Show Notes
🎧 This week on What’s the Reason for This?, Kodi taps in with the Midwest heat — sitting down with Ben and Augie of Armchair Boogie to break down how a couple of Wisconsin pickers turned porch jams into a full-blown touring machine. 🪕🔥 What starts as a conversation about bluegrass roots quickly opens up into something bigger — the evolution of a band that refuses to stay in one lane. From traditional picking to funk grooves, jam sections, and full-send live energy… this is Armchair Boogie. 🎶✨ This one gets into: 🌲 Growing up in Wisconsin’s underrated bluegrass scene and the Midwest roots that shaped their sound 🪕 Picking up the banjo at 14 just because “it made me happy” — and never looking back 🎸 From emo riffs to Led Zeppelin to jamgrass — Ben’s full-circle guitar journey 🚗 Buick LeSabre jam sessions, porch picking, and the origin story of the band But things really take off when the band comes together… 🔥 Turning a failed project into something new, keeping the crew together and building from the ground up 🎶 Finding their sound by blending bluegrass, funk, rock, and improvisation into something completely their own 🎤 Writing originals first with 80% of songs built before they ever hit the band room ⚡ Learning to push setlists, evolve live shows, and never play it the same way twice And then there’s the reality of being a band in 2026… 📲 The pressure of social media, content creation, and never being able to “clock out” 🚐 Touring life 15 passenger van, no trailer, just the boys and the road 💿 Recording their 5th studio album at a legendary Minnesota studio and chasing that creative high 🎪 Building their own festival Boogie Down and continuing to grow their footprint At its core, this episode is about figuring it out as you go trusting the process, leaning into the chaos, and building something real with your friends over time. 🎧 Tap in now wherever you listen to podcasts. It’s funny, raw, and a behind-the-scenes look at what it actually takes to keep a band alive and thriving for over a decade. #WhatsTheReasonForThis #ArmchairBoogie #JamGrass #Bluegrass
More from What's The Reason For This Podcast
🌱🎻 Grassfed Bluegrass is growing up fast, and Riley and Miller came on WTRFT to talk about how the hell they’re pulling it off. They went from bluegrass fans and festival volunteers to building their own festival on the Outer Banks and basically learning everything as they go. 😅 We get into: 🎟️ Booking bands 🏕️ Finding the right venue 🍺 Beer, vendors and logistics 🚽 The extremely glamorous world of porta potties 📱 Social media and marketing 👕 Merch 🚗 Parking 💸 Ticket sales 😬 And the constant feeling of “oh shit, we actually have to make this happen” We also talk about how Billy Strings helped pull them deeper into bluegrass, how volunteering at other festivals taught them what happens behind the scenes, and why they’ve built Grassfed around community, quality, good people and doing things the right way. 🌱❤️🎶 And of course, we tell the story of how I met Riley and Miller… 🥶 Freezing in line in Asheville 🥃 Shooters 📜 A Billy Strings poster 😂 Me folding that poster directly in front of Miller 😳 Miller looking at me like she had just witnessed a felony Somehow, years later, those same people decided it would be a good idea to bring me in to emcee their festival. 🎤🔥 This year’s lineup is stacked: 🔥 ShadowGrass 🪕 East Nash Grass 🧭 Broken Compass 🏡 Front Porch 🎻 All She Wrote 🌹 Red Bud 🎶 Pickety Split 🚐 Podunk Ramblers Eight bands. Two stages. One day. 🌱🎶🔥 🎧 Full episode with the founders of Grassfed Bluegrass is live now 📍 Nags Head, North Carolina 🎟️ Use code WTRFT at grassfedbluegrass.com for discounted tickets Come for the bluegrass. Stay to find out why anyone thought giving me a microphone was a good idea. 😂🎤🌱
🔥 Water Tower 💦 finally made it into the dungeon and this one is equal parts bluegrass, punk rock, busking, internet chaos, and good old fashioned DIY hustle. These guys call themselves punk rock bluegrass, which sounds confusing until you hear the story. They started with traditional string music, punk rock roots, DIY flyers, busking on freeway off ramps, and a whole lot of figuring it out as they went. Then the pandemic hit, touring disappeared, and somehow that pushed them even harder into building a community online. 🎶 We get into: 🪕 How Water Tower went from square dances to punk rock bluegrass 🚦 Busking on LA freeway off ramps at 6 in the morning 🎻 How the current lineup found each other through busking and random musical collisions 🎸 Why Bela Fleck, Punch Brothers, punk rock, jazz, and old time music all somehow fit in the same universe 📱 How they built an online following without losing the human connection ❤️ Kenny’s approach to dealing with internet hate by giving people more kindness instead of more bullshit 📸 How Jessica became the secret weapon behind their content and helped turn the band into a digital machine 🤝 Collaborations with artists like Sierra Ferrell, Nick Hexum, John C. Reilly, and more 🎟️ The very real challenge of turning views into actual people buying tickets The funniest part might be that half this band basically met because somebody was busking in somebody else’s spot. 😂 But underneath all the chaos, this episode is really about community, persistence, and refusing to wait for permission. Water Tower built this thing from freeway ramps, sidewalks, livestreams, liquor stores, social media, and a lot of weird little moments that somehow kept stacking into something bigger. And through all of it, their whole philosophy is pretty simple: Love the music. Love the people. Keep showing up. ❤️🎶 🎧 New episode with Water Tower is live now Go watch it. Go listen to it. Buy the ticket before the day of the show. And if you see somebody busking on an LA off ramp at 6 a.m. maybe don’t ignore them. They might end up at Telluride. 😂🔥
🎸🔥 Jon Stickley finally made it onto WTRFT and this one goes DEEP. We talk Broke Mountain, learning bluegrass on the fly, the difference between East Coast and Colorado bluegrass, the influence of Jeff Austin, and what happens when a guitar player gets so good that he starts casually discovering new things he didn’t even know he could do. 😂 We also get into: 🪕 The absolutely ridiculous Broke Mountain lineup 🎶 Going from punk and indie rock to flatpicking bluegrass 🏔️ How Colorado changed the way he heard the music 🔥 Playing the Jeff Austin tribute and trading licks with Courtlyn 🥁 Why the Jon Stickley Trio basically said “nah” to the normal bluegrass rulebook 🎸 Building a sound around weird rhythms, different chords, and late-night festival chaos 🤝 Playing with Larry Keel and trying to make your heroes laugh onstage And then the episode takes a much more personal turn. Jon opens up about his son Callum, his STXBP1 diagnosis, and how his family turned one of the hardest moments of their lives into Strings for Callum, using the music community to raise awareness and money for research. ❤️ That part really says everything about this scene. When somebody needs help, people show up. We also talk about Jon’s new teaching platform, where he’s taking everything he learned the hard way and breaking it down for the rest of us regular wooks who need the video slowed down another 37 times. 😂🎸 🎧 New episode with Jon Stickley is live now Go watch it. Go listen to it. Support Team Callum. And if you’ve ever wondered how somebody becomes an absolute monster on guitar, apparently the answer is practice for 20 years and then still tell everyone you’re figuring it out. 😂🔥
🔥 Season 3 keeps getting weirder in the best way. This week we’ve got Austin Kress, better known as Stony McBlaze, in the dungeon and this one is a full send. 😂🌿🎤 Austin breaks down how a homeschooled Christian kid chasing serious acting in LA somehow turned into one of the internet’s favorite stoners, built a massive following, ended up at the X Games, and then had to figure out how the hell to turn viral fame into an actual comedy career. 🎤 We get into: 🌿 How Stony McBlaze was born 📱 Going viral almost immediately on TikTok 🚀 Riding the algorithm straight to the X Games 💸 Why millions of views do NOT automatically mean millions of dollars 🎭 The difference between playing Stony and being Austin on stage 😂 Why writing stand-up as Stony completely failed 🎟️ The absolutely ridiculous story of almost getting an Austin show cancelled with eight tickets sold 📲 Why having a huge following does not mean people will actually leave their couch and buy a ticket 🧠 Building jokes from real life instead of chasing cheap shock value 🎤 Trying to evolve from “Stony McBlaze” into Austin McBlaze without confusing the hell out of everyone 🍦 And, obviously, a completely necessary breakdown of elite stoner snacks The funniest part of this episode might be Austin explaining that one of his biggest problems is that people know Stony McBlaze but have no clue he actually does stand-up. Which is a pretty wild problem to have when hundreds of thousands of people follow you. 😂 And then there’s the Austin, Texas show… Eight tickets sold. 😬 A pissed-off venue. 😡 Random people overseas buying tickets. 🌍 A last-minute social media rally. 📲 And somehow a packed room and a great show at the end of it. 😂🔥 Underneath all the stoner jokes and chaos, this is also a really good conversation about creative identity, social media, stand-up, failure, vulnerability, and figuring out how to turn internet attention into something real. 🎧 Season 3 Episode 3 is live now 🌿 Follow Stony McBlaze 🎤 Go see Austin do stand-up when he comes to your city 📲 And for the love of God, if you say you’re coming to the show... BUY THE TICKET. 😂🔥
🚨 Season 3 keeps rolling with Ben Wright of the Henhouse Prowlers and Bluegrass Ambassadors. This one goes way beyond bluegrass. 🎻 We get into: 🌍 How the Henhouse Prowlers became musical ambassadors around the world 🪕 The wild story of Ben buying his first banjo for $199.99 🤝 Why music can connect people even when they don’t speak the same language 🇳🇪 Playing banjo alongside an ancestor of the instrument in Niger 🎶 Learning songs from the countries they visit and bringing them back home 🚢 Performing for refugees from dozens of countries in Rotterdam 🔥 Walking onstage with musicians they had never met and figuring it out in real time 🌱 Why community, curiosity, and making people feel seen sit at the heart of everything they do Ben also opens up about how these experiences changed the mission of the Bluegrass Ambassadors, turning it into something much bigger than touring. It’s about using music to break down barriers, celebrate culture, and remind people that connection can start with something as simple as listening. One of the wildest moments comes from West Africa, where Ben realized he was playing his banjo alongside an instrument widely considered one of its ancestors. Two musicians from completely different worlds, connected instantly through sound. 🪕🌍🤯 And in Rotterdam, that mission came full circle with performances for refugees and an unrehearsed collaboration that Ben described as scary, imperfect, authentic, and completely human. ❤️🎶 🎧 Watch or listen to the full conversation with Ben Wright. 🌎 Learn more about the Bluegrass Ambassadors and the work they’re doing around the world. 🔥 Follow What’s The Reason For This? for more conversations about the music, people, and community behind the scene.