Mike Savino as Tall Tall Trees

Don’t try to put Mike Savino in a box. He performs as Tall Tall Trees, a name spurred by a tune written by Roger Miller and George Jones. Inspired by the pioneers of experimental banjo music (Rhiannan Giddens, Bela Fleck), Savino is a one-man psychedelic indie-folk orchestra. That box had not been invented until Savino’s experimental nature created it. He plays his music on his “Banjotron 5000,” and has been described as “a new age Cat Stevens with dreamy harmonies.” In other words, while it may be complex, Savino’s music is easy to listen to.

“Not fitting in a box has been both a blessing and a curse,” he says. “I’ve always been a bit of a musical explorer, and that tends to make my music unclassifiable. I’m the weird one at the bluegrass festival.”

A native of Long Island, New York, Savino lived in New York City for twenty years before moving to Asheville, North Carolina, a decade ago. “I didn’t grow up in a musical family,” he says. “I grew up in a New York Italian family – I discovered music in school. I played the saxophone in elementary school and progressed to playing in the jazz band. The director saw a spark in me and gave me a baritone sax.” Savino says an older kid played the bass guitar, and he really liked it. “I got my first bass guitar when I was 12 years old. That musical training has carried me through life.”

After graduating high school, Savino attended a music conservatory in New York, where he played jazz on a double bass. Someone gave him a banjo while he was in college, and he tinkered around on that, playing songs. After college, he traveled and went deep into Brazilian music. “I had an electric bass with me. In the evenings, locals would jam in the town center. It was all acoustic instruments, and I was bummed that I couldn’t play with them, so I bought a cavaco – a four-stringed street banjo.”

Finding himself in a “jazz coma,” Savino began writing songs on the banjo for fun. “I ended up playing the songs out of left field in 2004 or 2005, and I began experimenting and pushing sounds, manipulating the banjo to see what I could get out of the instrument.” He began playing with a band called Tall Tall Trees. “I began using loop technology to write music, and we would play happy hour shows for two hours straight. We did that every Monday for a few months and began to draw a regular crowd.”

When he lost his drummer, Savino says he used a mallet to lightly beat on his banjo. “I realized I could really wail on it. I could play chords and drums at the same time.” When the artist Kishi Bashi hired Savino as his backup band, it allowed him to tour solo. “It was more affordable, so I hit the road as an ambassador for Tall Tall Trees.” Kishi Bashi did a one-man loop show with violin, and now, 15 to 20 years later, Savino says he is still inspired.

Savino's music has a strong psychedelic tone, and his music videos reflect that. “I have had some cool conspirators,” he states. “I’m a pro-psychedelic person, and I attribute my musical curiosity to bands like The Grateful Dead and Phish. They were my gateway drug to jazz music.”

Savino says he is also into metaphysics and the spiritual world. “I believe there is a deeper layer to what’s happening around us.”

His musical progression was influenced by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones in the 1990s. “I always had strange records and tapes,” he laughs. “I listened to a lot of the Flying Burrito Brothers, Flatt and Scruggs, and the Eagles – “Early Bird” has some amazing banjo playing. I love how Rhiannan Giddens plays clawhammer banjo and brings old time to the forefront, and Bela Fleck is still pushing boundaries.” The name Tall Tall Trees is his homage to Roger Miller. “I was obsessed with him early on as a songwriter. One song could break your heart, and the next made you laugh.”

While “Tall Tall Trees” is admittedly not Savino’s favorite song, he likes the name. “I like the alliteration, and I like that TTT looks like a stand of trees. And it’s kind of funny – it’s a plural name, but it’s just me on stage.”

Savino is working on a new acoustic banjo record. “It’s a cross between old-time banjo with psychedelic flourishes, with a lot of round-peak clawhammer style playing. It’s something totally different for me.” The album is due out early 2026.

https://talltalltrees.com To see Tall Tall Trees play at The Kennedy Center, click herehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIWIOZQBFwY.

Photos provided by Mike Savino.