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PODCAST

Banjo Chat

Season 3 is coming soon! We are returning mid-October with a bunch of new inspiring guests in all styles of banjo playing! Thanks everyone for your patience! Banjo Chat is a music podcast where Musician/Professional banjoist, Hilary Hawke interviews cutting edge and inspiring banjo players every week. They talk about their lives in and out of the music industry; reflecting on stories and ideas that inspire their performing, writing and their albums.

music music interviews

All Episodes

66:34

303 Hannah Mayree

Banjo Chat ·

2025/10/15

In this episode of banjo chat I sit down with Hannah Mayree — musician, cultural worker, and founder of the Black Banjo Reclamation Project. Hannah shares the origins of the project, born from a deep need and desire to reconnect Black communities with the banjo’s African roots and reclaim its history, sound, and spirit.We talk about growing a healing community around the banjo, putting instruments in people's hands, and reshaping how we understand the banjo's place in American music and Black

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54:44

302 Wes Corbett

Banjo Chat ·

2025/10/08

In this episode, we dive into the making of Wes Corbett’s new album Drift. The inspirations behind the music, the collaborators who brought it to life, and insights into the recording process. We listen to a couple of my favorite tracks from the album!We chat about musical influences like Car Talk, Earl Scruggs, and Béla Fleck, and reflect on his upbringing on the West Coast. He shares the subtle complexities of performing with the Sam Bush Band and offers a thoughtful look at his approach to the

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47:32

Dueling Banjos Podcasts! Live from Ashokan feat....

Banjo Chat ·

2025/09/09

I’m super excited to present a special collaboration with Keith Billik from the Picky Fingers Podcast! Enjoy a special live episode of the “Dueling Banjos Podcasts” hosted by Hilary Hawke and Keith Billik at the Ashokan Center in Ashokan, NY!Get the inside scoop on what’s happening in the lives of banjoists Maggie Shar, Scott Hopkins, BB Bowness, Hilary Hawke and Keith Billick. Stick around for the earth shattering banjo duel at the end of the episode. Featuring the live audience of students at the

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35:07

211 Season Finale with Alison Brown!

Banjo Chat ·

2024/05/22

This is the Season Finale! And my mind is blown hearing Alison Brown talk about her banjos and what she’s playing on the road. We chat about her music, making records, producing, re-issuing records and the vision for her band. We nerd out about how we like the piano and banjo combo. What she likes to convey with her music, and how she goes beyond how the banjo is usually portrayed. We listen to her track Sweet Sixteenths with Sierra Hull on mandolin, and the Alison Brown Quartet. We talk about

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50:00

210 Lukas Poole

Banjo Chat ·

2024/05/15

This week on the chat we have Lukas Pool! A fun one where we talk about the ins and outs of the Ozark Banjo Shop, how it all started and when he was was making banjos just to pay the rent! Apprentices, banjo making, balancing having kids with performing music, horses, and his dad working over at Mountain View Music. He tells us why he decided to make a living playing music and we get specific about repairs, wood selection, and what he looks for in a banjo. Also how he approaches arranging a

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13:34

209 Listener Emails Part Two

Banjo Chat ·

2024/05/08

This week on banjo chat! As we prepare for the final two episodes in this season we take a moment to get into some more Listener emails! And these ones are doozies. Thanks everyone and we return next week with our next guest! https://www.patreon.com/BanjoChat

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42:03

208 Melissa Carper

Banjo Chat ·

2024/05/01

This week on the banjo chat! We have Melissa Carper! We are chatting about being on the road with her band, her debut at the Grand Ole Opry and how she writes songs and stays close to her roots. We talk about her transformation from being a side person, to how her creativity came alive, and what was stifling her creativity. Healthy alternatives to drinking and how to get sleep on the road! Also, what has kept her on her path when dealing with frustration, playing in bars over the years. How she

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57:30

207 Kyle Tuttle

Banjo Chat ·

2024/04/24

This week we have Kyle Tuttle on the banjo chat! Of course we talk about winning the grammy award with Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway for their City of Gold album! Yessir! We are also talking about banjo necks, banjo makers and what life is like in Nashville as a banjo player. How he loves the music festival scene, playing music and being true to yourself, and different recording techniques on his new album. We talk about how he approaches improvisation and how you can put yourself into new

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49:29

206 Moira Smiley

Banjo Chat ·

2024/04/17

This week we have Moira Smiley on the banjo chat!We talk about how music gives you a sense of transformation and how what she writes on banjo can have an uplift, a melancholy, as well as a sense of belonging. She explains what it’s like writing music for choral groups and for other people to sing. Talking about the ballad tradition in folk music, and relating the Turkish Cumbus to the banjo and honoring the folk songs that were the core of her early musicianship and bridging a classical music

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52:45

205 Kristin Scott Benson

Banjo Chat ·

2024/04/10

This week’s episode is with Kristin Scott Benson!It was a great chat with Kristin, all things banjo and beyond. Listening to her solos and talking about who inspired her to play and special guest barks from Fisher the dog. Talking about different personalities and how we handle the business side of music, performing and teaching. Band dynamics and what it’s like being a side person, and being grateful for the different roles in a band. Having stage fright, and struggling with nerves. Being

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17:47

204 Listener Emails!

Banjo Chat ·

2024/04/03

This week on banjo chat podcast, it's me taking listener emails!Great questions from our listeners. We chat about how to seem more confident on stage, what is stage banter?, how to meet people to play with, and crazy gigs. Also cheers to radio station WSSB 91.7! Thanks for playing the pod! www.patreon/banjochat Instagram: Banjochat

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01:05:39

203 Aaron Jonah Lewis

Banjo Chat ·

2024/03/20

This week’s episode is with Aaron Jonah Lewis and how music and the world as we know it, are changing!We talk about making music in Detroit, and being a traveling musician. Thinking about the bigger picture, building community, finding the people who help you in your life. What it’s like making vinyl records again. Their Dos Senoritas album. Connecting to yourself and the people around you. Connecting to history, how banjo influenced ragtime music and how they've been using different arrangements

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46:45

202 Cathy Fink

Banjo Chat ·

2024/03/13

This week’s episode is with Cathy Fink!We talk about her grammy nominations, collaborations, and how she has been mentoring different artists-in-residence at the Music Center at Strathmore. Her project from China to Appalachian with Marcy Marxer and Chao Tian. We explore how she views creativity and how she’s driven to work on social justice issues. Her thoughts and advice for being a connected and balanced freelance musician and connecting adults and families through music. “You get up everyday,

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49:29

201 Lisa Leblanc

Banjo Chat ·

2024/03/06

Season 2 kicks off with a bang! We have Lisa Leblanc! Coming straight from her recent Symphony tours of her original music in Canada. Her big picture on connection with the audience, and how to have fun onstage. How she has developed her style of banjo playing, and getting to jump around and wail on the banjo. The amazing connection between Acadian, Cajun, songwriting and Chiac music and how she has blended them with folk, bluegrass and rock elements to create an ever evolving sound! Truly an

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53:38

10 Tony Trischka, Joe Newberry, Cedric Watson, Scott...

Banjo Chat ·

2023/11/29

It's the Season Finale of Season 1! A special live episode taped onstage at the Ashokan Center in Olivebridge, NY. At the inaugural Banjo Weekend Nov 15-17th where we were teaching a great community of banjoists. This is a highlight for the banjo chat pod, and there are many pearls of wisdom throughout this chat!Listen to Joe Newberry, Cedric Watson, Tony Trischka, Scott Hopkins talk about first banjos, and their beginnings. Highlights of their performing experiences, New things they are

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50:55

9 Cynthia Sayer

Banjo Chat ·

2023/11/01

This week’s episode is with Cynthia Sayer! We talk about what it is like being a full-time professional banjoist in the jazz world. What made her want to learn swing banjo? How she was touring for 20 years before ever working with another woman in jazz. Being in Woody Allen’s jazz band for 10 years and working with him. We listen to two of her albums; Cynthia Sayer Vol 1., and Joyride. What it takes to make a career in music, staying open to following your heart and having good people around you

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44:02

8 BB Bowness

Banjo Chat ·

2023/10/25

This week my guest is BB Bowness! We chat about what it’s like being a professional bluegrass banjoist. How she got into banjo in New Zealand and got her first banjo from the United States. How she approaches improvising, and playing with different artists as well as the driving force and focus of her band, Mile Twelve. She chats about how the band started in the beginning and has been going strong for the past 10 years. Doing planks and good posture to strengthen yourself for holding resonator

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54:11

7 Cristina Vane

Banjo Chat ·

2023/10/18

This episode is with Cristina Vane! She talks about how she got into clawhammer banjo, the bluegrass and old-time scenes in Nashville, Los Angeles, and NYC and what it’s like moving closer to the source of blues, and old-time. How music has been a constant in her life, and honing her voice in the music she makes and honoring all the things that make her musical identity. We hear her story growing up in Italy and traveling to the United States. Geeking out about the late blues artist, Chris Whitley

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43:21

6 Allison DeGroot

Banjo Chat ·

2023/10/11

In this episode we chat with Allison DeGroot! Allison talks about her immersion into banjo and how she got into playing in bands. Writing tunes. The playing of Hobart Smith and Fred Cockerham and recording the album Hurricane Clarice with Tatiana Hargreaves. We listen to Ostrich with Pearls, we talk about weaving in family stories into the music. Her original tune, Wellington and finding the muse. Nancy Blevins and the production of the album. How she visualizes the banjo when playing with Tati

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40:26

5 Hubby Jenkins

Banjo Chat ·

2023/10/04

Hubby talks about how he got into music, how he practices in small spaces, his influences in early folk, old-time, influences from other people besides banjoists (comedians, other types of musicians). Naming our banjos. He dives deep into some music from Black Banjo Songsters and we listen to the Rufus Casey version of the Cuckoo song. What it was like for him learning that the banjo started as a black instrument and how it re-shaped history. His live shows and what it was like playing his first

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24 results

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