What's The Reason For This Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Grassfed Bluegrass - Riley and Miller - WTRFT S3E6 Oct 20, 2026

Show notes

🌱🎻 Grassfed Bluegrass is growing up fast, and Riley and Miller came on WTRFT to talk about how the hell they’re pulling it off.

They went from bluegrass fans and festival volunteers to building their own festival on the Outer Banks and basically learning everything as they go. 😅

We get into:

🎟️ Booking bands 🏕️ Finding the right venue 🍺 Beer, vendors and logistics 🚽 The extremely glamorous world of porta potties 📱 Social media and marketing 👕 Merch 🚗 Parking 💸 Ticket sales 😬 And the constant feeling of “oh shit, we actually have to make this happen”

We also talk about how Billy Strings helped pull them deeper into bluegrass, how volunteering at other festivals taught them what happens behind the scenes, and why they’ve built Grassfed around community, quality, good people and doing things the right way. 🌱❤️🎶

And of course, we tell the story of how I met Riley and Miller…

🥶 Freezing in line in Asheville

🥃 Shooters

📜 A Billy Strings poster

😂 Me folding that poster directly in front of Miller

😳 Miller looking at me like she had just witnessed a felony

Somehow, years later, those same people decided it would be a good idea to bring me in to emcee their festival. 🎤🔥

This year’s lineup is stacked:

🔥 ShadowGrass 🪕 East Nash Grass 🧭 Broken Compass 🏡 Front Porch 🎻 All She Wrote 🌹 Red Bud 🎶 Pickety Split 🚐 Podunk Ramblers

Eight bands. Two stages. One day. 🌱🎶🔥

🎧 Full episode with the founders of Grassfed Bluegrass is live now

📍 Nags Head, North Carolina 🎟️ Use code WTRFT at grassfedbluegrass.com for discounted tickets

Come for the bluegrass. Stay to find out why anyone thought giving me a microphone was a good idea. 😂🎤🌱

Water Tower - Punk Rock Bluegrass - WTRFT S3E5 Oct 12, 2026

Show notes

🔥 Water Tower 💦 finally made it into the dungeon and this one is equal parts bluegrass, punk rock, busking, internet chaos, and good old fashioned DIY hustle.

These guys call themselves punk rock bluegrass, which sounds confusing until you hear the story.

They started with traditional string music, punk rock roots, DIY flyers, busking on freeway off ramps, and a whole lot of figuring it out as they went. Then the pandemic hit, touring disappeared, and somehow that pushed them even harder into building a community online.

🎶 We get into:

🪕 How Water Tower went from square dances to punk rock bluegrass 🚦 Busking on LA freeway off ramps at 6 in the morning

🎻 How the current lineup found each other through busking and random musical collisions

🎸 Why Bela Fleck, Punch Brothers, punk rock, jazz, and old time music all somehow fit in the same universe

📱 How they built an online following without losing the human connection

❤️ Kenny’s approach to dealing with internet hate by giving people more kindness instead of more bullshit

📸 How Jessica became the secret weapon behind their content and helped turn the band into a digital machine

🤝 Collaborations with artists like Sierra Ferrell, Nick Hexum, John C. Reilly, and more

🎟️ The very real challenge of turning views into actual people buying tickets

The funniest part might be that half this band basically met because somebody was busking in somebody else’s spot. 😂

But underneath all the chaos, this episode is really about community, persistence, and refusing to wait for permission.

Water Tower built this thing from freeway ramps, sidewalks, livestreams, liquor stores, social media, and a lot of weird little moments that somehow kept stacking into something bigger. And through all of it, their whole philosophy is pretty simple:

Love the music. Love the people. Keep showing up. ❤️🎶

🎧 New episode with Water Tower is live now

Go watch it. Go listen to it. Buy the ticket before the day of the show.

And if you see somebody busking on an LA off ramp at 6 a.m. maybe don’t ignore them. They might end up at Telluride. 😂🔥

Jon Stickley - Chords For Callum - WTRFT S3E4 Oct 05, 2026

Show notes

🎸🔥 Jon Stickley finally made it onto WTRFT and this one goes DEEP.

We talk Broke Mountain, learning bluegrass on the fly, the difference between East Coast and Colorado bluegrass, the influence of Jeff Austin, and what happens when a guitar player gets so good that he starts casually discovering new things he didn’t even know he could do. 😂

We also get into:

🪕 The absolutely ridiculous Broke Mountain lineup

🎶 Going from punk and indie rock to flatpicking bluegrass

🏔️ How Colorado changed the way he heard the music

🔥 Playing the Jeff Austin tribute and trading licks with Courtlyn

🥁 Why the Jon Stickley Trio basically said “nah” to the normal bluegrass rulebook

🎸 Building a sound around weird rhythms, different chords, and late-night festival chaos

🤝 Playing with Larry Keel and trying to make your heroes laugh onstage

And then the episode takes a much more personal turn.

Jon opens up about his son Callum, his STXBP1 diagnosis, and how his family turned one of the hardest moments of their lives into Strings for Callum, using the music community to raise awareness and money for research. ❤️

That part really says everything about this scene.

When somebody needs help, people show up.

We also talk about Jon’s new teaching platform, where he’s taking everything he learned the hard way and breaking it down for the rest of us regular wooks who need the video slowed down another 37 times. 😂🎸

🎧 New episode with Jon Stickley is live now

Go watch it. Go listen to it. Support Team Callum.

And if you’ve ever wondered how somebody becomes an absolute monster on guitar, apparently the answer is practice for 20 years and then still tell everyone you’re figuring it out. 😂🔥

Stoney McBlaze - Austin Kress - WTRFT S3E3 Sep 28, 2026

Show notes

🔥 Season 3 keeps getting weirder in the best way.

This week we’ve got Austin Kress, better known as Stony McBlaze, in the dungeon and this one is a full send. 😂🌿🎤

Austin breaks down how a homeschooled Christian kid chasing serious acting in LA somehow turned into one of the internet’s favorite stoners, built a massive following, ended up at the X Games, and then had to figure out how the hell to turn viral fame into an actual comedy career.

🎤 We get into:

🌿 How Stony McBlaze was born

📱 Going viral almost immediately on TikTok

🚀 Riding the algorithm straight to the X Games

💸 Why millions of views do NOT automatically mean millions of dollars

🎭 The difference between playing Stony and being Austin on stage

😂 Why writing stand-up as Stony completely failed

🎟️ The absolutely ridiculous story of almost getting an Austin show cancelled with eight tickets sold

📲 Why having a huge following does not mean people will actually leave their couch and buy a ticket

🧠 Building jokes from real life instead of chasing cheap shock value

🎤 Trying to evolve from “Stony McBlaze” into Austin McBlaze without confusing the hell out of everyone

🍦 And, obviously, a completely necessary breakdown of elite stoner snacks

The funniest part of this episode might be Austin explaining that one of his biggest problems is that people know Stony McBlaze but have no clue he actually does stand-up. Which is a pretty wild problem to have when hundreds of thousands of people follow you. 😂 And then there’s the Austin, Texas show…

Eight tickets sold. 😬

A pissed-off venue. 😡

Random people overseas buying tickets. 🌍

A last-minute social media rally. 📲

And somehow a packed room and a great show at the end of it. 😂🔥

Underneath all the stoner jokes and chaos, this is also a really good conversation about creative identity, social media, stand-up, failure, vulnerability, and figuring out how to turn internet attention into something real.

🎧 Season 3 Episode 3 is live now

🌿 Follow Stony McBlaze

🎤 Go see Austin do stand-up when he comes to your city

📲 And for the love of God, if you say you’re coming to the show... BUY THE TICKET. 😂🔥

Ben Wright - Bluegrass Ambassadors/Henhouse Prowlers - WTRFT S3E2 Sep 14, 2026

Show notes

🚨 Season 3 keeps rolling with Ben Wright of the Henhouse Prowlers and Bluegrass Ambassadors.

This one goes way beyond bluegrass.

🎻 We get into:

🌍 How the Henhouse Prowlers became musical ambassadors around the world 🪕 The wild story of Ben buying his first banjo for $199.99 🤝 Why music can connect people even when they don’t speak the same language 🇳🇪 Playing banjo alongside an ancestor of the instrument in Niger 🎶 Learning songs from the countries they visit and bringing them back home 🚢 Performing for refugees from dozens of countries in Rotterdam 🔥 Walking onstage with musicians they had never met and figuring it out in real time 🌱 Why community, curiosity, and making people feel seen sit at the heart of everything they do

Ben also opens up about how these experiences changed the mission of the Bluegrass Ambassadors, turning it into something much bigger than touring. It’s about using music to break down barriers, celebrate culture, and remind people that connection can start with something as simple as listening.

One of the wildest moments comes from West Africa, where Ben realized he was playing his banjo alongside an instrument widely considered one of its ancestors. Two musicians from completely different worlds, connected instantly through sound. 🪕🌍🤯

And in Rotterdam, that mission came full circle with performances for refugees and an unrehearsed collaboration that Ben described as scary, imperfect, authentic, and completely human. ❤️🎶

🎧 Watch or listen to the full conversation with Ben Wright.

🌎 Learn more about the Bluegrass Ambassadors and the work they’re doing around the world.

🔥 Follow What’s The Reason For This? for more conversations about the music, people, and community behind the scene.

Cotter Ellis - Goose - WTRFT S3E1 Sep 07, 2026

Show notes

🚨 SEASON 3 IS HERE — and we’re kicking it off with a bang.

For the first episode of Season 3 of What’s The Reason For This?, we’re joined by Cotter Ellis of Goose for a conversation from the Mishawaka in Colorado.

Since our last conversation, a lot has changed.

💿 Goose released Big Modern! 🏟️ Played Madison Square Garden ⛰️ Took over Red Rocks 🏠 Crashed a Colorado house party 🚀 And continued one of the wildest runs in live music

🥁 We get into:

💿 Creating Big Modern! and finding Cotter’s voice inside Goose

🏟️ What MSG and Red Rocks actually felt like from behind the kit

🪿 The Goose hate, internet critics, and musicians talking shit

🌱 Why growing the jam scene matters more than guarding it

🚌 The real grind of touring and life on the road

🥣 Going from vans and microwave oatmeal to sold-out venues

🥋 The story behind “Suck It, Storm” and “Kung Fu Fighting”

🧩 Goosemas clues, fan theories, and the world being built around the band

❤️ Why the people behind Goose might be the real secret to their success

Cotter also opens up about imposter syndrome, criticism, supporting other artists, success, and what it takes to keep chasing this life when there are no guarantees.

🔥 Season 3 starts right here.

🎧 Watch or listen to the full conversation with Cotter Ellis of Goose.

🪿 Follow What’s The Reason For This? for more conversations from inside the jam, bluegrass, and live music world.

💬 And send this episode to the friend who still thinks Goose is Christian rock. 😂

WTRFT S2E47 - Lindsay Lou - Bluegrass Women Aug 25, 2026

Show notes

🎧 This week on What’s the Reason for This?, Kodi sits down with the incredible Lindsay Lou for a conversation about bluegrass, motherhood, finding your voice, and shining a light on the women who helped build this music from the very beginning. 🪕🔥💙

Lindsay takes us back to growing up in a huge musical family 🎶👨‍👩‍👧‍👦, singing harmonies as a kid, and eventually heading toward a completely different career — earning degrees in human biology and Spanish with plans for medical school. 🧬🥼 Then she discovered the bluegrass community, fell HARD down the rabbit hole, and realized music could actually be her life. 🪕🤯🔥

Lindsay opens up about: 🎶 Discovering bluegrass and becoming obsessed with Doc Watson, Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, and the Stanley Brothers 🚐 Years of touring, grinding, and even going without a real home base 🎤 Learning how to protect and understand that powerhouse voice 🏠 Moving to Nashville to surround herself with musicians — not chase fame ❤️‍🩹 How loss, divorce, COVID, and recordings of her grandmother helped shape Queen of Time 👶 How becoming a mother completely changed her body, brain, heart, and perspective on life 👑 The inspiration behind her new project Bluegrass Women — celebrating the women whose songs have been part of bluegrass history all along 🎻💪✨

Lindsay shares the incredible realization that songs many of us associate with legendary male bluegrass performers were actually written by women — women whose voices were always there, even if their names weren't front and center. 🤯🎶👑

She brings together an absolutely badass lineup of female pickers 🎻🪕🔥 to honor those writers, return to the original lyrics and source recordings, and remind the next generation of girls that there has always been a place for them in bluegrass. 💙💪🌈

And because motherhood doesn’t care that you’re recording a podcast… Bart crashes the interview to reclaim Mom. 😂👶🎙️

At its heart, this episode is about music, motherhood, representation, legacy, and authenticity — and the realization that women aren't new to bluegrass… they helped build the damn thing. 🪕👑🔥

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts and check out Bluegrass Women! 🎶💙✨

S2E46 - Bronwyn - Rattlin' Bones Aug 18, 2026

Show notes

🎧 This week on What’s the Reason for This?, Kodi and co-host Shay welcome Bronwyn back to the dungeon nearly one year after their first conversation — and holy hell, a LOT has happened. 🪕🔥 From stepping away from Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway to building her own band, driving the van, writing her own music, and now releasing her new album Rattlin' Bones, Bronwyn is officially spreading her wings — and doing it entirely on her own terms. 💀🎻✨

After a transition year of rotating musicians, Bronwyn has assembled a seriously stacked lineup featuring Tristan Scroggins on mandolin, Frank Evans on banjo, Grant Dresnok on guitar, and Grammy-winning bassist Larry Cook. Together, they’re rooted deeply in traditional bluegrass while still having the chops to stretch songs into completely different territory. 🎶⚡

But the heart of this conversation is Rattlin' Bones — OUT NOW! 💀💿🔥 The deeply personal 13-song album represents a huge evolution for Bronwyn as a songwriter. After years of believing songwriting simply wasn’t something she did, she decided that if she was going to become a solo artist, she needed music that was truly her own. ✍️❤️‍🔥 That meant collecting random lines in her Notes app, finding inspiration everywhere, and getting outside her comfort zone to co-write with some incredible songwriters.

Bronwyn opens up about:

🎻 The first year of officially leading her own band — and why having a consistent lineup has completely changed the live show

🚐 Going from touring on a bus to personally driving the van, tour managing, and running the operation herself — and why it gives her an even deeper sense of purpose

✍️ Teaching herself how to become a songwriter and finding confidence through collaborations with writers like Pat McLaughlin 💀 Writing “The Wishing Well,” her own dark Southern Gothic-inspired murder ballad — complete with creepy houses, river mist, and somebody getting tossed down a well 😳

😂 🛣️ Turning the absolute chaos of Nashville’s Gallatin Road into a song because, apparently, anything goes on Gallatin Road

❄️ How WinterWonderGrass inspired “Blink of an Eye” and that wonderfully awkward question of whether someone in the crowd keeps looking at you because they like the music...or because they think you’re cute 👀😂

😵‍💫 The burnout behind “The Ride” and the complicated reality of achieving the dream you’ve worked toward only to discover that touring can still absolutely kick your ass

🔥 Why “Sticks and Stones” captures Bronwyn’s badass, don’t-give-a-shit side — and ultimately helped inspire the album title Rattling Bones

Bronwyn talks about building the record piece by piece across multiple recording sessions while she was still writing it — essentially “building the plane as it’s taking off.” ✈️😂

🎧 Listen to the episode now wherever you get your podcasts — then go stream Rattlin' Bones, which is OUT NOW! 💀🎶🔥

Go see Bronwyn and the band live. Stream the album. Buy the merch. Tell your friends. Support the artists putting in the miles. 🚐🪕❤️‍🔥

S2E45 - North Fork Crossing - Portland Rose Aug 12, 2026

Show notes

🎧 This week on What’s the Reason for This?, Kodi and co-host Shay welcome North Fork Crossing into the dungeon for a hilarious, high-energy conversation about Montana bluegrass, life on the road, finding your sound, and what it really takes to build a band from the ground up. 🪕🏔️🔥

The Bozeman crew takes us back to the beginning — from meeting as teenagers at Montana Fiddle Camp to reconnecting years later at a house party and realizing, “Dude…we should start a band.” What followed was a steady grind of pizza joints, house parties, bar gigs, festivals, DIY recordings, and plenty of miles in the van. 🚐🎶

North Fork Crossing opens up about:

🎻 Their wildly different musical backgrounds and how they came together

🎸 Starting out with plenty of Billy Strings covers before developing their own sound 🏔️ Learning from Montana bands like Kitchen Dwellers, The Lil Smokies, Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs, and The Last Revel

💿 Recording their first album DIY before leveling up for their new record, Portland Rose 🌹 🎤 Working with Travis McNamara to strengthen their arrangements and three-part harmonies

🏆 The pressure of the Telluride Bluegrass Band Competition — and why not winning ultimately made them a better band

📱 Using social media, personality, and plenty of ridiculousness to grow beyond Montana

🤝 Why relationships with other bands and the larger bluegrass community have been such a huge part of their journey

And because it’s the dungeon, things obviously go off the rails. 😂 We get into ultimate frisbee 🥏, birding 🐦, questionable tour decisions, shaving heads, “North Fork Crotchley,” and the unforgettable story of a naked 1 A.M. sprint that ended with a busted toe. 🦶😂

Now the guys are starting to see the grind pay off — touring harder, releasing live recordings, building relationships with bands like Magoo, Armchair Boogie, and Clay Street Unit, and hosting Creekside Revival Festival at Pine Creek Lodge. 🎪🔥

At its core, this episode is about friendship, progression, community, and putting in the miles — respecting bluegrass tradition while figuring out exactly what North Fork Crossing sounds like. 🪕💛

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, check out their Dungeon Session, and go see these boys live!

Buy the merch. Support the bands. Tell your friends. And LET’S FORKING GO! 🍴🪕🔥

S2E45 North Fork Crossing Session Aug 12, 2026

Show notes

🎧 This What’s the Reason for This Session brings a little Montana bluegrass straight from Bozeman into the dungeon as North Fork Crossing takes over the cave for a rowdy, intimate set packed with originals, stories, mountain-town energy, and plenty of banter. 🪕🏔️🔥

The session kicks off with “Portland Rose,” an original off the band’s new record featuring Silas Ray on vocals. 🚂🌹🎶 It’s a hard-driving tune about heartbreak, leaving town, and realizing sometimes there’s just no turning back. 💔🛤️

Next up, the band dives into another original, “DLL,” before sharing some of the history behind North Fork Crossing. 🎻✨ They talk about meeting as kids at Montana Fiddle Camp, reconnecting later in Bozeman, and eventually writing music together. And apparently, they knew from the beginning that this particular tune was destined for a cave... they just didn’t know yet that the cave would be THE DUNGEON. 😂🦇🎉 Naturally, that means one thing: CONFETTI CANONS! 🎊💥

The boys then switch things up with a cover from the Turnpike Troubadours, bringing some Red Dirt flavor into their Montana bluegrass world. 🤠🔥🪕 Afterward, we finally get the official-ish introductions — complete with nicknames, jokes, and classic dungeon chaos — as the band introduces Kid Sladen, Silas Ray, Matt Hickey, Ryan Lewis Kelly, and the rest of the crew. 😂🎸🎻

They close things out with “Lonesome,” another song from their new album, written while sitting alone in a lift shack at Bridger Bowl before leaving the job behind to pursue bluegrass. 🎿🏔️➡️🪕 What came out of that lonely mountain shift is a fitting final tune about heartbreak, solitude, and chasing something bigger. 💙🌲🎶

At its core, this session is Montana mountain bluegrass in its natural habitat — great picking, original songs, questionable nicknames, lots of laughs, and a bunch of mountain wooks hanging out in a basement cave making music. 😂🏔️🪕🔥

🎧 Turn it up, crack a cold one, and welcome North Fork Crossing to the dungeon! 🍻⚡🎶

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