photo credit: William Matthews

On September Renew Records will release Béla Fleck’s first bluegrass album in over 20 years. The aptly titled My Bluegrass Heart also features a core band of Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Mark Schatz and Jerry Douglas, all of whom appear on Fleck’s 1988 album Drive as well as 1999’s The Bluegrass Sessions: Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 2.  Guest musicians include Chris Thile, Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, David Grisman, Brian Sutton, Edgar Meyer, Sierra Hull, Tony Trischka, and Billy Contreras.

Fleck also released an official video for “Vertigo” from the forthcoming record, on which the banjo player teams with old friends, the “Telluride House Band:” Bush, Duncan, Meyer and Sutton. He tells Relix, “I taught it to the Telluride House Band in 2018, my dear peer pal group, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Bryan Sutton, so got to perform it that one time before recording. And they tore it up! I wasn’t surprised. In a weird coincidence, I came down with the condition Vertigo a couple months later. I don’t recommend it, and thank goodness it passed relatively quickly. I thought the title was funny originally. Now I do not.” Then he adds, “This tune has made several seasoned musicians tremble in their boots, me being one of them! It has a couple of slick Indian rhythmic ideas in it, and hey what’s the time signature on the chorus anyway?”

My Bluegrass Heart is dedicated to two artists who passed away over the last twelve months: Tony Rice (who appeared on both Drive and Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 2) and Chick Corea (whose My Spanish Heart inspired the album title—Fleck reveals that Corea knew about the name:  “He laughed and said ‘Yeah, man. Go for it!”)

Fleck also created a playlist of music that influenced My Bluegrass Heart, which appears below the video, along with his forthcoming tour dates in support of the record.

Béla Fleck: My Bluegrass Heart Tour
Featuring Michael Cleveland, Sierra Hull, Justin Moses, Mark Schatz, & Bryan Sutton
9.17 Roanoke, VA // Jefferson Center
9.18 Berryville , VA // Watermelon Pickers’ Fest 2021
9.19 Glenside, PA // The Keswick Theatre
9.21 Pittsburgh, PA // Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall
9.22 Bethesda, MD // The Music Center at Strathmore
9.23 Cumberland, MD // DelFest
9.24 Princeton, NJ // McCarter Theatre Center
9.25 Boston, MA // Berklee Performance Center
9.26 North Adams, MA // FreshGrass
9.28 Kent, OH // The Kent Stage
9.29 Cincinnati, OH // Taft Theatre
9.30 Charlottesville, VA // The Paramount Theater
10.01 Raleigh, NC // IBMA Bluegrass Live!

Featuring Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, Bryan Sutton

11.27 Grand Rapids, MI // DeVos Performance Hall
11.28 Fort Wayne, IN // Clyde Theatre
11.29 Milwaukee, WI // Riverside Theater
12.01 St. Louis, MO // The Sheldon Concert Hall
12.02 Des Moines, IA // Hoyt Sherman Place
12.03 Salina, KS // The Stiefel Theatre
12.04 Denver, CO // Paramount Theatre
12.05 Jackson, WY // Center For The Arts
12.07 Portland, OR // Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
12.08 Seattle, WA // Paramount Theatre*
12.09 Eugene, OR // Jaqua Concert Hall – 2 shows
12.10 Redding, CA // The Cascade Theatre
12.11 Reno, NV // Silver Legacy Resort Casino
12.12 Berkeley, CA // The UC Theatre
12.13 Carmel, CA // Sunset Cultural Center
12.14 Costa Mesa, CA // Segerstrom Center for the Arts
12.16 San Diego, CA // Balboa Theatre
12.17 Los Angeles, CA // Theater at the ACE Hotel
12.18 Tempe, AZ // Tempe Center for the Arts
12.19 Tucson, AZ // Fox Tucson Theatre
1.7.22 Ryman Auditorium // Nashville, TN**

*

Featuring Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, Bryan Sutton

*Featuring Sam Bush, Michael Cleveland, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Sierra Hull, Edgar Meyer, Justin Moses, Mark Schatz, Billy Strings, Bryan Sutton, Chris Thile, Molly Tuttle