Jacob Jolliff is one of the world’s premier contemporary mandolinists. In 2011, he graduated from Berklee College of Music, having studied there on a full scholarship. The following year, in 2012, he won the USA’s National Mandolin Championship in Winfield, KS. A fixture of the bluegrass scene, he has performed and collaborated with Béla Fleck, Tony Trischka, Michael Daves, Grant Gordy, Wes Corbett, and Alex Hargreaves, to name a few. Additionally, throughout his 20s, he toured as a member of the groups Joy Kills Sorrow and Yonder Mountain String Band. Currently, his focus is on his own ensemble, The Jacob Jolliff Band—one of the most cutting-edge progressive bluegrass groups on the scene today. They’ve released three albums, the most recent of which, “Instrumentals, Vol. 2: Mandolin Mysteries,” dropped in May 2024. The band plays a combination of complex original instrumental music and vocal repertoire that spans from trad bluegrass to unlikely pop covers. Improvisation and the ensemble interplay are at the forefront.