“Get It Right, Get It Fast”: Jerry Douglas on Bluegrass History, Technicality, and Session Secrets
Wong Notes
Premier Guitar
4.9 • 587 Ratings
🗓️ 18 December 2024
⏱️ 66 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Bluegrass music is bigger than a genre. It’s become an entire world of ideas and feelings in the popular American imagination. And musician Jerry Douglas has been a key part of its celebration and revival over the past 30 years. “It's an old form of music that came from people in the south playing on the porch and became this juggernaut of a genre,” says Douglas. “It’s a character. It's a physical music.”
Douglas has racked up an impressive cabinet of accolades, including Grammies, American Music Association Awards, and International Bluegrass Music Association Awards. He’s been dubbed the CMA Awards’ Musician of the Year three times, and played with everyone from Allison Krauss and Elvis Costello to Bela Fleck and John Fogerty. He’s an encyclopedic guide to contemporary American roots music, and on this episode of Wong Notes, he walks Cory Wong through the most important moments in his 50-year career.
Tune in to hear Douglas’ assessment of bluegrass’ demanding nature (“Honestly, there's not so many genres nowadays that require as much technical facility as something like bluegrass”), what’s required of roots players (“Get it right, get it fast, make it hook”), and why the O Brother, Where Are Thou? soundtrack connected with so many listeners. Wondering how to get involved with session work? Douglas says there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, and what worked for him might not work today. The key is to be dynamic—and know when to keep your mouth shut.
There are plenty of gems in this interview, like Douglas’ thoughts on what makes a good solo, but the most significant might be Douglas’ big takeaway from decades of sitting in on communal roots-music sessions. “We can play in all genres,” says Douglas. “We just have to listen.”
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Produced by Jason Shadrick and Cory Wong
Additional Editing by Shawn Persinger
Presented by DistroKid
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | What's happening? Welcome to Wong Nodes podcast. I'm your host, Corey Wong. I'm excited today because on the show, we've got Jerry Douglas, incredible dobro and lap steel guitar player, also incredible record producer. Cat knows how to produce, listen to music, and direct a band. |
| 0:22.7 | He's one of the finest dobro players to ever play the instrument. He's got countless Grammys. |
| 0:27.7 | Actually, that's a lie. Count him. Fourteen. Incredible band leader himself, but also a member of |
| 0:33.7 | Allison Kraus and Union Station. Session musician for so many people. Discography goes |
| 0:39.9 | crazy. You can check it out. Dolly Parton, Clapton, Fish, Elvis Costello, so many other things. |
| 0:46.8 | But his sound is incredible, incredible sense of musicianship and what a song needs. Not just from himself, but other musicians as well, which is what makes him a great producer and band leader. |
| 0:59.4 | It's a great conversation. I'm very excited about this interview. I hope you enjoy it. I hope you're having a good holiday season. |
| 1:06.1 | Hey, speaking of holidays, you want to treat yourself or a loved one to a guitar course? I got a guitar course. |
| 1:13.3 | The Corey Wong guitar course. 50% off sale going on right now. Use the code Holiday 50. My guitar |
| 1:20.3 | course is up and it is wonderful. I guarantee, I'll guarantee you not just for rhythm players, |
| 1:26.7 | not just for lead players. If you want to level up your guitar playing, this is the course for you. I'll guarantee you not just for rhythm players, not just for lead players. If you want to |
| 1:28.9 | level up your guitar playing, this is the course for you. I promise. Okay? Also, got to let you know, |
| 1:35.5 | if you're out there in Europe or just want to take a trip to Europe, I'm doing a tour in |
| 1:39.4 | Europe starting the end of January through February. It's going to be an incredible run. Got my |
| 1:44.0 | full 10-piece band with me. Got the band couch opening up. It's going to be an incredible run. Got my full 10-piece band with me. |
| 1:46.0 | Got the band couch opening up. |
| 1:47.7 | It's going to be fantastic. |
| 1:49.3 | We'll see you there. |
| 1:50.1 | Come say hi. |
| 1:51.3 | Hey, let's get to this interview. |
| 1:56.3 | Hey, you guys know about distro kid yet? |
| 1:58.2 | If you are an artist, musician, somebody who's trying to get your music on Spotify, Apple Music, all of those things, |
... |
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