In part one of a two-part interview, Legendary guitarist and Off The Record regular Ry Cooder calls into the show to chat about his reunion with Taj Mahal, 50 years in the making. The pair, who first played together in the 1960s as part of the blues band Rising Sons, reconnected during an Americana Music Association’s awards night where they played the old Blind Willie McTell song ‘Statesboro Blues’ on a whim and found they still had the magic.

With the pandemic intervening, the duo met back up last year and banged out a record celebrating the songs of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. The resulting record GET ON BOARD, is a tribute to the sunny, positive spin on blues that Terry and McGhee championed, a sound Ry tells Brian that the world needs more than ever:

“Those songs are good for people…they were up songs, nothing too dark and nothing too obscure”. In this first part of their chat, Brian and Ry dive into the history of Terry and McGhee, the recording process of the album and how he reconnected with Taj Mahal after 50 years.

Listen to part one of the conversation below. Part two will air on Off The Record this Saturday May 14.