What's The Reason For This Podcast

WTRFT Session - Foggy Memory Boys

🎶🔥 This week in the dungeon, Foggy Memory Boys bring the spirit of Taos, New Mexico straight into Morrison for a session packed with wildgrass energy, rich harmonies, and stories that feel like they were pulled straight from a late-night festival campsite. 🌵🪕✨ Blending bluegrass, jamgrass, folk storytelling, and outlaw country vibes, the Foggy crew delivers a three-song session that perfectly captures the freedom, grit, and heart behind their unique sound. The session kicks off with: 🌧️ “Arkansas Rain” — a moonshine-soaked road song full of river memories, backwoods imagery, and smoky harmonies that instantly transport you deep into the Ozarks. Equal parts nostalgic and rowdy, this one feels like driving backroads at midnight with nowhere to be but the next campsite. 🌙🥃 Then the band shifts gears with: 🔥 “Resting Day” — an uplifting, hard-driving original about refusing to sit still, chasing purpose, and getting after the life you actually want. Built around themes of movement, self-discovery, and perseverance, the song explodes with jamgrass energy… plus a perfectly timed confetti cannon attack mid-song. 🎉🪕⚡ And the session closes with: 🎻 “Tow That Line” — a haunting and emotionally charged cover of the Devil Makes Three classic, delivered with gritty harmonies, raw instrumentation, and the kind of late-night intensity that makes everyone in the room stop what they’re doing and listen. 🌌🔥 Between songs, the crew dives into stories about Tico Time Bluegrass Festival, late-night water slide adventures, touring through the Midwest, and building their sound through years of jamming together in the Taos bluegrass scene. At its core, this session feels like exactly what the Foggy Memory Boys represent — friends making music together because they genuinely love it, chasing connection over perfection, and turning every show into a living-room-style jam with whoever’s willing to pull up a chair. 🌲✨ 🎧 Tap into the full dungeon session now on YouTube and wherever you stream What’s the Reason for This?

WTRFT S2E37 - Foggy Memory Boys

🎻🔥 This week on What’s the Reason for This?, Kodi and Shay sit down with New Mexico’s own Foggy Memory Boys for a conversation full of wildgrass chaos, festival lore, lamp camp philosophy, and the beautiful madness of building a band from the ground up. 🌵✨ What started as a trio of friends jamming in Taos turned into one of the most unique sounds in the Southwest scene… 🎶 Teaching themselves instruments and learning music completely by feel 🏆 Winning a mandolin competition after only knowing a few songs 🌌 Finding inspiration through Grisman, the Dead, bluegrass jams, and psychedelic festival culture 🔥 Building a sound that blends jamgrass, songwriting, improvisation, and pure New Mexico weirdness But this episode goes way deeper than just the music… 🏕️ The legendary story behind “Lamp Camp” and how one Coleman lantern became a full-blown festival beacon for late-night jams 🚐 Grinding through bars, festivals, and DIY touring while building a loyal grassroots following 💔 Recording their first album right as the pandemic shut the world down 🎥 Learning how to survive in the social media era while staying authentic and unapologetically themselves And honestly… this episode is exactly what independent music is supposed to feel like. ⚡ Friends first, band second 🎶 Community over clout 🍻 Playing for 12 people like it’s 12,000 🔥 Creating music because they love it — not because it fits neatly into a genre box At its core, this episode is about chasing connection, embracing imperfections, and building something real with the people around you. 🎧 Tap in now wherever you listen to podcasts. This one’s hilarious, heartfelt, slightly unhinged, and packed with the kind of stories that only happen deep in the festival trenches. 🌲💨✨ #WhatsTheReasonForThis #FoggyMemoryBoys #JamGrass

WTRFT S2E36 - Jon "Barber" Gutwillig - Disco Biscuits

🎧 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

WTRFT Session - Liver Down The River

🎶🔥 This week in the dungeon, Liver Down the River brings the full spirit of Colorado “Funkadeligrass” straight into the basement for a session that’s equal parts haunting, heartfelt, and wildly psychedelic. 🪕🌈🔥 Blending bluegrass roots with jam energy, dark storytelling, rich harmonies, and mountain-town weirdness, the band delivers a three-song set that perfectly captures why they’ve become such a staple in the Front Range scene. The session opens with: 🎻 “Hung My Head” — a haunting reimagining of the Johnny Cash classic (inspired by Blue Highway’s version) that immediately sets the tone with cinematic energy, gritty emotion, and soaring fiddle work. The band transforms the song into a dark, atmospheric journey that feels tailor-made for a late-night Colorado campfire. 🔥🌙 Next comes: 🌊 “The Shape We’re In” — an original tune written as a reflection on uncertainty, resilience, and finding hope through nature. Using rivers, storms, and canyon imagery as metaphors for life’s chaos, the song balances introspection with optimism and showcases the band’s ability to blend emotional songwriting with expansive jamgrass textures. 🌧️✨ And the session closes with: 🌙 “Take Me Home” — an original song Patty and Emily wrote when they were 19 years old, built around dark river imagery, longing, and murder-ballad storytelling. Haunting harmonies and emotional instrumentation make it feel like a late-night campfire confession drifting down the water. 🪕✨

WTRFT S2E35 - Liver Down The River

🎧 This week on What’s the Reason for This?, Kodi and Shay welcome Liver Down the River into the dungeon for a conversation packed with psychedelic bluegrass chaos, festival stories, Colorado roots, and the beautiful weirdness that’s helped make them staples of the mountain music scene. 🪕🔥🐟 Fresh off a ripping dungeon session, the band dives into the story behind their self-created genre… 🌈 “Funkadeligrass” — a wild blend of funk, bluegrass, jam, rock, and psychedelic energy that somehow makes perfect sense once you hear it live. 🎶✨ The episode starts back in Durango… 🏔️ Meeting in college after Patty spotted Emily biking home from orchestra practice with a viola on her back 🎻 Falling into bluegrass together as former orchestra kids chasing something less polished and way more free 🔥 Discovering Yonder Mountain, Jeff Austin, and jamgrass culture as the gateway into improvisation and community 🖤 The surprisingly real emo-kid-to-bluegrass pipeline But things really evolve when the band moves to the Front Range during COVID… 🚐 Rebuilding the lineup from the ground up during lockdowns and bubble-show era Colorado 🥁 Bringing in new members with backgrounds in jazz, funk, rock, and jam music 🎶 Learning how to communicate through improvisation and create space for each other inside the music And then… the conversation shifts into something bigger than just the band. 💸 The reality of trying to survive as independent musicians 🎟️ Learning how to value yourself, negotiate pay, and avoid getting taken advantage of 🤝 Why local scenes only survive when artists and fans support each other Which naturally leads to the story behind Tico Time Bluegrass Festival… 🏕️ How a random river rafting takeout turned into one of Colorado’s most beloved grassroots festivals 📞 Patty cold-calling the property owners during COVID after they asked online if anyone knew bluegrass bands 🎪 Building a festival culture centered around undercard acts, late-night pickin’ circles, and actual community instead of giant corporate vibes The crew also gets into: 🐟 The legendary stuffed salmon “Sammy” that’s been signed exclusively by members of Leftover Salmon 😂 The first-ever dungeon confetti cannon incident 🎶 Why the best festival sets are usually the noon-time bands nobody’s heard of yet 🔥 And how campfire picks are still the heart of bluegrass culture At its core, this episode is about community — building something real with your friends, creating spaces where music matters, and remembering that the magic usually happens far away from the main stage. ✨ 🎧 Tap in now wherever you listen to podcasts. It’s hilarious, heartfelt, and one giant love letter to Colorado music culture. 🏔️🪕 #WhatsTheReasonForThis #LiverDownTheRiver #Funkadeligrass #TicoTime