John Mailander Archives - Bluegrass Today

Returning from John Mailander’s Forecast

And now for something completely different…

Fiddler John Mailander has been on our radar since 2012, when he was an undergrad student at the Berklee College of Music. Two years later, we found his debut album, Walking Distance, to be a fine example of contemporary fiddle music. Living now in Nashville, he has become one of the city’s top session players, and a member of Bruce Hornsby’s Noisemakers, touring as things reopen after shutdowns last year.

He stays up on his bluegrass chops collaborating with Billy Strings and has, as a passion project, created an ensemble called John Mailander’s Forecast which performs and records music that combines elements of bluegrass with jazz, rock, folk, and avant-garde music. It’s sound that’s hard to peg, and Mailander knows that it might be a bridge too far for some bluegrass lovers to cross. But he invites us all to have a listen, and enjoy this more experimental side of his musical journey.

It involves adding instruments not heard on our side of the street as a rule, including pedal steel guitar and saxophone, to the melodies and arrangements John creates. A new album, Look Closer, is set for release on May 7, with a live stream concert the night before from The 5 Spot in Nashville.

He has suggested this track, Returning, as one to share as a tease for the record and the stream, which you can hear in the almost static video below.

John says that the title is a perfect exposition of how it was to be making music again in the studio.

“Returning was one of the first tunes we tracked on day one in the studio. After so many months of isolation, the way we arranged this tune together, and how each musician’s voice enters and joins in one at a time, the creation of this track, and album as a whole, felt like a joyful rediscovery of musical connection and purpose. Thank you for listening!”

Mailander is on fiddle with Ethan Jodziewicz on bass, Jake Stargel on guitar, Chris Lippincott on pedal steel, Mark Raudabaugh on drums, and David Williford on tenor saxophone.

Returning is available now as a single wherever you stream or download music online. Pre-orders for Look Closer can be placed for digital, CD, or vinyl purchase, from John’s bandcamp page.

Revised edition of A Fiddler’s Guide To Moveable Shapes

A little more than two years ago we reviewed a very clever instructional book for fiddlers, written by Nashville musician John Mailander. Titled A Fiddler’s Guide To Moveable Shapes, it conveys information in a succinct fashion that will be highly valuable to any fiddler having difficulties with improvisation, or seeking to gain a more thorough knowledge of the fingerboard.

Mailander presents his information in a straightforward manner, and in a way that can be readily understood even by intermediate level players. By moveable shapes he means fingering positions that can be shifted across the strings and up and down the neck for use in a variety of keys and situations.

As we said back in 2017…

Closed positions are familiar territory for guitar, banjo, and mandolin players who typically learn chord shapes early on in their study of the instrument. From these shapes they learn where other notes related to the chord are located, and how to move these closed shapes up and down the fingerboard for other chords/keys. But many fiddlers focus solely on playing a melody, either of a fiddle tune or in orchestra or band situations, and may not always even be aware of the harmonic structure of what they play.

John’s book starts right there with a brief tutorial on chord theory and the circle of fifths. From there he moves to a discussion of double stops, in both open and closed positions. The examples are demonstrated in standard musical notation, augmented by images of the fingering positions he is covering on a photo of a violin neck. There are also examples of a couple of tunes, with suggestions for how to accompany others using tidbits from the music.

And now he has released a revised, expanded, and spiral-bound edition just in time for holiday giving. New content has been added, and John feels like it now offers a smoother and more comprehensive read. It is targeted towards the improvising fiddler/violinist, though the insight and information contained in the book would be of interest to any player within the string family.

As a special treat, John includes a box of colored pencils with each order to allow the reader to color in the black-and-white line art included throughout the book.

This new 60-page edition will be available on December 20, and pre-orders are being accepted now for shipping on the 20th.

A Fiddler’s Guide to Moveable Shapes from John Mailander

This slim volume from clever young Nashville fiddler John Mailander could be a life-changing experience for students of the instrument, especially if you are new to improvisation or band work.

Its unpretentious title describes the contents perfectly. A Fiddler’s Guide To Moveable Shapes is designed to convey this concept to players who are comfortable playing melodies on fiddle tunes, but feel lost when trying to make up solos, add accompaniment in a band setting, or feeling comfortable as an improvisor.

This is not a detailed instructional text, but more of a “think piece” type of book. If the notion of closed position chord shapes is new to you, this book will open up a new world of possibilities. His commentary on using the index finger as the Amazing Finger Capo could be a revelation as well.

Just so you can be assured that he knows of which he speaks, here’s video of John with his friend and frequent collaborator Nick DiSebastian on Silver Spire.

The book’s cover also has a dual purpose. The line illustration by John Fabke, and several of the images included in the book, also functions as a coloring book. Mailander helpfully includes a box of wooden pastel pencils with the book for your noodling or coloring pleasure, should your mind wander while working on your moveable positions.

A Fiddler’s Guide To Moveable Shapes will be available on September 10. $25 gets you the book, postage paid, or for $15, a digital download.

You can contact John online for ordering information, or for more information about studying with him, either in person in Nashville, or by Skype lessons online.

Walking Distance – John Mailander

John Mailander is the latest bright light in the fiddle world to emerge from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he has studied under the tutelage of Darol Anger and developed into an adventurous and extremely capable player. His debut solo album, Walking Distance, finds him firmly in the mainstream of contemporary bluegrass and old time music on a mix of new and familiar material.

Assisting throughout are a string of virtuoso players from the northeast, most prominently Tony Trischka on banjo, with whom John occasionally performs, for half of the record’s 8 tracks. Fellow Berklee grad Lukas Poole contributes clawhammer banjo on a pair of tunes, as does Canadian Berklee student Alison de Groot on another. They are clearly attracting some fine banjo players to Boston.

But as you might expect, Mailander is the star of the show, whether he is tearing up a driving fiddle tune like Big-Eared Chicken, performed as a banjo/fiddle duet and written in the Kenny Baker mode, or an old time romp like Tell Me which closes the album with a flourish. Both are John’s compositions with just the right blend of tradition and originality.

The title track, which starts things off, is an aggressive modern fiddle piece on which everyone gets a chance to shine, including Joe Walsh on mandolin, another Berklee grad who nows teaches at the school. That is followed by Nahatlatch, an old timey mood tune from Mark Simos which features some lovely fiddle/banjo unison playing with Poole.

>Deserving of special mention is Molly Tuttle who provides fiery flatpicking throughout, and her trademark singing style on the record’s lone vocal number, John Hartford’s Gentle On My Mind. It’s a thoroughly modern reading of the song, faster than is common, and given a different feel with her supple, girlish voice. It’s a very strong cut.

As is Hayduke, a modern fiddle tune. Jake Joliff provides some fine mandolin here as well, especially in the spacey middle section filled with free improvisation. Inverness features Mailander on both fiddle and octave mandolin, with de Groot on banjo. It’s a sort of new fashioned old time tune (how’s that for a contradiction in terms?), with a lilting melody.

Song For John was written in memory of John McGann, who died while Mailander was at Berklee and McGann was on the faculty. A waltz, it includes the album’s sole bass solo, beautifully played by Brittany Karlson.

Be on the lookout for John Mailander. He’s a talented musician on the way up, as Walking Distance amply demonstrates.