My Bluegrass Heart is that return the 15-time Grammy winner has been talking about – the third chapter in a decades-spanning trilogy which, by his counting, started with 1988’s Drive and continued with The Bluegrass Sessions, released eleven years later. Over the long and lauded course of his unique creative run, Béla Fleck — the world’s premier banjo virtuoso and a celebrated musical adventurer — has both dug deep into his instrument’s complex global history and unlocked the breadth of its possibilities. My Bluegrass Heart is a homecoming in sound, to be sure.
My Bluegrass Heart is vividly collaborative, and part of Fleck’s talent as a leader is encouraging his bandmates to shine. If the band is an amalgamation of generations, ideas and style, the songs are maybe even more so. It’s not a straight bluegrass album, but it’s written for a bluegrass band.
1. Vertigo (Feat. Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Bryan Sutton)
2. The Old North Woods
3. Slippery Eel (Feat. Billy Strings and Chris Thile)
4. Hug Point (Feat. Sierra Hull and Molly Tuttle)
5. Boulderdash (Feat. Tony Trischka and Noam Pikelny)
6. Our Little Secret
7. Round Rock (Feat. Michael Cleveland and Jerry Douglas)
8. Baptist Pumpkin Farm
9. Charm School (Feat. Billy Strings and Chris Thile)
1. Strider (Feat. Sierra Hull and Molly Tuttle)
2. This Old Road (Feat. David Grisman and Billy Strings)
3. Us Chickens
4. Sour Grapes
5. Hunky Dory
6. Tentacle Dragon (Revenge of The) [feat. Billy Strings]
7. Bum's Rush (Feat. Sam Bush, Billy Contreras, Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer, and Bryan Sutton)
8. Hunter's Moon
9. Wheels Up (Feat. Sierra Hull and Molly Tuttle)
10. Psalm 136 (Feat. Chris Thile)