If you’re talking about an artist doing things his own way and doing it right, Mason Via’s name better be in the mix. He stopped by the Raised Rowdy Podcast just as his new self-titled album dropped (April 25), and man, this one had everything. Appalachian stories. Tour tales. Claymation. Even some moonshine.
“I grew up a baby in a tent at a fiddler’s convention,” Mason said with a laugh. “Out in the mud and rain, fiddles and banjos all around you. Where I’m from in the Blue Ridge Hills, you throw a rock and hit a banjo player.”
That upbringing runs deep in his music. And while Mason’s name might be new to some, his road has been anything but short. He spent over three years playing and recording with Old Crow Medicine Show, even singing lead on two Grammy-nominated tracks from their last album. “I kind of think of that time like a college degree,” he said. “It taught me the ropes. Now it’s time for my own thing.”
That own thing? Loud, rootsy, and unpredictable in the best way. “I literally put in the liner notes, turn this up to 11,” he said. “This record just sounds better loud. It’s got that punch.”
A perfect example is “Melting the Sun,” a jammy standout from the album with an actual Claymation video. “I’d never seen a bluegrass song with one,” Mason said. “So I figured, let’s get weird with it. Chloe Tyler made it happen and it’s beautiful.”
But don’t worry, Mason didn’t forget about the old-school bluegrass heads. The album features heavy hitters like Rhonda Vincent, Ronnie Bowman, and Junior Sisk. One track, “Mountain Lullaby,” is a tribute to Mason’s friend who just became a dad. “It’s a trio with me, Rhonda, and Ronnie. It’s special,” he said.
Throughout the episode, Mason kept coming back to one big idea — songs should bring people together. Whether it’s big singalong choruses, festival jams, or just picking around a fire, the music is meant to be shared. “I want songs people can belt out with a beer in their hand,” he said. “Sometimes I even teach the crowd the lyrics before we play so we can all sing it together.”
He’s also got one foot in the country world too. Co-writing with Zach John King (who he met on American Idol), songs like “Fireball” bring a modern country vibe while still rooted in acoustic grit. “When we wrote that one, we thought maybe it could be a Keith Urban song,” Mason said. “But I connect with it. I just got married two months ago. That one hits home.”
When it came time to record, Mason went back to the mountains. The album was tracked in Floyd, Virginia at Mountain Fever Records’ studio. “It felt like a retreat,” he said. “No one leaving between sessions. We just lived in the music.”
The players on the record are no joke either. Jim Van Cleve on fiddle. Jason Davis on banjo. Jeff Parton on bass and dobro. And a killer young guitarist from Shadowgrass named Kaiser to match Mason note for note. “We did dual guitars across the mix to beef it up,” Mason said. “We wanted hooks and riffs that felt big.”
The full album dropped April 25. It’s a mix of the new and the old, the jam and the story, the loud and the heartfelt. And Mason’s not slowing down. Catch him May 9 at The Basement in Nashville for the official album release party. Expect a lot of pickin’, a few surprises, and maybe even some moonshine.
This one’s worth cranking all the way up.
Watch the full Raised Rowdy Podcast episode with Mason Via here: