Meet Dylan McCarthy | Mandolinist for Jake Leg

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dylan McCarthy and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dylan, what do you attribute your success to?
It’s difficult to pinpoint one factor as being the most important, but I believe strongly that one of them is choosing to work with good people that you like and trust. If the whole team is united on their vision and you all enjoy working with each other, the rest tends to fall into place the way it should. Surround yourself with people that inspire you and push you to be the best you can be!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The main goal of Jake Leg is to create our own spin on bluegrass music. The idea from the beginning was to do our own original material and create a sound that is specific to us, without straying too far from the elements of bluegrass that drew us to that music in the first place. We try to push and pull those elements in different directions to some degree, but at the end of the day, playing bluegrass is what we love so we try to keep that at the heart of everything we do.

As with any band that does original music, it all starts with the songs. I feel that songwriting can sometimes be an undervalued aspect of bluegrass, often overlooked in favor of flashy solos and break-neck tempos. But with so many incredible players and singers on the scene today, what really makes an impact on me as a listener is when a bluegrass band has really great songs that I want to revisit again and again. I try my best when writing to choose subject matter that is interesting to me and build music around that in ways that support the story or feeling being conveyed, and my hope is that when you combine that with the energy inherent in bluegrass, you end up with music that leaves an impression on the listener.

Another key aspect of what we do is playing live and I try to keep that in mind when writing music for the band. I always want the songs to be compelling and connect with the listener in some way, but it’s also important to me that they are fun for us to play on stage. This kind of ties back to trying to stay close to the bluegrass genre, we all got into this music because we love traditional bluegrass so when it’s all said and done, I don’t want to lose those elements that make that music so fun to play (the different types of grooves, the improvisational nature of bluegrass, the harmony singing, etc). I’m a strong believer that if you enjoy the music you’re making and really believe in it, that will translate directly to the audience.

Jake Leg is still a fairly young band (we’ll be two years old in October of this year) and I’m super proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish in that time, one of those things being selected as an official showcase artist at the International Bluegrass Music Association conference last year, I’ll also be returning this year as a participant in the songwriter showcase. However, what I’m most excited about is the release of our first full-length album of all original music, set for likely the end of this year or the beginning of next. We just wrapped up recording 11 original songs and I can’t wait to share the music we created with you all. The whole band really gave it their all in the studio and I think you’ll hear that in the music.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well, being that I personally live in Lyons, I’d certainly take them to MainStage Brewing for the Thursday night bluegrass series. They pull in some of the best players in the local scene for unique collaborations every week that are always a lot of fun. Being that Red Rocks is one of the best venues on the planet and we’re lucky enough to have it right here in Colorado, I’d certainly try to drag them a show there over the weekend. I also recently visited Meow Wolf with my wife and had a total blast, would definitely recommend anyone visiting try to check that out if they can. And lastly, it would be a shame to visit Colorado and not take advantage of all the spectacular nature, I myself like to go fly fishing in the summer so I’d probably take them to one of my favorite local spots for trout fishing in the Lyons area. If you’re not into fishing, the tubing is great too!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We’d like to shoutout the Colorado bluegrass community at large! From fellow musicians to music-lovers, festival promoters to sound/stage crew, everyone involved in the bluegrass community out here is incredibly supportive of each other and there’s no way we could do what we do without that support from the community. Thanks y’all!

Website: www.jakelegmusic.com

Instagram: @jake.leg.music

Facebook: facebook.com/jakelegmusic

Youtube: @jakeleg6665

Image Credits
George L. Blosser Erik Fellenstein Chris Weist