We’ve been playing together since June. It’s a cool experience on a personal level. They’re the guys that I looked up to when I was coming up.

It’s been an insane year.

The band deserves to be recorded. And we also recorded a live CD on the tour. Some day that will come out, for sure.

I’ve gotten back with the band so I could get some rest!

There really had to be some letting go and just sort of giving yourself up to the gods. I worked so hard to be prepared, but I had to be prepared to play things I...

They went crazy over that, and then they just opened up.

I’m just full of ideas. I have hundreds of possibilities. Hopefully, I’ll continue to have space for that creativity to happen.

It was a very ambitious trip. I have to say, to my surprise, all of our ambitions were fulfilled. All of the musicians we were going down there to record with, we recorded with?I’ve edited...

So it doesn’t have to be happy music to be inspiring.

I did so much research that I knew what I was getting into. I was trying to find specific musicians.

They think the banjo can only be happy, but that’s not true.

It’s like music theory, which was created to study what already was. Bluegrass exists, and since it’s been around long enough there are people who want to talk about it,

We never really had collaborated [with outside musicians] before Howard left. It’s been great, ever since Jeff joined. But I think there was a slight sense if we record as just the four of us,...

It’s relaxed and the people are warm.