Personnel includes: Tony Trischka (banjo).

This 20-song collection pulls songs from six of Tony Trischka's earlier albums, along with three previously unreleased tracks. From his earliest titles in the '70s (such as the wonderful HEARTLANDS), Trischka gently staked out a terrain all his own.

He's an inventive banjo player, responsible for helping stretch the boundaries of the instrument in the latter decades of the 20th century. Furthermore, he's a writer of subtle grace and sweetly smart invention. He seamlessly blends an abiding sense of craft and tradition with a penchant for contemporary flourishes and settings. His musical vision embraces everything from bluegrass, to European cabaret and even dashes of late '60s psychedelia. For the uninitiated, DUST ON THE NEEDLE is a fine place to start, and for those already familiar, this is a nicely assembled celebration of his output up to the mid-1980s.