Jody Stecher

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 [a319702] and for 10 years with [a3338164]. He has collaborated with Krishna Bhatt on an unusual album of fusion music Rasa (1982). He met [a2118781] (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, [a274438], Peter Rowan, Martin Simpson, The Seldom Scene, Laurie Lewis, [a559443] and [a1088487]. He has also written liner notes for many albums. He recorded the field recordings (with [a466182]) and wrote the liner notes for the record Jody has been twice nominated for a Grammy with his wife Kate for albums they have recorded together: in 1993 for 2701479 ("Best Traditional Folk Album"), and again in 1998 for 6762545("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.