Show Notes
🎧 This week on What’s the Reason for This?, Kodi heads into the dungeon with Jon “Barber” Gutwillig of The Disco Biscuits for a deep dive into improvisation, originality, the evolution of the jam scene, and what it really means to create something completely your own. 🎸🔥 Fresh off a massive run of Vegas aftershows during Phish Sphere weekend, Barber opens up about the mindset behind improvisation and why, after 30 years, the Biscuits still approach jamming less like a formula… and more like chasing a feeling in real time. 🌌🎶 This one starts in the chaos of the jam itself… 🎸 The Disco Biscuits’ obsession with improvisation — “nobody jams more than the Biscuits” 🧠 Singing every note while playing to stay connected to melodies and ideas inside a jam ⚡ Flow state, muscle memory, and why some of the best moments happen completely unconsciously 🎶 Accidentally quoting his own guitar playing from decades ago without even realizing it But then the conversation opens into something much bigger… 🔥 The early jam scene days — when originality mattered more than perfection 🎧 Why modern music feels more focused on refinement and imitation instead of exploration 🎼 Barber’s approach to originality: intentionally avoiding music he was afraid of subconsciously copying 🎹 The influence of jazz legends like Monk, Miles Davis, and McLaughlin on finding your own voice And then… it gets philosophical. 💭 Why jam bands don’t always get the credit they deserve as musicians 🎸 The difference between technical guitar playing and truly serving a jam ⚖️ Why less notes can sometimes create more impact inside improvisation 🌌 The challenge of creating art for yourself instead of chasing audience expectations The episode also dives into the evolution of the scene itself… 🚐 Burned CDs, tiny clubs, and discovering the Biscuits in the early 2000s before streaming existed 🏔️ Colorado becoming one of the greatest concert markets in the country 🎟️ The rising cost of concerts and how the live music experience has changed 🤝 Why the jam scene still creates some of the deepest friendships and strongest communities in music And of course… things get hilariously weird too. 🚗 The legendary story of a fan driving a car directly into a hotel room during the early Biscuits days 🤯 The infamous First Bank Center stage-diving incident that nobody can fully explain 😂 Wooks, stereotypes, and why outsiders still don’t fully understand jam culture Then the conversation comes full circle… 🏕️ Returning to Colorado for a three-night Memorial Day run at the legendary Mishawaka Amphitheatre 🎶 Fan-voted setlists, intimate mountain shows, and why the Mish remains one of the most magical venues in the country 🔥 Reflecting on 30+ years of building a scene that was never supposed to last this long At its core, this episode is about authenticity — trusting your instincts, embracing experimentation, and refusing to sand down the weird parts of yourself just to fit into someone else’s version of success. ✨ 🎧 Tap in now wherever you listen to podcasts. This one’s funny, thoughtful, wildly insightful, and a rare glimpse inside the mind of one of the true architects of the modern jam scene. 🎸🌌 #WhatsTheReasonForThis #DiscoBiscuits #JonBarber
More from What's The Reason For This Podcast
🔥🪕 The Fretliners took over the dungeon for a WTRFT Session, and this one is the perfect companion piece to When the Kettle Sings. They came in swinging with songs off the brand new record, stripped down around the mic and played the way this band does best: live, loose, and ridiculously tight. 🎶 In the session: 🌲 “Whippoorwill” A groovy opener that immediately sets the tone. 🐢 “Snapping Turtle” An instrumental Sam literally wrote after finding a giant snapping turtle while out with his mandolin. Which is already weird enough. Then we made it even dumber. There’s a perfect little knock in the song that I immediately decided needed a confetti cannon 💥🎉 and then Tom had the brilliant idea to hit the second one from behind the band. So naturally, “Snapping Turtle” got the full DOUBLE CONFETTI CANNON treatment. 😂🎉💥🎉 Completely unnecessary. Absolutely worth it. 🍂 “Autumn Rivers Bend” A beautiful one about life on the road, time moving too fast, and wanting to get back home to the person you love. ❤️ 🌌 “Hole in the Sky” One of my personal favorites off the album and another reminder of how damn good these guys sound live. This session is exactly why I love having bands in the dungeon. No huge production. No bullshit. Just great songs, great players, a microphone, and apparently enough confetti to permanently ruin my carpet. 😂 🎥 The full Fretliners WTRFT Session is live now 🎧 When the Kettle Sings is out now Go watch the session. Go listen to the record. Then go support the damn band. 🔥🪕🎙️
🔥🪕 The Fretliners are back in the dungeon, and more importantly, their brand new album When the Kettle Sings drops TODAY. This episode is all about the record. We dig into the two-year process behind it, how the band wanted to capture something more raw and alive, and what happened when T Bone Burnett and Daniel Tashian helped bring that vision into focus. 🎙️🔥 Instead of building the album piece by piece, The Fretliners leaned into what they already do best: 🎻 Playing together in a room 🎙️ Gathering around a single mic 🚫 No click tracks 🎧 No headphones 📼 Real tape 🔥 Real performances They walked into the studio for three days and came out with 15 songs recorded, letting the imperfections, movement, and chemistry of the band become part of the record instead of trying to polish all of it away. We go track by track through some of the stories behind When the Kettle Sings, including: 🐢 “Snapping Turtle” and the actual snapping turtle that inspired it ❤️ “Stitch Up My Heart” and the deeply personal story behind the song 👻 The unexplained sound captured at the end of that recording 🎙️ Molly Tuttle joining them on “Josephina” 🎻 Stuart Duncan coming in and absolutely doing Stuart Duncan things 🌧️ The Grateful Dead connections hidden inside “Bells of Rafael” 🤠 Riders in the Sky appearing on “The Stone” 🔥 Why “Storms” went from a last-minute addition to the opening track And we talk about how this album represents where The Fretliners are right now after everything that has changed, evolved, and grown since their first record. There’s a lot of history on this thing. A lot of emotion. A lot of incredible players. But underneath all of it, When the Kettle Sings still sounds like four dudes standing around a microphone playing the hell out of some songs. And that might be the coolest part. 🎧 When the Kettle Sings is OUT TODAY. Go listen to the record. Go buy the vinyl. Go support the band. Then come hang out with us in the dungeon and hear how the whole damn thing came together. 🪕🔥🎙️ 👉 thefretliners.com
🌱🎻 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. 😂🔥