Bradley Laird's Grass Talk Radio - Bluegrass

This is an update to let you know what's been happening in my world and to explain "wassup" with the podcast. In this episode I explain where I have been since the last episode in 2022, new things going on like my near death experience and I tell you about Jackson's senior project. Bear in mind that the sound samples I include are low-res, mono files and the actual vinyl and CDs are full bore ster...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 203   Curtis Jones Interview   Curtis Jones is a supremely diverse musician and a world-class acoustic guitarist. Down to earth, humble and amazingly gifted. I know you will enjoy meeting my friend Curtis Jones. If you want your mind blown, go see him play live.   His interview is another in my series to try to convince the listeners that Georgia has produced an amazin...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 202   Jim "Duck" Adkins Interview   Duck is many things: musician, banjo player, singer, band leader, teacher. He has been playing and entertaining crowds for fifty years and is a well-known figure in the Atlanta and N. Georgia area. Sit back, relax, and enjoy my conversation with this one-of-a-kind bluegrass personality.   The segue music you hear at the start of the...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 201   Harps Jackson Interview   Everything you ever wanted to know about the harmonica brought to you by a guy who truly can play the thing. He has played in blues, gospel, country, rock and bluegrass settings and he is always tasteful and skilled. You can't say that for a lot of folks who get up on stage and blow through some pathetic, sorry attempt. Harps is the kind...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 200   Merry Christmas   I just came in the from the yard throwing the baseball back and forth with Jackson and my wife is in the house making Christmas cookies. When I finish this episode I plan to sit down and watch "The Christmas Story" with the family.    In this episode I talk about creating a digitized version of my Flatiron mandolin and I offer up a couple of exa...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 199   Uncle Rico's Time Machine   Put the handle between your legs. Set the date on the dial. Don't forget to put the crystal in the clamp. Tell Kip to throw the switch. You will be instantly transported to another time and place. In this case, Motorhead's Bar and Grill on a Thursday night in McDonough, Georgia. Take notes. This has everything: How to cope with 15 free...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 198   A Major Award & The Ed Davis Method In this episode I discuss an award my son received for his music composition "Run Away" and how we can learn from that. You can download his award winning composition for free right here in my online store . (In the episode I mistakenly said that his song was on his EP "Beacon". Wrong. It is on "Hands Up". But, it doesn't matte...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 197   Chatty Light Interview Recently I was asked to be a guest on the Chatty Light Podcast . I thought you might enjoy hearing it.  Thank you, Colton, Alex and crew! It was fun. And for my son Jackson's Christmas fund, don't forget: Christmas Times a Coming!. All you mandolin players need Jackson's eBook Christmas Songs For Mandolin . You still have plenty of time to...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 196   Mushrooms and Metronomes This nice cool evening I simply held the recorder in my hand and talked about how you can focus and get good at one thing and it will carry over into lots of other things you have not even tried. I also talk a bit about my mushroom project and other oddities. Enjoy the show!  And for my boy Jackson's Christmas fund, don't forget: Christma...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 195   An Early Morning Rant   One of the things in life that I cherish is to rise early, to get up before the chickens, watch the stars and think about life.   This morning I got up, jotted down a few notes on a brown paper sack, and hit record. My intended subject was "Ten Ways To Play Better Bluegrass" but, as usual, I wandered a bit.   I have included actual live cr...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 194   David Mathis of Gallagher Guitar   Gallagher guitars, made in Tennessee, were first brought to the attention of guitar players when the legendary Doc Watson chose a D-50 Gallagher in the late 1960's.   David has taken of the reins to keep the Gallagher legacy alive and you too can still get your hands on one! Here is a link to the Gallagher website . Enjoy the sh...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 193   They Said It Couldn't Be Done   Bill Monroe only made one minor mistake in the creation of Blue Grass music. That is the trying, and later elimination, of the accordion in his ensemble. Well, if you listen all the way to end of this podcast, you will hear some of the greatest music ever put on wax. Had Bill met Dominic Frontiere there is a good chance we would al...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 192   Harmony   Harmony is the interaction between two or more different tones or pitches. Bluegrass music is nothing without harmony. (So is humanity by the way.) In this episode I walk you through a short course in bluegrass harmony singing. How do you figure out what note to sing? I'll try to help. In the course of this episode I refer often to a PDF document which...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 191   Host a Jam   Over the years I have been to lots of jam sessions and have organized and hosted quite few too. If you are starved for bluegrass pickin' I will explain how you "take the bull by the horns" and host your own jam session.   It can be a "one time only event" or it may turn into a regular, recurring session. Either way, it is a good way to get more blueg...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 190   Matt Hutchinson Interview   Here's a guy who loves bluegrass. So much that he is willing to create a podcast so you have someone to pick with! What's not to love? In this episode I strike up a conversation with Matt to learn about his Bluegrass Jam Along podcast and find out how a guy in the UK became interested in bluegrass and to share what he is doing with all...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 189   Life Is Good   In this episode I talk about how you can dive in to your solo, play like dog squeeze, feel totally humiliated and still get a round of applause. It's one of the hidden benefits of playing live. (They aren't usually paying that much attention!)   Before I get to that, I talk about a big storm, the first post-pandemic session at Pat's Place, my "Brad...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 188   A Man's Entitled To His Opinion   200 episodes and over 100,000 downloads. Not bad!   This short episode is just to let you know I am still kicking. I have taken a little, well deserved break from the GTR Podcast and in this episode I fill you in a bit.   I have completed work on the F5 mandolin which I have been building and you can hear it in this episode. Scho...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 187   Beach Balls & Train Wrecks In this episode I talk a bit about the "Beach Ball Effect", I get interrupted by a friendly sales call, give you a short garden update, and then dig in to the topic of Train Wrecks and how they may be avoided. Have fun!   Talk to ya next week. ------------------------------------- If you like my podcast I hope you will keep this show go...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 186   Edumacation Are Fun!   In this show I respond to a couple of emails I received and discuss education and how we learn.   Have fun and I trust you take this "in the spirit in which it is intended."   In the episode I referenced this episode with the Self-Analysis Worksheet PDF: http://www.bradleylaird.com/podcast/episode-3-show-notes.html   And this blog post conc...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 185   Cancel This!   All I am saying is listen and make up your own minds. Cancel me if you must. Or, stick with me and the bluegrass way. Enough already!   I have heard so much sub-par bluegrass singing over the years--not from the pros like IIIrd Tyme Out and Doyle Lawson--but just in general. Some pretty lame singing is often the norm with bluegrass jams and SOME ba...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 184   The Art of Quitting   I have spent much airtime here discussing the starting of things. Jams, bands, lessons, etc. But there comes a time in the natural curve of things that we must give it up and say "I quit!" When and how do you do this? And why? I hope you enjoy this early morning sermon and I hope that when or if you are driven to quit that you do it in the b...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 183   First, Tune That Thang!   After a wandering diatribe I eventually get to the topic of the day and discuss tuning. Real solid tuning! I talk about how to get an instrument in tune so it will withstand a severe beating and stay in tune. I talk about beats and the importance of clean unisons. I talk about string segments and "equalization of tension". I talk about s...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 182   That Ain't Bluegrass   In today's episode I discuss that most difficult topic of deciding just what is and what is not bluegrass. After a bit about what I think IS bluegrass, I take the easier route and play for you ten samples of what I think IS NOT bluegrass. Enjoy!   For all of you bass players or wannabee bass players, please take advantage of this 20% discou...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 181   Bob Knysz Interview   This episode will introduce you to one of the movers and shakers in the mandolin world. Bob Knysz is an accomplished bluegrass musician and is also a founder of the Atlanta Mandolin Orchestra . We discuss his introduction to the mandolin, his experiences in the Chicago area, taking lessons from the great Jethro Burns, attending Bean Blossom,...

GrassTalkRadio.com - Episode 180   Tony Williamson Interview   Join me on this wide-ranging conversation with Tony Williamson. We discuss mandolin world addiction, mandolin family instruments, Bill Monroe and the "power pose", Union Grove, overalls, the Bluegrass Alliance, Grisman's porch, Harry Sparks, how a mandolin brought a man back from near death. Then, the DGQ's first album, auditioning ove...