John Reischman and the Jaybirds

Grammy Award-winning musician John Reischman has been a foundational mandolinist, composer, bandleader, and musical educator in bluegrass and North American roots and folk music since emerging from the vibrant “new acoustic” bluegrass music scene of the Bay Area in the 1980s. A member of the groundbreaking Tony Rice Unit, Reischman’s mastery of bluegrass, old-time, swing, and multiple Latin American musical styles, coupled with an Old Master’s sense of tone, taste, and musicality, has brought him a global reputation as one of the finest mandolinists of his era.

His latest CD, New Time & Old Acoustic on Corvus Records, blends a lifetime of musical influences into an engaging recording with some of today’s top acoustic players including flatpicking guitarists Molly Tuttle and Chris Eldridge, fiddler Alex Hargreaves, and bassist Todd Phillips. The 14-track album includes 12 new Reischman originals and a reinterpretation of his classic tune “Salt Spring.” New Time & Old Acoustic is the most mature, accomplished solo recording of Reischman’s storied career.

Living in the Bay Area in the 1980s, Reischman debuted as a touring and recording artist with the seminal West Coast bluegrass band The Good Ol’ Persons, cementing his reputation as a powerful soloist with an original vision for his instrument. “They were a great outlet for me because they embraced original material from the individual band members, giving me inspiration to explore composing,” he adds.

As a member of the Tony Rice Unit featured on that band’s most iconic recordings, Reischman helped define the “new acoustic music” movement in contemporary bluegrass. His unmistakable mandolin style and signature clear tone fuses early influences from Bill Monroe and other legends of traditional bluegrass mandolin with contemporary styles played by Sam Bush, David Grisman, and the late jazz mandolinist Jethro Burns. John’s remarkably clear-voiced mandolin, in turn, has influenced a new generation of mandolinists including Chris Thile, David Benedict, and Joe K. Walsh.