Jody Stecher

Acclaimed American Folk Musician and Multi-Instrumentalist

Jody Stecher (born June 1, 1946) is an American singer and musician, who plays bluegrass and old-time music on banjo, mandolin, fiddle and guitar, and Dagar-vani dhrupad on the sursringar, a rare Indian instrument that is a baritone relative of the sarod. Jonathan Allan Stecher was born in Brooklyn, New York. At the age of twelve he acquired a dusty fretless Gatcomb in an antique shop and bought it for two dollars. After gaining a solid grounding in bluegrass, cajun, blues and Scottish folk music, he studied Hindustani classical music for 3 years with Ali Akbar Khan and for 10 years with Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar. He has collaborated with Krishna Bhatt on an unusual album of fusion music Rasa (1982). He met Kate Brislin (a former member of Any Old Time String Band) in 1974, In 1985, they started performing actively as a duo; they married on 29 July 1987. Jody Stecher is regarded as one of the leading traditional folk artists in America. He has appeared on albums with a large and diverse group of musicians, including Jerry Jeff Walker, Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, Peter Rowan, Martin Simpson, The Seldom Scene, Laurie Lewis, {a559443] and Hot Rize. He has also written liner notes for many albums. He recorded the field recordings (with Peter K. Siegel) and wrote the liner notes for the record The Real Bahamas (In Music And Song) Jody has been twice nominated for a Grammy with his wife Kate for albums they have recorded together: in 1993 for Our Town ("Best Traditional Folk Album"), and again in 1998 for Heart Songs: The Old Time Country Songs Of Utah Phillips("Best Traditional Folk Album of 1997"). Jody Stecher's sister, Janet Stecher, is a professional singer in the duo Rebel Voices and leads the Seattle Labor Chorus.