Mike Marshall playing Bluegrass?

**andrew.lovejoy** · May-27-2012, 10:30pm

I recently signed up to try out the Academy of Bluegrass with Mike Marshall (which I have found to be a mine of knowledge, so far), and discovered that of all of Mike's playing, it's his more straight bluegrass playing that really moves me. I love pretty much everything he plays in his lesson videos. But I'm struggling to find any recordings with MM playing this kind of stuff. I do have both Psychograss records, and I like some of that stuff a lot, but I'm looking for some less "far out" stuff. A good example is his playing on Laurie Lewis' rendition of True Life Blues on the compilation of that same name.

Anyone got any suggestions?

**Schlegel** · May-27-2012, 11:03pm

I know he's on the Car Talk theme (Dawggy Mtn Breakdown), so there's some bluegrass done while he was with Grisman.

**Adam Sweet** · May-28-2012, 8:07am

I love his playing on DGQ 1980. Unfortunately that album was not digitized.

**AlanN** · May-28-2012, 9:22am

This is a good question. Mike has been on the scene for 35 years or so, and to find a straight grass recording is not easy. The grass side of Dawg Grass/Dawg Jazz has some, he does play guitar on much of that recording. His Gator Strut 1984 has some grass-based playing, also Grisman's Mondo Mando has some. Frankly, cannot think of a recording where he is the mandolin picker in a std. bluegrass outfit.

**Denny Gies** · May-28-2012, 9:29am

If my old mind is not too out of touch, didn't Mike play straight ahead bluegrass with a Florida band back in the '70's or '80's?

**J Walsh** · May-28-2012, 9:43am

Check out Icewater on Scott Nygaard's (totally killer) record Dreamer's Waltz. Tim singing, Mike shredding, Scott and company oozing taste. Very cool...

**Richard.g.hampton** · May-28-2012, 9:43am

He's played on a number of Alison Brown's recordings.....not quite Bluegrass, but certainly a close cousin

**J Walsh** · May-28-2012, 9:51am

Yup, check out Shoot the Dog on Alison's record Twilight Motel. Such a fluid player.

**Pete Martin** · May-28-2012, 1:11pm

I think he plays a few cuts on a Monroe tribute called True Life Blues.

**andrew.lovejoy** · May-28-2012, 9:40pm

Thanks for the tips, all! I'll check some of these out for sure. I love Scott Nygaard's playing too, so I'll definitely give that one a listen. Kind of crazy to think how good he is at playing Bluegrass when it seems most of his time has been spent playing other stuff!

**dcoventry** · May-29-2012, 8:45am

Check out the DGQ Reunion show. It's out in reissue through Acoustic Oasis, Dawg's label. Just awesome playing by all, and pretty darn bluegrassy.

**Philippe Bony** · Jun-02-2012, 1:43pm

You can try this album (Todd Phillips) : In The Pines

**greg_tsam** · Jun-02-2012, 3:25pm

Originally Posted by andrew.lovejoy

Kind of crazy to think how good he is at playing Bluegrass when it seems most of his time has been spent playing other stuff!

Well I can look at this two ways and I'll preface this by saying I'm a diehard bluegrasser who likes other styles as well but maybe he's so good at BG AND other styles b/c either BG is easy compared to the other stuff or that BG is sort of like his/our base language that we can build on. Of course this isn't the case since classical music didn't sprout from BG.

Maybe it's simply b/c he's great, extremely talented and gifted and well educated and studied and has been playing his whole life more than we could ever hope for. It's nice to see someone who finds their nitch in life and is lucky enough to devote themselves to it and make a living at it. That's a lucky person, indeed.

There are some videos of Brian Seltzer doing BG songs but I'm wondering if anyone knows of other famous players that play BG when they're not playing their established genre. Clapton plays BlueGrass?

**SternART** · Jun-02-2012, 5:31pm

Phillippe beat me to it....if you want to hear Mike playing some traditional BG tunes, in a straight (rather than psycho) setting I hightly recommend this CD. John Reischmann shares mando duty, it has Darol Anger, Tony Trishka, Laurie Lewis, Scott Nygaard & Tim O'Brien on it too. A really well played beautiful recording Todd put together. Go find "In the Pines" by Todd Phillips. I've got that Mel Bay book of transcriptions from this session & learned some cool stuff walking in the fingerprints of Mike & John.

**andrew.lovejoy** · Jun-03-2012, 10:57am

Thanks Phillippe and SternART; that "In the Pines" looks like just the ticket. I'll check it out!

**Matteo** · Jun-03-2012, 5:18pm

I just came across this video of italian mandolin player and good friend Martino Coppo playing a medley of three bluegrass tunes (Golden Slippers, Kentucky Waltz, Cherokee Shuffle) with Mike Marshall...enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7S0IABY758

**Treblemaker** · Jun-03-2012, 6:02pm

I can't assist with recordings of MM playing Bluegrass, but I have a fun little tale to tell.

About 10 years ago I attended the Rockygrass Academy.
One of the many other attendees that year was Sarah Jarosz who must have been 12 or 13.
Mike Marshall was one of the Mandolin Teachers and he offered a private skill assessment to anyone interested in being "assessed."

I signed up and got paired (timeslot-wise) with Sarah Jarosz to play for Mike.
I fumbled through something, I think I played Minor Swing - or something.
I think Sarah played Roanoke. And of course she kicked ass.
It was pretty clear she was moving toward a career as later I caught her jamming with Mike, the Dawg, Mike Bub and Michael Cleveland backstage during the fest.

Two other things I can recall about Mike:
Mike is not just one of the best musician's alive, he's an incredible teacher.
I have been to a few Rockygrass Academies and I have to say that not all great musician's make great teachers.
Many just don't have this skill set, but Mike can be totally comprehensive while also making his lessons accessible to all.

The other thing that comes to mind:
Mike Marshall is literally a human jukebox.
I watched him simply sit and do these private assessments with dozens of players and no matter
what style, genre or skill level the assessee put forward, Mike would join in and make that student
sound like a million bucks. He can play a half dozen instruments expertly but his skills at encouraging
students to improve is remarkable to me.

Last thought - he's also a hell of a nice, genuine person.
I used to work at the 5th String Guitar Store in Berkeley and ever time he dropped in he was friendly, inquisitive and real.

YMMV.

**mandocrucian** · Jun-04-2012, 1:45pm

If my old mind is not too out of touch, didn't Mike play straight ahead bluegrass with a Florida band back in the '70's or '80's?

Sunshine Bluegrass Boys, out of Lakeland, FL (which is between Tampa and Orlando). Their repertoire included lots of early NGR stuff, plus Old & In The Way. also some Vassar Clements stuff.

My brother Erik(fiddle/guitar) and I would often jam at mid-FL BG festivals (late 70s/early 80s) with MM, Jon Mann (a guitar player out of Tampa. btw- Is this the same guy who now builds electrics?), and a banjo/guitar player named Steve Pruitt (who used to play in a teenage band called American Bluegrass Express with Marty Rabon and his two brothers)

NH