Béla Fleck Shares Video for “Psalm 136” (featuring Chris Thile), Announces All-Star Carnegie Hall Show
photo credit: Alan Messer
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“No matter what I think I am or want to be, I’m a bluegrass musician first and foremost,” Béla Fleck observes in our recent article that explores the creation of his new record, My Bluegrass Heart. The double album finds Fleck collaborating with Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, David Grisman, Chris Thile, Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Edgar Meyer, Stuart Duncan, Sierra Hull, Michael Cleveland, Billy Contreras and many others. He recently wrapped up the first leg of a tour in support of My Bluegrass Heart with Cleveland, Hull, Justin Moses, Mark Schatz and Bryan Sutton. On November 26, he will begin a second stretch of dates with Bush, Douglas, Duncan, Meyer and Sutton.
In addition, the banjo player has just announced a special show in his hometown of New York at Carnegie Hall. On January 9, he will be joined by Sam Bush, Michael Cleveland, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Sierra Hull, Edgar Meyer, Justin Moses, Mark Schatz, Billy Strings, Bryan Sutton, Chris Thile, Molly Tuttle and others in celebration of the new release.
An enthusiastic Fleck proclaims, “Calling something the concert of a lifetime sure sounds like hype, and in many cases it would be. But not this time! At least for my world and my music this is an unprecedented opportunity to bring some of the brightest instrumental lights in Bluegrass—or any other music for that matter—to the incredible Carnegie Hall stage.”
“It’s a dream come true for me and I can’t wait!” he adds. “With new super stars of the music such as Chris Thile and Billy Strings, the legendary Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Edgar Meyer and Stuart Duncan, as well as members of the next wave of virtuoso players such as Sierra Hull, Molly Tuttle and Michael Cleveland, this is gonna be off the hook! I can’t believe it’s for real. But it is!”
Tickets for the Carnegie Hall show are now on sale.
In conjunction with this announcement, Fleck has also released a new video for his song “Psalm 136” from My Bluegrass Heart which features Chris Thile.
“Late one night after recording all day together with Billy Strings, I asked Chris Thile if he’d consider doing one more song together, a duo,” he reflects on the recording of the track. “At the far end of the song, I promised a fantastic Meursault would be opened. He agreed and we proceeded to learn, arrange and record ‘Psalm 136.’ Before the dawn’s early light grazed the front window panes, we had this track down and we were enjoying the bottle, which lived up to its rep. I was first exposed to this melody on an album called Jewish Uganda, and I fell for the sound of the kids singing this simple melody. Eventually I learned the theme, and it naturally led to some new composing of ideas that went with it. Chris of course took it to the moon, as he is wont to do.”
