Mason Via Archives - Page 2 of 2

Big City drops for Mason Via

Mason Via is certainly on a roll this year, appearing as a contestant on American Idol and being chosen as a member of Old Crow Medicine Show. He’s also signed a recording contract with Mountain Fever Records, who have released a debut single today showcasing him as both a singer and a songwriter.

Listening to his distinctive tenor voice, with just a touch of mountain soul, you can see why he captivated the judges on American Idol, as well as the guys in OCMS. But he remains a grasser at heart, which shows in this new single.

For his first solo release with Mountain Fever, Mason has chosen a song he wrote, Big City, which might be descriptive of his own life, moving to Nashville from his home in western North Carolina to pursue a career in music. He is supported here by Alex Genova on banjo, Jonah Horton on mandolin, Tommy Maher on reso-guitar, Sam Wiess on fiddle, and Ben Somerville on bass. Nick Goad and Jacob Harbour provide harmony vocals in the Osborne Brothers style, with Via’s vocal on top.

Have a listen…

Big City is available now wherever you stream or download music online. Radio programmers can get the track via AirPlay Direct.

Be on the lookout for a music video for this song in short order.

Mason Via to Mountain Fever Records

2021 continues to come up roses for Mason Via. The young North Carolina bluegrass artist started the year as a contestant on American Idol on ABC Television. He showed up on TV where the judges loved him, but was cut when the contestants were trimmed to only two dozen. Then came a call from Americana string band icons, Old Crow Medicine Show, asking if he would like to audition for a vacancy in the band. That one stuck, and Via has joined the group, debuting with them on the Grand Ole Opry last week.

With his head still spinning, Mason now joins the artist roster at Mountain Fever Records, who announced today that he has signed a contract to create a bluegrass album for the label.

Mark Hodges, President of the Mountain Fever Music Group, is delighted to bring him on board.

“Needless to say, we are glad to help facilitate in bringing some of Mason Via’s music career dreams to life. He’s focused and talented, and that’s a good start!”

No additional details are available at this time, but it seems fair to expect to hear new music soon from this fast-rising 23 year old picker and singer.

Mason Via joins Old Crow Medicine Show

“I’m living the dream,” 23-year-old Mason Via declared on his becoming the newest member of the Old Crow Medicine Show, in a phone interview this week. “Joining a band that I’ve listened to since I was a kid is wild.”

The Danbury, North Carolina, native moved to Nashville in early 2020. Hoping to establish a career in music, Via ran into a mountain of unforeseen obstacles.

“The pandemic hit, the tornado hit…finally, for financial reasons, I had to move back home.”

Throughout all the challenges that 2020 afforded, Via kept following his dream. He auditioned for American Idol and made it into the top 40.

“I was cut at the top 24 (in December 2020). The call for Old Crow Medicine Show came a month later in January 2021. Some of God’s greatest gifts come in unanswered prayers. I’ve always wanted to be in a bluegrass band, and then to get asked for something even bigger that I ever imagined, really is a dream come true!”

The young musician shared how it all came to be.

“Old Crow Medicine Show was looking for someone to audition. I unknowingly had a couple musical acquaintances refer me.”

Ketch Secor, fiddler and OCMS founding member, messaged Via on Instagram and suggested that he give him a call.

“We talked and Ketch asked some questions. He had spent some time in North Carolina, and wanted a young NC guy who had been to fiddlers’ conventions and festivals. He was looking for someone to sing and play guitar in the band.”

Via was invited to Nashville to audition.

“I listened to them in middle school. I learned their (Old Crow Medicine Show) repertoire. It felt larger than life to meet Ketch and the band.”

Their first meeting went well and everything just seemed to click.

“We just had an old time jam session. We sang an old Stanley Brothers’ a cappella, and some old country stuff like Louisiana Saturday Night. They said you’re doing good, come back tomorrow.”

He kept getting asked back.

“We worked up two new songs of theirs together on one of the days. Ketch and I wrote a song. We hung out.”

Then Via returned to his native Tarheel State, but felt good about his audition.

“I got a call around the first of February that I needed to move to Nashville ASAP. They said, ‘Pack up your stuff, we need you.'”

So once again, Via made the move to Music City to follow his passion. This time, he had a set job waiting.

“Our first live show is on the Grand Ole Opry on May 11! How cool is that?!,” the emerging artist enthusiastically asserted. “Then we play in Florida on May 21 and Charleston on May 22. We will be touring all over the US throughout the remainder of the year.”

Via still has a couple of solo dates remaining on his agenda. April 23 and 24, he will open for the Infamous String Dusters, Sierra Hull and Justin Moses, and the Travelin’ McCourys at VanHoy Farms in Union Grove, NC. He will also be playing May 1 at the Stonefly Fest V featuring the Songs From the Road Band in Johnsonville, TN. The musical artist is slated to release his own recording of progressive bluegrass music later this year.

After those personal appearance dates, Via will devote his time and energies to the Old Crow Medicine Show, touring and recording with his longtime idols in their own unique musical style.

“We’ve got drums and pedal steel. It’s a little bit genre bending, but mainly Americana.”

Via is definitely elated to be a part of the Old Crow Medicine Show.

Affirming that dreaming big focuses on what you really want out of life, and forgetting about reasons why you can’t make it a reality, Via concluded, “It’s really boosted my self-confidence. It’s going to be a blast.”

Mason Via, other grassers, headed to American Idol

When you think of American Idol, you don’t typically expect to see and hear bluegrass artists audition. This year on the show’s 19^th season, there are four such performers vying to be the next American Idol. One of those is Mason Via.

“For American Idol, I used Mason Picks for a stage name,” the 23-year-old shared in a phone interview from Nashville where he now resides. “I chose it because I thought it sounded really cool.”

Via, a native of Danbury, NC, is the son of award winning singer/song writer, David Via (who penned songs such as Ronnie Bowman’s One Life and Left this Country Boy Sittin’ All Alone). Surrounded by music, he began playing guitar when he was 12 years old. The young picker experimented with different genres of music. He first played folk and even had a funk band, but at age 16, Via took to bluegrass.

“I competed in fiddlers’ conventions at Galax, Mt. Airy, Fries, etc.”

While attending Warren Wilson College in western North Carolina, Via began playing regularly at Isis Music Hall in Asheville.

“I really began to hone my stage skills playing before a listening audience.”

Performing solo and with his bluegrass band, Hot Trail Mix, Via garnered attention in music circles.

The TV music contestant shared, “I was initially contacted about American Idol through Instagram. I thought it was a scam.” It was legit! Via (Picks) was soon performing on a Zoom call for three of the show’s producers and was selected to audition before the panel of celebrity judges.

“They flew me out to Ojai, CA (northwest of Los Angeles).”

Via sang three songs for Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan.

“A lot of folks sing 2-3 songs, but they only show one (on television).”

His song selection included a country song, an Appalachian ballad, and an original, Number 15. The latter is a tune he penned about his stepdad, Gary Mabe, and his dirt racing car.

The musical artist described his audition. “It is really larger than life. You’re out there in front of really bright lights. The judges are miked so they’re really loud, they’re all in make-up, and they talk to you like they know you. My voice dried up like a cotton ball.”

Though his audition was not selected to be one of those featured on national television, Via (Picks) impressed the celebrity judges and was presented a golden ticket to advance to the next level of competition in Hollywood. He feels fortunate.

“To be selected from over 100,000 contestants on Zoom and from the 500 to 1,000 who auditioned, I was one of the 200-300 picked to go to Hollywood! Nothing feels better than that golden ticket,” he stressed.

In Hollywood, Via had to make a choice. “When I got there they asked you to sing a solo in your genre of music, I decided to go for the country angle since I had friends there in bluegrass.”

Via (Picks) will appear March 21 on this Sunday night’s episode of American Idol, recorded in Hollywood. Viewers will have to wait and see if he, along with other bluegrassers who earned a golden ticket (Savannah Church, Presley Barker, and Alex Miller) will advance in competition. We will be speaking with each of them about their Hollywood experiences in the near future as well.

Mason Via’s music is available on Spotify.

Mason Via – a name to remember

Thumbing through social media recently, I stumbled on music from a young artist I wasn’t familiar with. So I tracked him down, and after many missed opportunities and conflicts, we finally managed to speak for an interview.

Mason Via (pronounced VIGH), from Danbury North Carolina, may just be 23, but has a name you will want to remember. There is music in his bones, and it runs deep in his bloodline. His father, David Via, has been in the bluegrass and acoustic music world for years. As a multifaceted artist who writes as well as sings, playing guitar and mandolin, David led his son Mason into the roots of his soul. Notice I didn’t say, his dad dragged him. Mason ran into the arms of this music. Growing up with a bluegrass dad, Mason attended many festivals and conventions, helping to mold him into what he is today.

This bundle of talent, both vocally and instrumentally, completed a Virginia Folklife Songwriter apprenticeship with his father. The plans were drawn out as Mason competed and placed in contests, picking up ribbons and wins at many contests throughout the Appalachian region. He was the 2019 Floydfest On The Rise competition runner-up, and is a three time winner of the Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival’s band competition.

In December 2019, Mason packed his bags and headed to “where all dreams come true,” Nashville, TN. Three months later on March 3, 2020, the weather whipped up two tornados, and Mason says, “I was literally watching debris fly around my car, and could hear that train sound.” At roughly the same time, COVID struck, and just like hitting a brick wall head on, one may have thought that Via’s fresh dreams were crushed. Bad weather, COVID…? No, nothing was going to keep this talented young man from racing into the bluegrass industry.

Via is hard to corner into just one genre of music, as he has an eclectic style of playing Appalchian funk, soulful acoustic, bluegrass, and groovy Americana. But there is one thing of which you can be assured. His voice rings with the roots of bluegrass and old time music.

For Mason, music is his bread and butter. He plays local gigs at an outdoor venue which he calls the Brewgrass Jam at The Brewer’s Kettle in Kernersville, TN (and even hosts a Kazoo Competition), and is often accompanied by his band, Hot Trail Mix.

In December 2020, Mason boarded a plane and flew to California to audition for American Idol. Of course, he couldn’t disclose any information. “You will just have to watch and see if I get a golden ticket.”

In January, Via released a new single, one he wrote called The Flood, which is widely available at the various streaming and download sites.

A full album of Mason Via’s music, Poverty Line, is finished, and Mason tells us, “I am reaching out to labels, and have highlight reels and touring information that I hope will interest them.”

So with all these influences swirling around his music, how does he describe his own sound, or style. His answer was simple, “I play what I am at the time.”

Whatever genre he is in right now, I can tell you this is a name you won’t forget, and one that could make headlines someday.

Music video for My Last Love Letter from Rob Slusser with Mason Via

About three weeks ago we ran news about a new EP from Virginia banjo man Rob Slusser, Drifting, and its first single, one Rob wrote called My Last Love Letter.

Now Rob is back with a very well-produced music video, telling the song’s story of loss and heartbreak. Slusser plays the starring role, cut in with clips of the track’s vocalist, Mason Via, in the studio. It’s extremely effective, thanks to videography and editing by James Bernabe of Reel Spul Media.

Have a watch…

My Last Love Letter and the full six song EP are available now wherever you stream or download music online. Radio programmers can get the single via AirPlay Direct.

My Last Love Letter from Rob Slusser

Independent bluegrass artist Rob Slusser has an EP of familiar standards and his original music, recorded with several of his pickin’ buddies in western Virginia.

He calls the project Drifting, with himself on banjo, Caleb Cox on guitar, Jonathan Dillon on mandolin, Gaven Largent on reso-guitar, and James Cox on bass. Rob provides some vocals, with assistance from other great singers like Jesse Smathers and Mason Via.

A first single is available now, one of Slusser’s compositions called My Last Love Letter, a melancholy song about watching love die.

He tells us that he had the song written in no time.

“I wrote the tune in about 15 minutes and immediately called Mason Via. Something told me his voice would sound lovely – and he and I are some really great friends. The two of us are planning to continue to record together in the future as a band.”

My Last Love Letter and the full six song EP are available now wherever you stream or download music online. Radio programmers can get the single via AirPlay Direct.