her live when she opened for Nickel Creek, and I love her songwriting, singing, and playing. Just check out this solo mando piece.
I had an 85 year-old guitar teacher once who gently scolded me for focusing so much on wanting to learn complex instrumental fingerstyle music. He encouraged me to pay attention to how quickly I lose my audience of family and friends because, regardless of how technical the music might be, they don’t really connect with it. He said, “just play a few rounds of She’ll be Coming Around the Mountain and you’ll see they will enjoy it much more.” For a hobby player like me, the return on investment, in terms of people around me connecting with what I’m playing, is much higher with traditional.
I think he was spot on, and I try to remember his advice when I choose what to practice these days. I love the traditional, but I also really appreciate folks like Thile who have the skill and courage to push the music into new places.
Thanks for the great thread.
Bill Phillips
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