Banjo Virtuoso Wes Corbett Combines With Acoustic Music Legends For New Album Drift

“I’ve had the privilege of following Wes Corbett as a near-family member since his early twenties up in the Pacific Northwest, where we’re both from. He’s got a pretty illustrious backline of real family members, with artists, inventors, dancers, and somewhen back there, the co-founder of some little town called Portland, Oregon. So he comes by this tremendous talent honestly, which mysteriously happens to mostly express itself through his banjo. I don’t remember a time when Wes wasn’t an exceptional, self-possessed and warm person, and he has certainly found his community; he very much belongs and sparks in this lofty echelon of musicians out here in Nashwegia. I’m always moved by his music, and I love that he’s always referring back to the particular region of Earth that we Cascadians are made of. This exuberant and gorgeous recording marks another milestone in his artistic story and I’m thrilled and honored to be a part of it.” – Darol Anger

"Wes Corbett explores Banjo Futures from his own unique view point, while making lovely and lively music. Good one, Wes!" – Béla Fleck

Adhyâropa Records is thrilled to announce Diary of a Fiddler #2: The Empty Nest (ÂR00128), the extraordinary new album by acoustic music legend Darol Anger. Intended as a summation not only of his career as a performing and recording artist but also as a capstone to his enormously influential career as an educator, Diary of a Fiddler #2 appears as the acoustic world prepares for the 50th anniversary of the hugely influential David Grisman Quintet recordings which featured Anger. To herald the occasion, and to author a bookend to his own career, he has called upon dozens of his former mentees – three generations of fiddlers – who, taken together, make up a veritable who’s who of the violin-playing world.

Adhyâropa Records is thrilled to announce Drift (ÂR00127), the new album by Wes Corbett. A burgeoning acoustic music legend himself, Corbett here teams up with a veritable all-star team of instrumentalists for this 10-track celebration of virtuosity and the state of the bluegrass art. 

In short order, Corbett has established himself as one of the preeminent superstars of the acoustic music world. After growing up on Bainbridge Island, WA and a single year at Cal Arts, Corbett joined the faculty of Berklee College of Music and the celebrated acoustic crossover band Joy Kills Sorrow, followed by stints in the touring band of Molly Tuttle and, currently, progressive bluegrass superstar Sam Bush. 

“This album is now three years in the making,” Corbett says. “When I made my first record, Cascade, I had a really specific band in mind, and the whole record was tracked in five consecutive days with pretty much the same band. But for this project I decided to cast a wider net. I live in Nashville, and it’s wild who I was able to call in for sessions who were able to sleep in their own beds that same day.”

Indeed, the list of Corbett’s collaborators for this album is breathtaking, a who’s who of the acoustic music world shuffle in and out over the course of the album: Sam Bush, Sierra Hull, Bryan Sutton, Chris Eldridge, Darol Anger, and nearly a dozen more take star turns in orbit around Corbett’s gravitational pull. 

From the off the album announces its intention with ‘Case Of The Mundes,’ an ode to the great Alan Munde. Hull, Sutton, Justin Moses, and Bronwyn Keith-Hynes take turns one-upping each other before Corbett himself blasts off in an extended exploration, flurries of notes streaming across the sky in a spectacular fireworks display. Before the listener has a chance to catch their breath, ‘Salmon Run’ kicks off at an even more scorching pace. Sutton and mandolinist Casey Campbell each have a peck at Corbett’s dynamically shifting tune before Keith-Hynes and Jason Carter commence a twin fiddle battle leading directly into Corbett’s own break. The wisdom, experience, and artistry of generations of banjo players, from Scruggs to Trischka to Fleck are evident in every note of Corbett’s fiery playing.

The process of assembling the music from Drift was collaborative from start to finish. “When you're recording with musicians of the caliber of Sierra Hall and Bryan Sutton, they know what they're doing! I had certain arrangements in mind and sent everybody tunes in advance, but most of these weren't rehearsed at all beforehand. I want people's input and agency – it's pretty rare for me to tell people what to play.”

An exception to this is ‘The Tide Pool Jigs,’ which features Brittany Haas and Paul Kowert from Punch Brothers alongside Sutton’s guitar. The music here is intricate, delicate, and even a touch melancholy, before suddenly, a ray of light: the pace quickens, the key center shifts to major, and Haas is unleashed. The evident joy of the ensemble’s collective virtuosity and love of each other comes into focus and the track romps to its ecstatic conclusion.

But no discussion of Drift would be complete without its clear centerpiece, ‘Hartford's Bend On The Cumberland,’ on which Corbett plays an instrument – borrowed from Béla Fleck – which used to belong to the great John Hartford himself, and which has quirky levers in its headstock that drop the tuning of individual strings by a step, akin to a B-Bender on a guitar. “I was trying to find ways to evoke his playing on this track, for sure,” Corbett says. “I never knew him, but I’ve heard all these stories from Sam and others about the sort of old school Hollywood glamour John Hartford had to him. So when we were finishing the tune, we tried to capture some of that. For example, we tried turning Bronwyn and Jason (Carter)’s fiddles down in the bridge, but then it lost that Hollywood magic! So we kept them up at the front and fit ourselves in around them.” Hull, Sutton, and bassist Vickie Vaughan (IBMA Instrumentalist of the Year winners, all) contribute a little magic of their own, and Corbett’s own solo is as full of reverence for the instrument’s former owner as well as it is forward-looking in its conception, as Hartford himself would surely have insisted. “I think it was his Eb banjo, and written on it, in his beautiful cursive, is ‘Eb’ and the string gauges he used. It’s beautiful, but also really functional,” Corbett laughs. “It’s the banjo-iest tune I’ve ever written in my life, and, I hope, a loving tribute to John.” 

The assemblage here is an eye-watering collection of talent, to be sure. “The day in the studio with Darol, Sam, and Todd Phillips was the first time that they had all been in the studio together since Manzanita,” Corbett reminisces, referring of course to Tony Rice’s epochal 1979 album that helped create the language of progressive acoustic music that Corbett and his collaborators speak fluently. But on Drift, it’s Corbett himself who composed all of this music and is the instrumental heart of the ensemble throughout. Surrounded by stars, he’s the music’s sun, shining brightly and illuminating the acoustic soundworld of today, and tomorrow.

Artist: Wes Corbett

Album Title: Drift

Label: Adhyâropa Records

Release Date: September 1, 2025 (single: ‘Hartford's Bend on the Cumberland’); September 15, 2025 (single: Eagle Harbor); September 24, 2025 (single: Salmon Run); October 3, 2025 (album: Drift)

Purchase: https://wescorbett.bandcamp.com/album/drift

Performers: Wes Corbett (banjo); Sam Bush, Sierra Hull, and Casey Campbell (mandolin); Bryan Sutton and Chris Eldridge (guitar); Darol Anger, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, Jason Carter, and Brittany Hass (fiddle); Justin Moses (dobro); Paul Kowert, Todd Phillips, Mike Bub, and Vickie Vaughan (bass)