Episode 156: Banjo innovator and string band visionary Tony Trischka has kept his eyes on the future over a fifty year career, but on a new album he looks to our uneasy past. Shall We Hope is a song cycle about the Civil War and its aftermath, featuring a cast of elite collaborators such as Maura O'Connell and Guy Davis. We talk about how the project came together over more than a decade and about Tony's rich career from his funky band Breakfast Special and teaching Bela Fleck to his work with Steve Martin. Also, another stringed instrument visionary is 33-year-old Jordan Tice of Nashville. The Hawktail guitarist has a new album of solo songwriting and guitar rags in the tradition of John Fahey.