With The Flecktones’ reunion tour all but imminent, the great banjoist Belá Fleck spoke about their motivation to reunite and what might come next. The new interview in JamBase touches upon Fleck’s many ongoing projects, mentioning work with Chick Corea, The Telluride Bluegrass Festival, his wife Abigail Washburn, and, of course, The Flecktones.
Belá Fleck spoke about the reunion dates, explaining that it was his annual role at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival that brought them together.
This lineup is a return to our original lineup: Victor Lemonte Wooten, Futureman and Howard Levy. We had planned on trying to get together in 2017, but somehow blocking a big time period wasn’t working for everyone, what with all the different projects and lives we now all have. So we scrapped the idea for that time. A little later Telluride Bluegrass Festival promoter Craig Ferguson got in touch to ask me what I wanted to do this year at the festival.
I’ve played there every year since 1982, and I always try to bring something special. I knew that The Flecktones guys always loved coming to Telluride, so I thought, what about a much shorter commitment? Just a couple of weeks leading up to Telluride this time? I floated the idea, and it went over big. So we’re doing it. Who knows what it will lead to next.
Of course, the follow-up question was about what it could lead to next. Fleck answers vaguely, but optimistically for fans who want to hear more.
It’s an open book. We are all share a lot of history, and warmth towards each other. At a certain point we all felt ready for new challenges, and Flecktones had been the center of our musical lives for decades, so we decided to give it a break. Four years later, we’re starting to miss each other!
It’s nice to hear that the band is as excited to play as we are to listen! The tour starts on June 1st, wrapping through the country and landing at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival on June 16th!