Phil Leadbetter, reigning IBMA Dobro Player of the Year – and everyone’s favorite Uncle Phil – has been taking to Facebook Live from his music room on Thursday evenings for a new series he has dubbed Uncle Phil’s Throwback Thursdays.
The format involves a roughly 30-40 minute episode where Phil pulls out some old albums from his substantial collection and shares some information about the music and the players, plus how his own playing has been affected by them. He also likes to share some band tips and tricks for younger artists from his long career both booking bands, and more recently, as the talent buyer for Bean Blossom.
But the part of these talks that might be the most entertaining are his stories from the road. If you don’t already know, Phil is a natural storyteller, and hearing tales from his time touring with J.D. Crowe & The New South, Wildfire, Grasstowne, and others in his east Tennessee drawl is pure bliss for bluegrass lovers.
To watch, just go to Leadbetter’s Facebook page at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday evenings. He has such a comfortable conversational style that you’ll feel like you are listening to your own favorite uncle back home.
You can see how Phil does it in this video of last week’s episode.
To pick up on what Phil mentioned at the start of last week’s video, Steve Gulley is, indeed, having a rough time with cancer. You can read more about that in our story from July 28, which includes a link to a GoFundMe page Phil set up to help Steve and his wife, Debbie, with expenses.
