KGNU’s DJ Neil Smart hosts Brooklyn-based bluegrass trio Damn Tall Buildings for an upbeat early-morning studio session ahead of their sold-out performance at the Chautauqua Community House. The band—Max, Avery, and Sasha—deliver lively live renditions including their original “I’ll Be Getting By,” the classic “Kentucky Waltz,” and the crowd-pleasing party tune “Big Ball in Brooklyn.” Between songs, they chat with Neil about returning to Colorado, their upcoming show at Swallow Hill, their ties to the New York roots-music community, and their plans to wind down after their final performances of the year. With warm banter and tight musicianship, the session captures the band’s signature blend of bluegrass energy and playful charm (November 22, 2025).
https://on.soundcloud.com/dTOJwdtJtByMxfXAmU
DJ Neil Smart: And I got visitors, folks, and we’re just turning up mics and stuff so that we can see what we’re doing. There we go. Well, here, we’re gonna give it a shot. Damn Tall Buildings.
Damn Tall Buildings:
Music plays.
DJ Neil Smart: And the crowd goes wild.
Damn Tall Buildings: Thank you.
DJ Neil Smart: And if y’all aren’t dancing out there, y’all should be. I was a little bit. Oh, Damn Tall Buildings early in the morning, sounding good, good, good.
Damn Tall Buildings: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
DJ Neil Smart: And y’all are in town for a sold-out show tonight at Chautauqua Community House. I’m testing out a new mouth today, folks.
Damn Tall Buildings: It’s looking good.
DJ Neil Smart: This Chautauqua Community House tonight — it is sold out. And then you got some other stuff coming up, don’t you?
Damn Tall Buildings: Yeah, we’re playing Swallow Hill in Denver tomorrow night. Still some tickets available for that, and we’re psyched. It’s our first time playing there. We heard it’s great.
DJ Neil Smart: That is a great, great venue. Anything else in the state? Or are you heading back out?
Damn Tall Buildings: That’s our last show for the year, and then we’ll be back home, getting cozy for the rest of the year, relaxing. But I’m sure we’ll be coming back out to Colorado next year for sure.
DJ Neil Smart: And home is still New York City?
Damn Tall Buildings: New York City. Brooklyn, right?
DJ Neil Smart: Yeah. It’s interesting — there are a lot of roots musicians in Brooklyn. I mean, I know Chris Luquette lives there. Ross Martin lived there for a long time.
Damn Tall Buildings: Chris Luquette is on our album.
DJ Neil Smart: Yeah, Chris is one of my heroes. I see him at LaGuardia all the time.
DJ Neil Smart: Yeah, he’s always going someplace. I stood next to Chris while he was warming up a couple years ago at a festival at IMC, and I was just standing there. The promoter came over and said, “What were you doing?” I said, “I was hoping something would fall off on me.”
Well, in town for a Swallow Hill show, last show of the year. And where did I see you last in Colorado? Maybe Midwinter?
Damn Tall Buildings: Midwinter. That’s it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
DJ Neil Smart: I was racking my brain. I remember seeing you there. I was like, “Man, was it Midwinter? Was it RockyGrass? Did I introduce them at SnowyGrass?” Because they all start running together.
Damn Tall Buildings: But we would take RockyGrass or SnowyGrass. If you’re out there — we’ll come.
DJ Neil Smart: We’ll talk about that later on. All right, so that first tune — that was an original, is it not?
Damn Tall Buildings: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s off an album a few albums back, called Al. That’s a song called “I’ll Be Getting By.”
DJ Neil Smart: I’ll Be Getting By. And why don’t we get an introduction of who’s in the band? I’ve got Max over there on guitar, I know that.
Damn Tall Buildings: Hello, hello, I’m Max on guitar. I’m Avery on the fiddle. And I’m Sasha on upright bass and vocals.
DJ Neil Smart: And y’all are sounding great. Could we get one more from you and then we’ll come back and talk a little bit?
Damn Tall Buildings: Yeah, for sure. This is bluegrass hour, so we’re gonna play some bluegrass for you. Here’s a good old bluegrass waltz. We’ve been singing this one for a while. It’s a tune called “The Kentucky Waltz.”
Music plays.
DJ Neil Smart: That was plum pretty, y’all. That was plum pretty, man. Thank you. Thank you so much for that. I got them little hairs sticking up on my arms and whatnot. Early morning waltz story.
Damn Tall Buildings: Thank you.
DJ Neil Smart: Well, Damn Tall Buildings in studio with me right now — it has been so much fun having you in.
Damn Tall Buildings: Thanks for having us.
DJ Neil Smart: Sold-out show tonight at the Chautauqua Community House. But you get another chance down at Swallow Hill tomorrow night — there are tickets available, folks. You know the deal: 71 East Yale in Denver. Go on down there and see Damn Tall Buildings tomorrow night.
Don’t forget — if you’ve got tickets tonight, don’t do what I have done and forget you have tickets to something. Get out and see Damn Tall Buildings tonight at the Chautauqua Community House.
Could I impose on you guys for one more?
Damn Tall Buildings: We would love to. We would love to.
DJ Neil Smart: Thanks so much for coming in.
Damn Tall Buildings: A rip ripper party. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is a party song. A long-time party song that’s gone by many different names, but today it goes by “Big Ball in Brooklyn.”
Damn Tall Buildings: Big Ball in Brooklyn…
Music continues.
DJ Neil Smart: Damn Tall Buildings, folks. Thank you so much for coming in this morning. I appreciate it — this early in the morning to be sounding that good. My goodness.
Damn Tall Buildings: We’ll take that.
DJ Neil Smart: Oh man. We’re gonna get back to recorded music now, folks. Thanks. Big tall — big tall — well that too — Damn Tall Buildings. And we will get back to that recorded music right now.
