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A Conversation with Barrett Smith of Steep Canyon Rangers


Words by Brad Yeakel


The Steep Canyon Rangers have been treating fans of Americana and Bluegrass music to beautiful songwriting, ambitious compositions, adventurous exploration, and unexpected delights for more than 20 years. Their sound and friendships are tightly woven in a way that can only come from a long term commitment to each other, creatively and personally. After more than a decade crafting their sound and skill, Steve Martin (The Jerk, Three Amigos, etc.) walked into their lives, banjo in hand, and propelled the band to more notoriety and opportunity. The Steep Canyon Rangers were prepared when they were given the opportunity, and that is the definition of luck. Bass and guitar player, Barrett Smith was charming, warm, and gracious with his time to discuss the band, their upcoming Colorado shows, and more. Excerpts from that conversation appear below, as well as the full transcript!

Barrett greeted me and we quickly began talking about the origins of the band which formed in Chapel Hill, NC and relocated to the greater Asheville area nearly 25 years ago.

“A decade isn't what it used to be, is it?” Barrett joked.

“It's a really worn in thing musically and then also just, well in every way… it's a real community that has evolved very naturally around itself over a long period of time. With really deep bonds and roots. So yeah, we're tight. When you say it's tight, it's like, you know, it's kind of like family tight. Kind of that ballpark.”

Having a community that was built to last has been a blessing for the band professionally and for their community. Asheville was devastated by Hurricane Helene in 2024, and Steep Canyon Rangers have performed benefits, donated money, and spread awareness that Asheville is open for business and that tourism is a major piece of their local economy that has taken a hit.

“It's beautiful and and I mean, if you know, you know, if you've been here and and you visited, then come back… and if you haven't then you should come see what this place. The natural beauty and… The artistic beauty of this place, it's really pretty. Yeah, it's unique. It's southern.”

When asked if there was an organization that he recommended on the ground for donations towards the relief efforts, he was quick to answer, www.belovedasheville.com.

“This one organization called Beloved Asheville that really kind of emerged as just everybody around town was like, 'OK.' They're getting it done really well and they they have been around before the hurricane with various initiatives and I wasn't really so aware of what they were doing. But now I've been to the spot and seen all of it for a while. It was a lot of goods coming through, you know, people donating things. But I think donating money to them, off the top of my head, is a good. They're good go to.”

Steep Canyon Rangers have a couple of shows this week with Martin Short and Steve Martin, who are also experiencing tragic catastrophes as the fires in LA ripped through their neighborhood and impacted their team immensely. Fortunately everyone is ok, but the recovery will be arduous, and Barrett expressed how anxious he is to see them for the first time since the fires.

“We travel with them a lot. You know, it's maybe like 1/4 of what we do is traveling with them, and so those two and the crew that travels with that show, we're all really tight. So another musician that travels, Jeff Babco piano player lives in LA. Steve is in LA and then Martin Short actually lives in Pacific Palisades.”

MusicMarauders' entire organization wishes that all those affected are assisted in their relief and recovery quickly, humanely, and compassionately. If you’d like to help, visit www.belovedasheville.com or www.directrelief.org.

SCR played two shows in Alaska last week where the crowds really showed up and the band was stunned by the vastness and beauty of the surroundings. It was Barrett’s first trip to Alaska, and he reflected fondly… “people really came out in the city of Anchorage and from around Alaska and kind of gravitated and made for like a special… Like an an evening of note, it was a special thing. If anybody sees this interview who was there… they know. They're like, yeah, it was. It was pretty killer. And then we went to this smaller town called Sitka in southeastern Alaska. That was really magical and wonderful, and we had a great show there. Alaska is,  indescribably vast and beautiful. And you know, to get a dose of Alaska is... yeah, it's it's a kick in the head. Kinda the vastness of it. It's awesome, yeah.”

These magical moments help to balance out the sacrifices that a touring band must make… being away from family, sleeping on couches, and driving endless hours. Barrett admitted that it is extremely hard to leave his wife and kids to leave for tour, but his passion for what he does and the people he does it with seemed to provide a workable trade-off. “Woody, who was one of the guys who started the band in Chapel Hill. He eventually just hit a point where he was like, alright, it's not working. It's asking too much of my family and then I'm out. When it was like, yeah, I get it, I get it. That could happen to any one of us at any point, you know, I guess cause, it really does ask a lot. That's the downside. I mean the question being, do you still get excited? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Because the upside is, it's just like best job in the world, you know.”

The band’s connection to Steve Martin, and ultimately Martin Short as well, has drawn more eyes to the music, and the camaraderie the group has experienced ranges from deep connections to endless shenanigans. “Just to share a path or cross paths with somebody who first of all is just so… such an amazing person. Like artistically, intellectually, he's just like an amazing dude. And then just as significantly, somebody who carries so much like… cultural power, “ later adding, “It’s a huge honor and and for example, I sat down with my family at some point and we watched Three Amigos and my two daughters were pretty small. Then and my oldest girl, who was eight years old at the time. She is halfway through the movie and there was Steve on the screen and he cracked some jokes, did something funny. And Evie, my daughter, looked at me and was like, 'Dad, Steve's in a movie.' She's like, 'he's good, he's doing good. He's funny, like we need to tell people about this. Like Steve is like for real.' I was like, 'yeah, he is. You're right.'”

It's an unimaginably joyful circumstance to find yourself friends with two of the funniest men on the planet, Barrett shared, “Steve is like really serious about being funny. You know which kind of just makes you, like, really serious. He's sensitive and really thoughtful in my mind,” while Short is, “always on… he's famously like… He's just always electric. Always on and gracious and like everybody's best friend and very beautifully social and funny and on and bright! He's an amazing person in my opinion. I think he's amazing guy. Yeah, got a lot of love for that guy.”

With the growing popularity of artists like Billy Strings, and Molly Tuttle, it seems to add up to a lot of people exploring more psychedelic roots, Americana, and bluegrass influenced music… a world that the Rangers have been representing for a while now. “I didn't grow up in a family that was into bluegrass music at all. I just liked the Grateful Dead. And then I heard that Jerry Garcia had a band where he played the banjo and so I went and found the CD and bought it. And then I was like, oh, listen to those guys.

There and then I learned… like, what do they listen to? And who's Bela Fleck? Like what? All of a sudden, like oh, God, I love it… We're coming to Boulder, which we love Boulder, and then we're playing with Peter Rowan, you know? I would say, as much as anything the 16 year old and the 25 year old in me is are… like… cutting cartwheels. Like, wait a second. Wait. You're in a band with your buddies and your 40 something years old and you're going to ski towns and Boulder and… playing on stage with Peter Rowan!? Like who are you? Yeah, it's exciting. I love Peter Rowan. You know Peter Rowan is one of the reasons that I got into this music in the first place. You know, Old and In the Way, it was… I might not be here if it wasn't for Old and In the Way, to be honest… We're like this is a cool run. Let's talk about it. So like which of Peter Rowan’s tunes are we going to learn? How do we work him into our show or work ourselves into his show? How do we make these shows really special? Especially for Boulder, I would say cause we got a lot of history in Boulder. We were comfortable in Boulder. We've been seeing Boulder for decades, right? We love it there. That'll be fun show, yeah.”

The Steep Canyon Rangers will be in Colorado for six shows of energetic exploration and adventure, a handful of which are with “Old and in the Way” legend Peter Rowan. We hope to see you there!

Big thanks to Barrett Smith and the Steep Canyon Ranger team for allowing us the opportunity!

1.29 Boulder Theater w/ Peter Rowan, Boulder, CO

1.30 The Lincoln Center w/ Peter Rowan, Fort Collins, CO

1.31 Lone Tree Arts Center w/ Peter Rowan, Lone Tree, CO

2.01 Vilar Performing Arts Center w/ Peter Rowan, Beaver Creek, CO

2.2 Steamboat Springs, Steamboat Springs, CO

2.3 Wheeler Opera House, Aspen, CO

www.steepcanyon.com

*You can read the full transcript from Brad's conversation with Barrett below!


Full Transcript:

Brad: How did this all begin? I'm familiar with your band. I've actually seen and wrote about you in the past. Steve Martin came with you guys to the Denver Botanical Gardens back in 2013. It has been over a decade of being familiar with your music, and so I'm just curious how it all began before Steve, when it was just the band itself.

Barrett: Yeah, yeah, a decade. A decade isn't what it used to be, is it?

Brad: It’s crazy.

Barrett: So that's what that's now, 11-12 years ago that show would have been? And interestingly, at that point, the band would have been together for over a decade at that point.

Brad: Sure. Wow.

Barrett: Yeah, the band has been around a long time. And to answer your question, we all live in and around Asheville, NC as home. Which we love. But the band started in Chapel Hill, NC, which is where the University of North Carolina is. There were some guys who all met up and enjoyed bluegrass music and started playing hangouts and picking. Put a band together. Play the bars. It just kind of gradually took shape and then became Steep Canyon Rangers, like right around right around 2000 or so.

Brad: I can tell by the time I saw you guys, you had been really, really tight, you know? So I can tell you had already put in the work prior to Steve coming on the scene for sure.

Barrett: In a lot of ways. I mean, when you say that, it's certainly like musically, a lot of the guys in the band really learned to play together, that was how they learned. Pick up the instruments around that time and learn together. So it's a really worn in thing musically and then also just, well in every way… it's a real community that has evolved very naturally around itself over a long period of time. With really deep bonds and roots. So it's yeah. Yeah, we're tight. When you say it's tight, it's kind of like family tight kind of that ballpark.

Brad: That’s wonderful.

Barrett: Anyway, that’s how we got together.

Brad: Absolutely. I can tell you guys have a great rapport and obviously the the music is really, really, really wonderful.

Barrett: Thanks.

Brad: So you mentioned Asheville. I've read that Brevard, is that technically that the town?

Barrett: Yeah. Two of us live in Brevard, which is like now, 45 minutes from Asheville. One of us is in Saluda, NC, which is 45 minutes from Asheville and then three of us are here here in Asheville. West Asheville. Right across the river, which is still part of Asheville.

Brad: Obviously you guys have had some tragic weather and tragic recovery and work, I know with Steve and with Martin Short and I know they're going through a ton of challenges with the LA fires. So have you as a band been personally impacted by this or I'm sure that your community and the people that you know and love have been. Has that touched you guys extensively or have you been fairly lucky?

Barrett: Yeah. I mean, I'd say we've been fairly lucky. Like specifically the people in the band, everybody who works with the band, you know, it was pretty random. Like if you were affected or not, it didn't discriminate along any like predictable lines. Except were you close to the rivers, really. That was really a determinant, although even if you were close from the rivers, there were landslides and all, so people got, you know, really knocked out, but it just so happens that, yeah, nobody in the band really took it on the nose too bad.

Brad: That's good.

Barrett: Which is very fortunate, and we're all very grateful.

Brad: For sure.

Barrett: To be able to say that and then the suffering or inconvenience or anything on our part is more just like the way the whole community feels about it. And you know that it's such a giant giant disaster that the impacts of it in this community that we love so much are there long term, you know, and we're all kind of figuring that out kind of as we go along. But it's it's a resilient, really cool place with lots of really good people. And so there's all kinds of silver linings of people stepping up for each other, yeah.

Brad: I was gonna ask that because I have never been to Asheville, but by all accounts that I've ever heard, it seems to be a very warm community that everyone pulls together and I imagine that that has been helpful throughout recovering through this.

Barrett: Yeah, yeah.

Brad: That’s good that there's a community there. I I'm sure in all these kinds of situations, everyone starts coming together. Had there been music things or anything that you guys have personally been able to impact the recovery events?

Barrett: Yeah, for sure. I mean, to be so lucky to not be affected so much and then to be so concerned for your community. Plus when you have a platform that you can use to actually make some money or make some awareness or whatever. Yeah, we've done a bunch, created a bunch of benefits and we raised a good bit of money, through different things, which felt really good to be a part of the recovery and now I mean… it’s nice for me to be able to say it like in this format… Sure, we could do more, raise some money and give it to an organization in Asheville, and that's helpful. But what's just as impactful, we feel like, is going out into the world and telling the rest of the world like, 'hey, we're open for business in Asheville.' Tourism is our industry now. That's what we do. It's beautiful and and if you know, you know. If you've been here and and you visited, then come back and if you if you haven't then like it's you know you should come see what this place is the natural beauty and… The artistic beauty of this place, it's really pretty. Yeah, it's unique. It's southern.

Brad: That’s awesome.

Barrett: It is. It's awesome. Asheville and in the surrounding area is just beautiful. And so we just we try to get people to come now and jump back in because tourism is down. They say like 75% or something. That really effects everybody in the area. It's changing the city as we speak. Right now, we hoping when the spring comes back that it'll bounce right back. And it's interesting you mentioned those fires in LA because like with Steve Martin and Martin Short, we travel with them a lot. Maybe like 1/4 of what we do is traveling with them and and so they those two and the crew that travels with that show, we're all really tight. So another musician that travels, Jeff Babco piano player, lives in LA. Steve is in LA and then Martin Short actually lives in Pacific Palisades, right?

Brad: I know, scary!

Barrett: You know, so it all happened really fast and we were all very worried. Because we dudn't hear anything. I mean, we'll see him in a couple of days and that will be the first time we've actually really looked each other in the eye to say 'are you OK?' And it's interesting cause it's the same thing that happened with us those few months ago. He sat down at a table and was like, “are you OK? It looks not OK. Are you OK?”

Brad: Right.

Barrett: And we were like, "yeah, we're we're OK basically. We were shell shocked, but OK." Yeah, we'll see how he is. He's pretty resilient too, so yeah.

Brad: Well, we're certainly all thinking about all of you and we hope that the recovery is as smooth and and as easy as it can be.

Barrett: Yeah.

Brad: I’m sure that there's no easy way about it for sure.

Barrett: Yeah, right. Thanks for asking.

Brad: Of course, man. And on that note, is there anything specific… I know you mentioned tourism, but are there any organizations locally or anything that people could donate to that you specifically really think are the best?

Barrett: This one organization called Beloved Asheville or Asheville BELOVED. That really kind of emerged and everybody around town was like, 'OK.' They're getting it done really well and they have been around before the hurricane with various initiatives and I wasn't really so aware of what they were doing. But now I've been to the spot and seen all of it for a while. It was a lot of goods coming through, you know, people donating things. But I think donating money to them off the top of my head is is a good they're a good go to.

Brad: That's excellent. Onto less tragic topics. It's got to be exciting leaving for tour. You guys are about to hit the road. You were just in Alaska as well, right?

Barrett: Yeah, just a couple days ago.

Brad: How were those shows?

Barrett: Wonderful. Wonderful.

Brad: Awesome. Anything notable on the run that really stood out?

Barrett: Yeah, the whole thing. I mean we only played two shows. We played in Anchorage and played for like a, you know, for us, a pretty big place, like almost 2000 people. And it was almost sold out in Anchorage, which is really far from home. So that was a really special show. People really came out in the city of Anchorage and from around Alaska kind of gravitated and really and made for like a special evening of note. It was a special thing. If anybody sees this interview who was there, they know. They're like, yeah, it was. It was pretty killer. And then we went to this smaller town called Sitka in southeastern Alaska. That was really magical and wonderful, and we had a great show there. Alaska is indescribably vast and beautiful. To get a dose of Alaska is a kick in the head. Kinda the vastness of it. It's awesome, yeah.

Brad: After so many years on the road, is it still exciting to go on tour? I know that you guys had a band member leave at one point because it was harder and harder to leave home. I imagine as you get older these things become heavier and heavier.

Barrett: Yeah.

Brad: Is it still exciting and do you still look forward to tour?

Barrett: Yeah, I mean that’s… you just named the like the only real downside of it is that it's difficult. It asks a lot of family members, really is what it is and kids and partners. That's a huge thing. Like you're saying like Woody, who was one of the guys who started the band in Chapel Hill. He eventually just hit a point where he was like, alright, it's not working. It's asking too much of my family and then I'm out. When it was like, yeah, I get it, I get it. That could happen to any one of us at any point, I guess cause, it really does ask a lot. That's the downside. I mean the question being, do you still get excited? Yeah, absolutely. Because the upside is it's the best job in the world.

Brad: For sure.

Barrett: Especially for the people in the band, we are all of a constitution and of a way like we're music. We love playing music. We love it. We're way into it. We were music lovers deeply and we love playing music and we love each other and the whole thing goes well. And so yeah, definitely it's a give and take. And I mean, there's part of me that doesn't want to leave always cause I love my family more than the band you know.

Brad: Yeah. Absolutely. I understand all of this wholeheartedly. Yeah.

Barrett: Right. Yeah. OK. Good, you get it. Yeah, you get it. But this Colorado tour coming up is man... I mean, it's always exciting to go and play music. I'm excited about wherever we're going this weekend. I'm excited about it. Oh yeah, Fox Theater in Atlanta. I'm like whoa, you need to play the Fox Theater in Atlanta. It's like God, one of the most beautiful theaters I've ever seen. Really, I'm so excited to see it again. But this Colorado run coming up is real exciting, man. Cause, it’s going to these beautiful ski towns, we're doing that a lot. We're coming to Boulder, which we love Boulder, and then we're playing with Peter Rowan, you know? So it's like, I would say, like as much as anything the 16 year old and the 25 year old in me are… like… cutting cartwheels like, wait a second. Wait. You're in a band with your buddies and your 40 something years old and you're going to ski towns and Boulder and… playing on stage with Peter Rowan!? Like who are you?

Brad: That’s exciting.

Barrett: It's exciting. I love Peter Rowan. You know Peter Rowan's one of the one of the reasons that I got into this music in the first place. You know Old and In the Way... I might not be here if it wasn't for Old and In the Way, To be honest.

Brad: Absolutely. And that's actually funny that you perfectly transition to my next question which is, bluegrass is seeing a renaissance with Billy Strings and Bela Fleck going back to the My Bluegrass Heart kind of approach from the world music stuff. So there seems to be a lot of excitement around this kind of music right now and your approach seems to share a little bit of that, like Bohemian Asheville kind of vibe, but also your sound is very at home in a traditional Americana bluegrass sense. You're not pushing people so far out of their comfort zone that the people that don't necessarily go Grateful Dead with it are still connecting with it. And do you find that you have more of the Jam crowd or more of a traditional? Or is it a mix?

Barrett: Mix and often it just depends on the venue. You know, so this venue will be full of people who are more like this, and that venue will be full of people who are more like that. If we're playing at some club where there aren't seats and it's like a bar party atmosphere, versus playing some kind of like really nice, kind of like Performing Arts Center kind of theater thing. It changes. I mean that's a thing that's been in bluegrass music. It's a major strain in bluegrass music for a long time. I mean, since the 60s, let's say it's been like the hippies like bluegrass music for some reason. But they're blowing it up and and bringing all this exciting stuff into it and bringing crowds to it as well. And when this band started like you know, let's say starting  in and throughout the late 90s and into the 2000s, there was a moment then where it was a renaissance of sorts happening then. Like Bela and Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas and Tony Rice. I was, let's say 20 years old and figuring out where they were and going to where they were. And when I showed up, there were a lot of people like me who showed up too, because they just wanted to be inspired and see what was going to happen next. And everybody in this band thought, well I could make music. That's inspiring too, and I could do that, and then we found that went on like that for a while and there was a little bit of a lull. I guess we might not have even known it was happening, but it wasn’t until Billy Strings came along and Molly Tuttle's great, and popular, that there's a new surge of hippies. Yeah, there will be music, great musicians and great bands in the bluegrass genre, whatever that turns out to be 20-30 years from now, who are like "I never would know about this music if it wasn't for Billy Strings." Just like we're like, "I never would have known about this music if it wasn't for the Grateful Dead."

Brad: For sure.

Barrett: Really. You know, I didn't grow up in a family that was into bluegrass music at all. I just liked the Grateful Dead. And then I heard that Jerry Garcia had a band where he played the banjo and so I went and found the CD and bought it. And then I was like, oh, listen to those guys. There and then I learn like, what do they listen to? And who's Bela Fleck? Like what? All of a sudden, like oh, God, I love it.

Brad: It it's amazing the music you discover through things like that.

Barrett: I know. I'm still hooked on it like, I mean, just the discovery of whatever it is. Whatever it is and with our tools we have today, there's a major catalyst. This is your discovery. Potentials are massively amplified, right? I hear more. I can keep track of… God so many things. The things that we hear now, but it's cool now. We hope… now it's cool you mention. There's a surge now and here we are in this interesting spot because we're pretty old. We did this like 20 something years ago, what other people are doing now, and so how do they look at us? Like are we? Are we a part of this? We've been doing it all this time and we're kind of aged into this. We're not at all like the Grateful Dead in terms of, like, cultural significance or success or anything like that. But we are old and we've been playing together for a really long time... Roots American Music like way longer than bands ever normally last. And we are like the Grateful Dead in that way. I see pictures of them with the way they were in let's say in the 80s and I'm like that looks that looks familiar. I feel kind of how you seem to look like you maybe feel, which I love and I just hope that with all this new action, I wonder what all the new crowds, if they hear Steep Canyon Rangers, what they think about us. It's not going to change what we do necessarily. We just do what we do. That's what we've always done. We just do what we do and what we find to be inspiring and beautiful and/or clever and but we have elements that are like that, like the jam scene. That's a part of us. We change the setlist every night not because we want to. We like weird segues into songs and let everything become really open-ended. Rooted in roots. That's all we can be really. That's what we are. We'll see how we fit into the whole thing.

Brad: Well, they say the rising tide lifts all boats. So, you know, perhaps this is helpful.

Barrett: I think so. I think of that phrase often in these days. And it's funny. There were times even when the band had been together, let's say, like 15 years. I remember somebody in the band making a funny comment of like "God, remember that band like eight years ago? They were so good. And so what was their name? Remember that band a few years ago? Remember that band 15 years ago? What was what were they called? They were the talk of the town." And then having a laugh like God, these people come and go and we just we just keep on plugging along and it keeps working for us. We still can do it.

Brad: That’s awesome.

Barrett: We can still make a living doing it, and God… so grateful. So grateful that it makes us get up. You know what we talking about? This Colorado trip, for example, and we're talking about it cause that's a cool run. Let's talk about it. So like which which of Peter Rowan’s tunes are we going to learn? How do we work him into our show or work ourselves into his show? How do we make these shows really special? Especially for Boulder. I would say cause we got a lot of history in Boulder. We were comfortable in Boulder. We've been seeing Boulder for decades, right and we love it there. That'll be fun show, yeah.

Brad: We’re we're excited to have you. You guys have six shows in Colorado. That's a pretty good string. So obviously I'm like everybody else. I’m enamored with Steve Martin and with Martin Short and all of these guys that you get to to be friends with and all that. I have so many questions, like have you met Jimminy Glick?

Barrett: Yeah. Sure. Oh yeah.

Brad: I bet that's so much fun. And you know, what did you think when Steve first walked into the room and all kinds of stuff like that?

Barrett: Yeah.

Brad: But really, I guess because I could talk to you about it for hours. I'll just start with how has Steve's involvement changed the band as far as venues? Audience? Mood? Songwriting? Management? And specifically I saw you guys in the masterful way that he worked comedy into your musical set was just… I didn't know what to expect at the time, and I was so overjoyed with how that all played out. So I'm sure it affected your approach in some ways. Can you speak on that at all?

Barrett: Yeah, definitely. Well, just like you could ask a million questions, I could talk about it and talk about it. It's been, for me personally, since I'm the person talking, it's a big deal. Just to share a path or cross paths with somebody who first of all is just such an amazing person. Like artistically, intellectually, he's just like an amazing dude. And then just as significantly, somebody who carries so much like… cultural power and social power. People ask about it all the time. Part of my life is like talking about Steve. Why am I still talking about Steve Martin? Everybody wants to know. There's so much wrapped up in him which I can say first hand he fully deserves. He's a giant of an artist and so he's affected us, God… in so many… in so many ways. Yeah, the way we approach everything. Yeah, he's a great artist and we've been on the path with him for a while and he's done incredible, great things. He's been at the center of the Cultural Zeitgeist universe for periods of time in different ways. And he's seen it from this angle and that angle. So he's wise. And I guess one of the most valuable things, strangely, is looking around at some point and being like you have it, He's just a buddy at this point, which is…

Brad: That's so cool.

Barrett: It's a huge honor and it's for example, I sat down with my family at some point and we watched Three Amigos and my my two daughters were pretty small then and my oldest girl, who maybe she was, I don't know, say eight years old at the time. She is halfway through the movie or right and there was Steve on the screen and he cracked some jokes, did something funny. And Evie, my daughter, looked at me and was like, "Dad, Steve's in a movie. He's good! He's doing good. He's funny, like we need to tell people about this. Steve is like for real." I was like, "yeah, he is. You're right."

Brad: That is hilarious.

Barrett: He’s a funny guy. He's not just the dad of the kid you hang out with or the dude who goes to work with Dad. He's a…

Brad: Wow.

Barrett: He's a friend and he's an inspiration for sure. And same thing for Martin Short, who we've been traveling with for forever now too. And now he's become just somebody we treasure, really. He's a treasure.

Brad: What a pair of people to be friends with! My goodness.

Barrett: What a trip... of all people. We're all friends with all kinds of people. You know, they're a strange pair to be friends with, but they're friends. It's funny to say it.

Brad: That’s so cool.

Barrett: It is. It's funny to say it because it's also just feels like such an honor to be just to be able to hang out with them honestly, because they're so fun and cool.

Brad: I believe it. I'm sure that I know the answer to this already, but do you get funny texts from Steve or Martin or anything like that? Anything you could share that you remember?

Barrett: God, so many things. So many. Strangely, the has just thought of three different things, and none of the three of them are at all like appropriate to say to anybody really.

Brad: Haha… That’s OK.

Barrett: I'd say I'd, I'd say the funniest thing, just kind of generally is like, you know, if you follow their duo, if you watch like only murders in the building or you see them on a late night show or something like that, they they have, they kind of have this schtick almost where they're like, they really they rib each other, you know. It's like their schtick. And. That's for real. They like that is constant constant. My belly laugh like I can't believe he just said that. And then they're a little more unfiltered when they're not on the screen, you know? And so it's like, oh, my God, I can't believe you just said that.

Brad: Are they ever not on? You know what I mean?

Barrett: You know, I'd say in a way Steve is… always… most of the time, not on in the way that you would kind expect him to be. I found myself saying sometime recently like 'Steve is like really serious about being funny. You know which kind of just makes you, like, really serious.' He's such a sensitive, really thoughtful person in my mind. I mean, I'm talking like he's my best friend. He's not. I know him the way I know him, but in the way in so much as I know Steve, he's just very smart and thoughtful and sensitive. And that doesn't equal like goofiness necessarily, but Marty. Marty on the other hand, is kind of… Like always on… he's famously like… He's just always electric. Always on. On and gracious and like everybody's best friend and very beautifully social and funny and on and bright!

Brad: Yeah, I can't even imagine him not on… like I can’t… I would have no sense of what that would be.

Barrett: Yeah, I know. Me too. I'm trying to think of him and like, really calm, introspect, serious sad gravity things, and even in that way, in his own way, he's on, man. He's an amazing person in my opinion. I think he's amazing guy. I got a lot of love for that guy.

Brad: I agree.

Barrett: A lot of respect, yeah.

Brad: As somebody who's never met him, it translates through all of his characters. I mean, I think all of America is in love with him in a lot of ways.

Barrett: It does. Yeah, I love it. He's kind of having a moment. You see him on screens more now than you did, let's say, like 10-15 years ago, right? Which is great.

Brad: My kids watch the Cat in the Hat and his voice was coming through. I was like, ‘whoa, whoa.’ And I came running from the other room. I was like, what are you watching? I love it.

Barrett: That’s cool, yeah.

Brad: I was going to ask about your Colorado run and performing with Peter, but we already talked about that briefly. So I guess just to kind of wrap things up, cause, I don't want to hold you too long; When you travel a lot, you know you see, I think a lot of cities are very similar in so many ways. And then the thing that makes them charming is what makes them the city that they are. You know, Asheville is different from another place because of certain charms. And I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about what you find charming about when you come through Colorado. And then also if there's a favorite place in the world. Let's say not in Asheville. Cause, clearly that is a place that has your heart, but somewhere that their charms are just something that you really, really constantly want to get back to.

Barrett: Yeah, sure. Right. Honestly, sincerely. Tthe first thing that comes to my mind is… Colorado. Just the West in general and not the far West, like the West to the Rockies. Yeah, that. Maybe it's because it's on my mind, but it is the first place that comes to my mind. I went to Colorado as soon as I could. As soon as I could. I'm an East Coast person like I'm a southeastern guy. So as an East Coast person, there's a lot of romance and ideals and stuff wrapped up in life in the West and then to land there at the age of... I might have been 19… 18, 19 the first time I went to Durango, CO and so this was in 1900 and something. And I stayed there for a summer and played music in the bars or whatever I did, but I was pretty smitten with it. And then I feel like that was true of a lot of people who I knew in the southeast. It was very alluring to us and then musically by the time, let's say, by the time Leftover Salmon came along it it took on a whole other allure of like, oh whoa, what is the Telluride Bluegrass festival? What is that? You know. Well, there's something happening out there and there's an audience, especially at that time. It was just starting to really blow up in a different way. I feel like in the 90s, a new explosion was happening.

Brad: Absolutely.

Barrett: We were on that, you know, not on the very front end of that explosion. We were like a little behind the explosion, but it hadn't fully blown up, like you could probably at that point have bought a house in Boulder. As a normal person, for example. It was so exciting. So the band then came to Colorado. Immediately, whether it made sense or not, like we're gonna go on tour. Let's go play shows in Colorado. That will be cool. And it was. I wasn't in the band back then, but I played in other groups and it was like, we are a North Carolina band and we will drive through the night to land in Denver and then start playing shows and then we'll finish those shows and we'll drive through the night to get back to North Carolina, and we might probably not stop anywhere in between. There are lots of good places to stop, but it was like we had our sights set on that beautiful landscape and that kind of live and let live kind of mentality. And appreciation of the outdoors... a little more kind of laid back, which we eventually found our own little version of it in Asheville. You know cause, we're in the mountains here and it leans a little more in that way. In general, Asheville does. Say we found it here. But it's not the same. This is not out there and that's not here.

Brad: No, but it it has a similar charm, though for sure. From what I understand.

Barrett: It has a similar charm. It does if you're in the east, if you're on the East Coast and you're smitten with Colorado, you know, maybe Asheville, maybe, let's say, Western North Carolina, southwestern Virginia, East Tennessee, this zone right here is maybe where you should come. It has the most in common. It's it's totally different. I mean, these mountains and those mountains are not, you know, they're not at all the same. I don't mean one's better than the other or whatever. They're just different universes, right? So that's your answer. Colorado, just so happy to be where we're coming. Yeah, yeah, we love it there.

Brad: Well, we are very excited to have you all back! I look forward to seeing you guys again soon and I hope that you continue doing it for a long, long time. Cause your music is very enjoyable.

Barrett: Thanks man.

Brad: Please pass all of our love and appreciation to the rest of your band members and certainly extend our hopes for a prompt and easy recovery to Martin and Steve and all those in the affected areas. We’re all thinking of you and we hope that things get back to normal as easily as possible.

Barrett: Yeah. Oh my God. Well, that means a lot. Thanks. Yeah.

Brad: Of course, man. It was really nice to get to know you and get to chat with you and hopefully I'll see you sometime in the real world.

Barrett: Yeah, you too.

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