The Gifts of Improvising

Musician Reed Mathis draws on 30 years of relationships to creatives of every stripe in a series of musical conversations, exploring together the hope in the new, and the fear of the new, often through the lens of Bob Dylan’s stellar example.

The Gifts of Improvising Episodes

Open Letter To Billy Kreutzmann (Oteil Burbridge, Papa Mali, Jay Lane, Billy Strings)

Reed discusses the genius of drummer Bill Kreutzmann with sometime-teammates Daniel Donato, Andrew Barr, Jason Hann, and Jeff Franca in…

Reed discusses the genius of drummer Bill Kreutzmann with sometime-teammates Daniel Donato, Andrew Barr, Jason Hann, and Jeff Franca in…

On this special extrasode, twelve improvisors attempt to answer the question “What kind of music do you play?”  After that, we…

On this special extrasode, Reed takes us back to the legendary venue Terrapin Crossroads, where Jeff Chimenti, Jay Lane, John Kadlecik,…

On this special extrasode, Reed takes us to the legendary Ardmore Music Hall outside Philadelphia, where Jeff Chimenti, Jay Lane, John…

On this special extrasode, Reed takes us back to the legendary Terrapin Crossroads in 2019, where we’ll serenade Phil Lesh…

On this special “extrasode,” Reed takes us back to Greenwich Village 2019, to the very room where Dylan wrote “A…

Reed sees “A Complete Unknown” and needs to talk about it, so he reaches out to Virginia songwriter Nathan Moore, New…