My guest this week on the podcast is Sam Parks from The Fretliners. The Fretliners are a band carrying the sound of a changing American landscape. Rooted in bluegrass and reaching into Americana, folk, and rock, their music feels weathered by the road and shaped by the people and places that raised them.
Winners of the Telluride and RockyGrass New Artist competitions, they write about real ground: dirt roads and dry creeks, the people who leave and the people who stay.
Their new album came the way the best things always have — not from strategy, but from showing up. A festival campground. A fireside conversation with folk hero. And one thing led to another, the way it does when the connection is real, until the band was making a record with the legendary T Bone Burnett.
The Fretliners are not chasing a revival. They are building something that lasts: honest songs, timeless stories, and a sound that feels like home.
Their brand new album comes out Oct. 26th and you can pre-order it HERE!
https://www.thefretliners.com/merch
https://www.thefretliners.com/merch
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Fretliners’ Links:
Sam’s Links:
Songs featured in this episode:
- Silence Says it All by The Fretliners (When the Kettle Sings)
- Floodwaters by Head for the Hills (Potions and Poisons)
- Give Me a Reason by Head for the Hills (Potions and Poisons)
- Sit and Whittle by The Fretliners (S/T)
- Josephina by The Fretliners (When the Kettle Sings)
Art in America by David Peters
As Always a HUGE thank you to all of my sponsor’s that make this podcast possible each week!
- Mandolin Cafe
- Peghead Nation promo code mandolinbeer
- Northfiled Mandolins
- Ear Trumpet Labs
- Ellis Mandolins
- Pava Mandolins
- Tone Slabs
- Elderly Instruments
- String Joy Strings promo code mandolinbeer