Bluegrass Jam Along

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. News and Announcements (Church Street News) IBMA Bluegrass Live - lineup and tickets Releases (The Grass is New) Acoustic Disc Frank Wakefield album   The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist Other bits Sign up for...

My guest this week is Bob Minner and we're celebrating one of the most iconic flatpicking records of all time - Norman Blake's 'Whiskey Before Breakfast'. We chat about Bob first hearing this record and why he loves it so much; its place in the flatpicking repertoire; the gear Norman used (including guitars, picks and even string gauges!) and we go through the record track by t...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. News and Announcements (Church Street News) Romp Festival lineup and tickets Bluegrass Hall of Fame gigs Green Mountain Lineup Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Carolina Chocolate Drops documentary Releases (The Grass is N...

My guest this week is Wayne Erbsen, professor of old-time and bluegrass music at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. Wayne joins me to talk about half a century of writing about old-time and bluegrass music, including his latest book Southern Mountain Music: The Collected Writings of Wayne Erbsen. Over the past 50 years Wayne has interviewed many legendary figures in Appalachian music,...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. News and Announcements (Church Street News) Bluegrass on Hudson lineup and tickets IBMA WOB tickets IBMA International Stage applications Note - the deadline is being extended to the end of May Phillips, Grier and...

My guest on the podcast this week is six time IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year Jason Carter. Jason recently ended his 33 year run with the Del McCoury Band and we talk about that extraordinary journey, from the fascinating story about how he got the job in the first place, to the decision to move on and what comes next. We also talk about the huge changes bluegrass has gone through in those 33 years...

This Bitesize episode features a conversation I had with Wyatt Rice for a set of episodes in 2023 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Tony Rice's 'Church Street Blues' album. Wyatt talks about his experience of playing on the sessions aged just 17, hanging out with Tony, the first time he saw an Ovation guitar at Tony's house and the track from 'Church Street Blues'...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. News and Announcements (Church Street News) Tony Rice Memorial Day Music Fest Banjo in Sicily with Tony Trischka Releases (The Grass is New) Daniel Kimbro album - buy/stream   The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlis...

My guest this week is Katie Harford Hogue, who joins me to chat about the wonderful album 'Julia Belle: The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Vol. 2' We discuss how the project came about, following the discovery of dozens of John Hartford's notebooks, kept between 1983 and 2001, full of as many as 4,000 original fiddle tunes he'd composed. That led to the book - 'John Ha...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. News and Announcements (Church Street News) Darol Anger’s Big Book of Tunes vol 3 Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist Scroll on Buddy Steve Earle’s Fifty Years of Songs and Stories t...

This Bitesize episode comes from an interview I did in April 2023 with Rachel Baiman about her wonderful record Common Nation of Sorrow I re-listened to the episode (and the album) recently and this section really stood out. We chat about storytelling in music; the power of infusing a song with emotion; the importance of connection and conversation and how music can foster community. I really enjo...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. News and Announcements (Church Street News) Earl Scruggs Music Festival Rhiannon Giddens and Kristina Gaddy book Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist Scroll on Buddy Billy Strings and...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. News and Announcements (Church Street News) North Carolina Guitar Celebration Releases (The Grass is New) Darol Anger & Mike Marshall with the WDR Big Band Spotify CD The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist Scr...

My guest this week is Sierra Hull. Sierra has been a guest on the podcast twice before and both times we chatted about an ongoing project she's been working on since her last record 25 Trips . That project eventually became her new album, the wonderful A Tiptoe High Wire , which we talk about in this episode. Recorded over four sets of sessions over a two year period, the album features Sierr...

My guest this week is a legend of American string band music. When David Grisman raised his middle finger to MCA Records, after being  dropped for failing to meet arbitrary sales targets, he couldn't have known it would spark a 35-year musical revolution. As one of America's foremost, and best loved, mandolin virtuosos turns 80 this year, he offers a fascinating glimpse into the birth, e...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. Pod News Bluegrass Jam Along guests on mandolins and Beer Apple Spotify Bluegrass Standard article on Bluegrass Jam Along! News and Announcements (Church Street News) I’m With Her Album preorders Tour dates Release...

This week's episode is a Bitesize episode, which is a short section highlighting a previous episode you may have missed, which feels apt, given that this is episode #450, so the back catalogue is getting pretty big! But, it's not a previous episode of Bluegrass Jam Along. This week I'm sharing part of an episode on mandolins and Beer, because the guest was....me! Daniel has been on...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. Pod News Doc Watson 100th birthday episodes Part 1 Apple Spotify YouTube Part 2 Apple Spotify YouTube Bluegrass Jam Along guests on mandolins and Beer Apple Spotify Bluegrass Standard article on Bluegrass Jam Along...

My guest this week is Tim Stafford, who joins me to celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of the best loved and most influential albums in bluegrass. 'JD Crowe & The New South' was recorded in January 1975 and released in August the same year. Tim joins me to chat about what makes it such a milestone record in bluegrass, despite it not really being a bluegrass album at all in some wa...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. Pod News Bluegrass Jam Along guests on mandolins and Beer Apple Spotify News and Announcements (Church Street News) Rhiannon Giddens’ American Tunes DelFest Lineup Releases (The Grass is New) Sierra Hull - Spitfire...

My guest this week is guitarist Jake Workman. Jake joins me to talk about his recently ended 9 year run with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, including a great story about how he got the gig, what he learned from playing with Ricky, why rhythm guitar is so important in that role and why now was the time to look for a new challenge. We also talk about Jake's long standing teaching career, in...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. News and Announcements (Church Street News) Grey Fox Festival Casey Driessen Fiddle Camp Scholarship Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist Scroll on Buddy/In my ears 1925 Fiddle Conven...

This is the first of a new series of episodes on the podcast I'm calling 'Bitesize'.  I've done well over 100 interviews for the podcast now. That's a lot of conversations! The idea with these episodes is to pick out a highlight from a past conversation and share it again, in case you missed it missed it first time round, or just want to hear some bits again. If you'r...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. News and Announcements (Church Street News) ETSU Artist in Residence post Punch Brothers tour dates Green Mountain lineup Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist Scroll on Buddy/In my ea...

My guest this week is Tom Nechville from Nechville Banjos. Tom joins me to chat about 40 years of making banjos, including what he's learned along the way and some of the innovations he's brought to the banjo, including his revolutionary Heli-Mount head tightening system.  We also chat about why he chose to sell his building in Minneapolis and move his entire shop to Sisters, Oregon; ret...