Banjo legend Béla Fleck brings bluegrass tour to West Michigan, praises bluegrass star Billy Strings
Over the course of more than four decades, Fleck has released more than 40 studio albums.
Long before Michigan’s Billy Strings began making a splash, 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? Ionia County-bred 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.”
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.”
“I love Billy,” Fleck said in a recent interview, praising the Michigan guitar hero 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.
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.”
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 during a Grand Rapids stop on the “My Bluegrass Heart” tour when he returns to St. Cecilia Music Center (“I love the hall,” Fleck raved) with an all-star band on Thursday, Nov. 5. The concert is sold out, but fans can sign up on a waiting list for tickets online at scmcgr.org.
“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 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 asserted.
— Find more Michigan news and festival/concert listings at LocalSpins.com. Email John Sinkevics at john@localspins.com.
