Banjo Without Borders: Béla Fleck

In the hands of Béla Fleck, the banjo becomes a skeleton key — capable of unlocking almost any musical door. Among the most acclaimed artists of our era, Fleck has brought his fretboard finesse not only to bluegrass, but also to progressive fusion, chamber and orchestral works, African folk music and more. This episode finds him in the banjo parlor at Vintage Instruments, a retail and repair shop just down Broad Street from the Kimmel Center. Fleck was in town with the Flecktones, his proudly uncategorizable flagship band, and the conversation turns to musical legacies, personal histories, and how his perspective has changed — and how it hasn’t — over the course of a nearly five-decade career. Watch this interview: youtu.be/QQ4tlfSpl3Y Special thanks to Vintage Instruments: vintage-instruments.com Chapters 00:00 — Intro 06:45 — Interview with Béla Fleck 59:00 — Outro + credits Want to support The Late Set? Become a WRTI member: wrti.org/donate Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/wrtimusic Subscribe to our YouTube: youtube.com/@WRTImusic Write us an email: editor@wrti.org