This ain’t your grandpa’s bluegrass episode (unless your grandpa drinks yerba maté and rips mandolin licks). In this full-throttle follow-up interview, The Pickpockets return to the dungeon to talk band origin stories, life on the road, awkward moments with confetti cannons, and how Salt Lake City became a surprisingly badass bluegrass hub.

🚐 Road trip chaos? Check. 🎻 Fiddle-to-violin confusion? Cleared up. 📀 New music? In the works. 🤘 Raccoon-based origin story? Absolutely.

From learning classical violin in Indiana to shredding mandolin in the Rockies, the band unpacks their wildly different musical roots and how bluegrass became their common ground. They dive into songwriting, gigging across Utah and Colorado, and the hilariously real-life evolution of their song "Sweet Dakota," inspired by West Dakota Rose (and a little drunken jam session magic).

🔥 Highlights include:

• The Draper Speedball (a Utah-specific cocktail of yerba maté + Michelob Ultra)
• How Jake’s electric/acoustic Franken-guitar was sacrificed for tone
• Banter on Billy Strings, Tool, reggae-grass dreams, and Slipknot covers 🤘
• Their gratitude to Top Hat Crew for capturing their live shows on archive.org

🎶 Whether you're a fan of traditional pickin’ or jammy twists, The Pickpockets show why they’re on the rise—and why Salt Lake just might be the next big thing in bluegrass.

👉 Follow the band on Instagram @ThePickpocketsBluegrass, check their live sets on archive.org, and catch ‘em on tour this summer from Tahoe to Crested Butte.

Cue the raccoons and roll the confetti—this is one for the books.