Slay & Stinson, winners of the 2025 RockyGrass Band Competition, joined Neil Smart live on KGNU’s Old Grass, New Grass show for a spirited in-studio session. The band shared original songs, including a heartfelt gospel number and their humorous tune “Ain’t Going Back to Gatlinburg,” while reflecting on their journey to RockyGrass victory. They discussed their upcoming August 30 show at Parkway Food Hall in Longmont featuring special guest Jeremy Garrett, as well as upcoming performances at Keystone and Nashville’s K Fest. The set closed with a world premiere of their new single “No Part in Nothing.” (Studio Session: 8/2/25)
Neil Smart: Take it away.
Slay & Stinson:
Hello, Republic of Boulder. Coming to you live from KGNU.
We were the champions of RockyGrass 2025. Here’s one of the songs written by the great Burl Galloway that helped us win that championship.
Neil Smart: That’s right, folks. The 2025 RockyGrass Band Competition winners, Slay & Stinson, in studio with us this morning. Good morning, fellas.
Slay & Stinson: Good morning.
Neil Smart: And we caught Travis while he was getting a drink of water.
Slay & Stinson: I thought these guys— they’re pretty verbose. They can talk while I’m drinking.
Neil Smart: Well, congratulations, y’all. This is a big deal.
Slay & Stinson:
We know it means a lot on the Front Range and also to a lot of our friends. It really makes you feel happy and proud.
I know for Scott, he’s tried these contests a million times. He’s been a finalist with me twice.
To win—for Scott—after he’s done over a handful of these. And also, I was in another band that was gonna come out here—Johnny Camillo Bluegrass Drifters—and that was gonna be the end of our tour.
We never were able to compete ‘cause there were too many bands. We thought someone would drop out and we’d get in off the waitlist, but it never happened.
But I got to see it, and I guess that kind of planted the seed.
When Scott wanted to win, he said, “Let’s give it another shot.” And so we did, and I’m glad we did.
We’ve got a big show coming up August 30th in Longmont at the Parkway Food Hall.
We’re gonna feature Jeremy Garrett—he played on one of our songs that Nick wrote called Nothing to It.
He’s gonna play the gig with us, as well as Scott’s daughter’s band—Five Foot Betty.
Neil Smart: Scott, you’ve got a lot of congratulations coming your way—first and foremost for the new addition coming along. We just heard about that the day before yesterday, and congratulations on that.
And of course, congrats on winning the band competition. But also, getting to compete against your daughter—how much fun was that?
Slay & Stinson:
That was very interesting. A few years back—I think it was two years ago—I actually competed with her.
It was me and Haven. She sang all the songs, played the fiddle. My dad, Tracy Slay, played banjo with us.
We had Burl Galloway on bass and my good buddy and former bandmate from Off the Rails, Corey Chubb, playing mandolin.
It was interesting to play with her and then play against her.
Neil Smart: She has a bright, bright future.
Slay & Stinson: She sure does.
Neil Smart: Proud of her. And as you should be.
I love that band too—that Five Foot Betty band, folks. If you’ve never seen them, get out and see ‘em.
But most importantly, if you’ve never seen Slay & Stinson, definitely get out and see them.
And you’re gonna have Jeremy Garrett sitting in with you at Parkway—that’s gonna be a big show.
What else is on the horizon beyond that, guys?
Slay & Stinson:
Well, we’ve got Jeremy playing with us at Parkway, and as Travis mentioned, he’s on our new studio release coming up.
It’s kind of a celebration for that. We had a fun time putting together a song where Andy Reiner, our dedicated fiddle player, and Jeremy Garrett are trading off back and forth.
We’re coming off of last year’s Product of Colorado release—thank y’all for playing those songs.
This will be the first release for the next set of songs we’ve got coming out.
I guess you’re gonna play it here at the end?
Neil Smart: Yes, I am. Thank you so much for that. I haven’t gotten to hear the whole thing—I just took a quick preview when I got it this morning.
Slay & Stinson:
Good call. Can I say a couple more?
We’ve got a show tomorrow at Keystone at 1:00 for their Bluegrass Festival up there.
That’s right. And then we’re also gonna be playing—there was another show I just spaced… oh—K Fest!
We’re going out to Nashville to play K Fest.
The next song we’re gonna play, we kind of learned it for our gospel set at K Fest.
We’re lucky enough to have two bookings at K Fest. Some bands only get one gig, but we get two out of the weekend.
And if you’re willing to play the gospel set, you know—they’ll give you two.
So yeah, we just can’t stay up too late on Saturday.
Neil Smart: Socializing.
Slay & Stinson: That’s the catch.
Neil Smart: Or you can just stay up through Sunday.
Slay & Stinson: That’s right.
Anyway, thanks a lot, Neil, for having us.
Playing on this radio station in Boulder—I went to college here.
I was in a little college band called Dirt. Kyle Hollingsworth was our piano player, and he quit my group to join The String Cheese Incident.
I think he made a good decision.
Neil Smart: Seems to have worked out for him.
And it’s working out for you too.
Slay & Stinson:
It’s just great to be here.
I want to brag on Scott a little more.
You know, Scott has tried these contests with pickup bands before.
We are a real band.
We play every Wednesday night at a bar in Denver called Seven Grand Denver—it’s near the baseball field.
We’ve kind of just—
It’s like steel in a forge. Metal that gets harder.
Just playing these songs all the time builds telepathy from repetition and routine.
And not only that—these guys, all the guys in this room, inspire me to do my best.
I come home with more energy after the gig—sometimes at midnight or 12:30—than when I left for the gig at 7:00.
Neil Smart: Well put.
Slay & Stinson:
Thanks, man.
Neil Smart:
Why don’t we get a couple more from you, and we’ll get an introduction to all the guys in the band—because I know y’all, but not everybody out there does.
Let’s get a couple more from you.
Neil Smart:
Fellas, thanks so much for coming in this morning.
Congratulations on everything.
There is so much wonderful stuff going on in y’all’s lives.
And Scott—I don’t necessarily disagree with you about Travis being the best bluegrass singer in the state.
Slay & Stinson:
Thank you.
