Yukon-based Bluegrass band The Lucky Ones arrived at Ganaraska Recording Co., the studio east of Toronto run by Juno-winning multi-instrumentalist Steve Marriner and guitarist Jimmy Bowskill (The Sheepdogs, Blue Rodeo) in August 2023 to record while in the midst of a tour. They recorded five songs live that are now part of The Lucky Ones’ latest EP, A Nickel For The Fiddler.

The new collection also marks a fresh start of sorts for The Lucky Ones. Having built up a reputation in their home area, the group is now fully committed to hitting the road and connecting with Bluegrass audiences on a wider scale. A Nickel For The Fiddler is part of that outreach, with a further full-length album slated for later in 2024.

It also marks the group’s first recording without original member JD McCallen, although they pay tribute to him with “20 Months,” one of his songs that hadn’t found a place on a record until now.

As founding member, mandolin player/vocalist Ryan James West, says:

We wanted to pay homage to our roots with this EP, so that’s why we went with the title A Nickel For The Fiddler. It’s also a Guy Clark song, someone who’s a huge inspiration to us, along with Townes Van Zandt, Blaze Foley and Rodney Crowell. So it’s a bit of a tip-of-the-cap to that circle of songwriters, but more so, it’s an homage to our friend and mentor, Joe Loutchan, who had the ’98 Hotel residency up until his passing in 2021. We needed to include a traditional fiddle tune for him, although that led to us add another medley of traditional fiddle two-step tunes. Why stop at one, right?

The Lucky Ones’ line-up consists of West, guitarist/vocalist Ian Smith, banjo player/vocalist Ryan McNally, fiddler Kieran Poile, and upright bassist Jeff Dineley.