The Yolo County Breakdown

50 years ago, an album was released that would sell more copies than any other album in bluegrass history - and hold on to that record for 25 years. The album was called Old & In The Way and its all-star cast of pickers included Grateful Dead icon Jerry Garcia on banjo, David Grisman on mandolin, Vassar Clements on fiddle, John Kahn on bass, and Peter Rowan on guitar. Peter and Rocky recently had a great conversation about his music career, and this episode of the Yolo County Breakdown features that interview. Peter talks about his early days sneaking into music clubs in Massachusetts, and Rocky follows the path of his musical journey through his time with Joe Val, Bill Monroe, Muleskinner, Townes Van Zandt, Wyatt Ellis, and much more. Peter is a gifted story teller, and this conversation is one you will not want to miss!

If you ate some turkey this week, then come along and Ride the Wild Turkey with Rocky! Lots of tracks from the year 2023 this week for some reason including a great cover of a Crosby, Stills & Nash classic. And for all you pilgrims out there, Kris Kristofferson offers an update. Rocky is sure to make you hit the buy now button for all the Black Friday Bluegrass Specials.

Reno & Smiley show us where we came from and Billy Strings shows us where things are going. Tony Rice tells the tale of the Edmund Fitzgerald which sank 50 years ago this month. And the husband and wife team of Kristen Scott Benson and Wayne Benson close the show with an instrumental that has as deep a groove as any bluegrass tune of the last decade. Rocky picks tunes that are sure to keep your toes tapping...

Rocky's got a challenge for all you mandolin afficianados this week. He spins a set of mandolin-centric instrumentals. How many of the 8-string pickers can you name? No cheating and looking at the playlist before you listen! Plus he has a brand new bluegrass cover of a Blind Faith song from Dre Anders & Ronnie Bowman that is bluesy and real real fine.