Heading Outbound Again: Bela Fleck On Reforming The Flecktones & More

Words by: Chad Berndtson

Béla Fleck is a few years shy of 60 and his bona fides as one of the world’s greatest banjo players are long-since-established. And yet, Fleck seems busier than ever: certainly in music, where as usual he has his hands and strings in a range of different projects, and in life, chasing after his three-year-old son, Juno, whether at home or on the road performing with Abigail Washburn, Fleck’s wife and a highly accomplished banjoist, singer and composer in her own right.

Perhaps the big news for Bela fans in 2016 is the upcoming reunion of Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, still Fleck’s best-known band, and on hiatus since 2012. In this golden age of genre-bending string bands and jazz-fusion-bluegrass-country crossover everything, the Flecktones sound more relevant and adventurous than ever. The early-era version of the band — Fleck, bassist Victor Wooten, drummer/percussionist Roy “Futureman” Wooten and harmonica player/keyboardist Howard Levy — will play 14 dates from June 1 – 16, including stops in the Northeast and Midwest and at festivals like Blue Ox and Telluride.

Here’s Bela on balancing life and music and keeping up with his many collaborations, from Washburn to Chick Corea, Dave Matthews and, yes, The Flecktones.

JamBase: You and Abigail are partners in life and have also been partners in music with your recent album and all this touring behind it. Is it difficult to work in this context with your wife? Is it an adjustment? I’ve asked this question of so many couples that also perform together and been fascinated by the range of responses.

Bela Fleck: We do really well overall. Certainly there can be a tough moment once in awhile, but all the communication that we need to have to be parents and a couple comes in handy. There are some couples that should not work together, but we seem to thrive. Thank goodness!

JamBase: Do you spend a lot of time composing together? Freely picking together?

BF: Because we both have a lot going on outside the duo, we don’t do that as much as you’d expect. Now that we’re gearing up to create a new album, we are blocking time periods out to do the work. And we will thoroughly commit to that time, and focus hard until we come up with some things that we love. But meanwhile we do sing a lot around the house, usually made up songs on the spot about changing a diaper, or a mango that fell on the floor. When we get out on tour, we play a lot of music all day.

JamBase: What do you like most about Abigail as a musical collaborator? Especially based on the range of personalities with whom you’ve previously been in duos, trios and other formats?

BF: She’s a great communicator, and more than willing to try new ideas. I like her esthetic as well — what she thinks is good. I strive to find ideas that fit with that esthetic, as I do in all collaborations. But what she thinks is good is different.

JamBase: Is your son yet musical? How soon until he gets his first banjo – if not already?

BF: He’s had his own banjo for quite some time and he’d play it more, if I hadn’t stolen it for our show. He’s much more interested in golf presently, but we do have some badass bus jams together. He’s taken to singing abstract songs, which we love to hear. When he goes into one, we all get real quiet, and try to turn on our phone recorders as fast as possible.

JamBase: A lot of folks dig your and Abigail’s “The Final Countdown” cover. Is it true you’d never heard it previously? Was it a tough sell to get you to do this one?

BF: That’s true. I had never heard it, and wasn’t particularly into it. It felt like a joke that I wasn’t in on. Now that I see people laughing, I have changed my stance. But it does complete our quota for ‘80s rock covers. The music is fine, but the wigs are too expensive for us to sustain. We’re moving on to 12th century Gregorian.

JamBase: The Flecktones will return in a few weeks, and it’s safe to say your fans are super excited. How did it get decided that now was the right time to return?

BF: This lineup is a return to our original lineup: Victor Lemonte Wooten, Futureman and Howard Levy. We had planned on trying to get together in 2017, but somehow blocking a big time period wasn’t working for everyone, what with all the different projects and lives we now all have. So we scrapped the idea for that time. A little later Telluride Bluegrass Festival promoter Craig Ferguson got in touch to ask me what I wanted to do this year at the festival.

I’ve played there every year since 1982, and I always try to bring something special. I knew that The Flecktones guys always loved coming to Telluride, so I thought, what about a much shorter commitment? Just a couple of weeks leading up to Telluride this time? I floated the idea, and it went over big. So we’re doing it. Who knows what it will lead to next.

JamBase: Do you anticipate more Flecktones dates and more work with The Flecktones?

BF: It’s an open book. We are all share a lot of history, and warmth towards each other. At a certain point we all felt ready for new challenges, and Flecktones had been the center of our musical lives for decades, so we decided to give it a break. Four years later, we’re starting to miss each other!

JamBase: I’m trying to hit a few of your other highlights from the past year. Talk about your tour with Chick Corea and the album Two. Had much changed in the way you and Chick musically converse since the album in 2007?

BF: The conversation has gone deeper, and broadened as well. When we play the original songs from our Enchantment CD we know them so well we can take them to the moon. And the broadening has come from bringing in new material, which has reinvigorated the duo. It continues to be a musical highlight in my life, and I’m very proud to have an ongoing musical relationship with one of the great improvisers of our time.

JamBase: You sat-in quite a bit with Dave Matthews Band this past year. Obviously you have a rich history with Dave and Co., celebrating their own 25th anniversary, and of course have the connection to Jeff Coffin. What do you enjoy about playing with DMB? Are there favorite songs to sit-in on?

BF: I just love those guys, and all of their music, which I am very familiar with at this point. Playing with them feels like a coming home for me. And it reunites me with my old partner Jeff Coffin, which is sweet. Since Flecktones went on hiatus I don’t play much in any bands. The only rock band I play regularly in is DMB! The rest of the time it’s mostly duos these days. And of course the The Telluride House Band once a year, with Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer, Bryan Sutton and Stuart Duncan.

JamBase: I’m curious your thoughts on a lot of the up-and-coming string bands, both the traditionalists and a lot of the bands that crossover into jam and jazz on the trail The Flecktones helped blaze. You were in that “crossover” spot decades ago — what do you make of the scene, so to speak, today?

BF: I don’t listen to a lot of it, just because my time is so tight, between parenthood and my composing and performing commitments. When I do check in, I hear a lot of wonderful things. I couldn’t resist Sierra Hull, for instance, who is blending bluegrass with a lot of outside elements, so I helped produce her new album. Guys like Punch Brothers are now old hands, but I think they’ve shot the moon — and there’s not much that’s new that compares with them. Largely because of decisions that I’ve made to focus on my family, I’ve had a low profile at the jam festivals. I miss them, but hopefully there will be a time when it makes sense again, and hopefully they will still have me!

JamBase: You always seem to have interesting stuff on the horizon, but what would you like to do that you haven’t? That’s an open-ended question about music: Types of composition? Play with a certain setup or collaborator? Places you’d like to travel to for musical reasons, much as you’ve done Tibet and Africa and others?

BF: Well, sure, although this parenting thing certainly changes my perspective. I wouldn’t be so quick now to go to Mali, or some of the other places I’ve gone to in the past. The world feels more dangerous and I do have a 3 year old that I want to be around for. So at the moment my adventures are closer to home. I’m very excited about a new duo with Chris Thile. We start writing [this month], and I know we will push each other into new ground. And I’m continuing to compose for banjo in classical settings. There’s a lot to do, and I’m still ambitious to make meaningful contributions.